AWARENESS AND USE OF REFERENCE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AMONG LIBRARIANS IN UNIVERSITIES IN OGUN STATE

Abstract

Referencing is an important aspect in writing academic papers which can be done manually or with the use of Reference Management Software (RMS). Therefore, this study investigated the awareness and use of RMS among librarians in public institutions in Ogun State. The research design employed was descriptive survey research design. The population of the study is 111 librarians with sample size of 92 librarians. The simple random sampling technique was adopted to give every member of the population equal opportunity to be selected. The instrument “AURMSQ” was used to elicit information from the respondents. Validation of the instrument was done by experts in the field of study. The test re-test method was used in this study and 0.74 obtained. A total of 92(82.9%) copies of questionnaires were returned and analyzed using frequency count, percentage, mean, standard deviation. The findings of the study revealed that the RMS type that the librarians were mostly aware of is Mendeley ( = 3.11; SD = .79); the most frequently used RMS was Mendeley ( = 3.67; SD. = .92); level of awareness of RMS was slightly aware while level of use was rarely use. There was no significant relationship between awareness and use of RMS among librarians (r =-.887; p > .001; N= 92). It is concluded that librarians in university libraries in Ogun State had limited awareness of RMS, which accounted for their low level of use of the tool. The study recommends among others that university libraries should organize regular awareness programs on RMS for librarians.