Challenges of Virtual Library Services in Academic Libraries of Federal Universities in South-Eastern Nigeria

Operating a virtual library is not as easy as running the physical library due to the resources involved and the implications. This article evaluates the challenges that academic libraries of federal universities in South- Eastern Nigeria face in rendering virtual library services, and plausible solutions that can be used to solve these challenges. Three research questions guided the study. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of one hundred and twenty (120) librarians from four federal universities in South-eastern Nigeria formed the respondents of the study. A structured online questionnaire containing a total of thirteen weighted questions was developed for the purpose of this study and distributed to academic librarians. The findings from the study show that academic libraries of federal universities in South-Eastern Nigeria face a lot of challenges in rendering virtual library services, some of which are as a result of lack of the necessary skills on the part of academic librarians and some national-condition induced challenges and more. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended that academic libraries of federal universities in South- Eastern Nigeria should ensure that students, researchers and lecturers use the virtual library in order to foster the relevance of the library’s online outlook. The federal government, Universities and their Library Management should organize consistent trainings on ICT related courses for academic librarians, to enhance them with the needed skills to operate a virtual library amongst others.

Keywords: Virtual libraries, Library services, Academic Libraries, Academic Librarians, Challenges of virtual libraries.