Information Use Environment of Religious Professionals: a Case Study of the Everyday Life Information Seeking Behavior of Catholic Clergy in Northern Nigeria (open access)

Information Use Environment of Religious Professionals: a Case Study of the Everyday Life Information Seeking Behavior of Catholic Clergy in Northern Nigeria

This study explores the everyday life information seeking (ELIS) behavior of Catholic clergy in Northern Nigeria and describes their information use environment (IUE). It employed a mixed-method case study using survey and episodic interview techniques of data collection. The ELIS of Savolainen, the IUE of Taylor and the small world of Chatman were theoretical frameworks that guided this study. Findings showed that the IUE of these Catholic clergy is shaped by four elements: (1) geographical location and culture, (2) the celibate clergy, (3) their information needs, and (4) the information sources used to resolve these needs. Three types of information needs were identified: essential needs, circumstantial needs and intermittent needs. There was a high interrelatedness between the effects of culture and celibacy on the information seeking of these clergy. They are not likely to cross boundaries of their world to seek particularly essential information about their ministry or private lives. The findings of this study align with Chatman’s proposition that members who live in the round will not cross the boundaries of their world to seek information. The study found problems with access and availability of information, which included lack of familiarity with electronic/online library databases among the clergy, and …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Dankasa, Jacob
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Acceptance and Use of Cloud Computing Services by Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria (open access)

The Acceptance and Use of Cloud Computing Services by Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria

This study explored the acceptance of cloud computing (CC) services by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos, Nigeria, which has been missing from CC services literature. It aimed to understand the motivations for adoption, the uses of the services, and the benefits they derive from it. The uses and gratification theory was applied as the theoretic framework for this endeavor. An online survey with close-ended and open-ended questions was distributed to 1200 randomly selected participants through email. In total, 392 valid responses were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics and categories. The results found that SMEs in Lagos, Nigeria had a low level of awareness and appreciation of CC services. The adoption rate was also low. Unlike their counterparts in other regions, SMEs primary concerns were service downtime, stable power supply, and better internet access. The study found that SMEs were not taking full advantage of the capabilities of CC services. Some sections, however, were doing better than others, such as the information and communications sub-sector. This study suggested that targeted interventions should be conducted to raise the awareness of CC services in SMEs, and to improve their efficient and effective use of CC services. The uses and gratification …
Date: May 2017
Creator: Azogu, Olajumoke Oluwaseye
System: The UNT Digital Library
Are Things Falling Apart Again? A Dialectical Analysis of Language Education Policy in Nigeria (open access)

Are Things Falling Apart Again? A Dialectical Analysis of Language Education Policy in Nigeria

Today's globalized world presents challenges for formulating language education policies in multilingual countries, and postcolonial Nigeria presents a dramatic illustration because of ongoing colonial influences as well as neocolonial factors. This study focused on dialectical relations over time among languages in Nigeria's National Policy on Education (NPE), published in 1977, 1981, 1998, 2004, 2013, and 2014. The title of the study harks to Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, which described the disruption of tribal cultures and languages when Europeans brought their culture and language to Nigeria. Attention in this dissertation, which examined Nigerian education policy over four decades, was also on things falling apart, being resolved in some way, and then falling apart again. Four major dialectical tensions can be seen as the NPE went through revisions in language of instruction and language of study. First, relations between English and indigenous languages showed the increasing importance of English despite ostensible attempts to promote indigeneity through language. Particularly important was the influence of globalization, which emphasized neoliberal values and initiatives associated with global English. Second, relations among the various indigenous languages showed three languages—Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba—to be privileged over 522 other languages that were marginalized but retained as "mother …
Date: August 2019
Creator: Olaniyi, Adepeju Folasade
System: The UNT Digital Library