Internet of Things Adoption by Library Personnel in Southwestern Universities: A Perception Study of Performance and Effort Expectancies

Abstract

The implementation of the Internet of Things (IoTs), a collection of information systems powered by Internet technologies, is crucial for library operations in the information systems era. The majority of research concerning the implementation of IoTs in library operations consists of blog posts or opinion articles. Limited empirical research has investigated the use of IoT in library operations, particularly within university libraries in southwest Nigeria, via the lens of expectation theory. The study examined effort expectation and performance expectations as determinants affecting the use of IoTs by staff in university libraries in southwest Nigeria for normal tasks and service delivery. The correlational variant of the descriptive survey was used. A validated questionnaire (r = 0.78) was used to gather data from 187 library staff members across the 10 participating universities in the study. The research included statistical approaches, including frequency counts, percentages, means, and standard deviations. The available types of IoTs library personnel use were WIFI (wireless fidelity) (𝑥̅ = 3.78), web-based OPAC (𝑥̅ = 3.51), library apps (𝑥 ̅̅̅ = 3.42), social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, X, Telegram and so on) for marketing library services (𝑥̅ = 3.40), library software (𝑥̅ = 3.38), close circuit television (𝑥̅ = 3.28) and smart sensors (like Bluetooth for printing, metal and smoke detectors) (𝑥̅ = 3.14). Collaborative writing (𝑥̅ = 3.49), online copy cataloguing (𝑥̅ = 3.44), rendering selective dissemination of Information (SDI) to users remotely (𝑥̅ = 3.39) and preserve and conserve library information resources (𝑥̅ = 3.38) was the main purpose the library personnel use the IoTs. WIFI (𝑥̅ = 4.56), web-based OPAC (𝑥̅ = 4.25), library software (𝑥̅ = 3.38), and social media platforms (𝑥̅ = 3.82) were used on a daily basis. The use of IoTs enhanced library routines highly (𝑥̅ = 3.34) against the threshold of 2.5. The perceived effort expectancy of IoTs was high (𝑥̅ = 3.25) and performance expectancy (𝑥̅ = 3.50) were high against the 2.5 mean threshold. The challenges to IoT's adoption included poor internet connection and power outages. IoT's adoption for library routines was perceived as effortless, while its perceived performance was high. Therefore, libraries should strive to maintain the current stride in adoption level, while the management of university libraries should reduce the bottlenecks hindering IoTs adoption.