Application of gamification to library services: awareness, perception, and readiness of academic librarians in Nigeria
ISSN: 0264-0473
Article publication date: 7 October 2021
Issue publication date: 10 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Gamification is a growing field of study that has not been touched by Nigerian academic librarians. This study aims to explore the awareness, perception and readiness of academic librarians on the application of gamification to library services.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts an interpretive research design and a qualitative research approach. This involves using semi-structured interviews to collect data for the study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 20 participants but only 15 participated in the study. Participants were interviewed on their lived experience as to gamification; hence, phenomenology research method was adopted for the study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze collected data.
Findings
The findings of the study show that most of the academic librarians in Nigeria were not aware of gamification to library services. However, the few that were aware knew about the gamification of library service through their personal academic reading. It was shown that there is a link between awareness and positive perception of gamification to library services. It was found that most of the academic librarians did not have a positive perception of applying gamification to library services in Nigeria. Results show that important factors to consider in readiness towards application of gamification to academic library services in Nigeria include library management support, librarians’ technical know-how and IT compliance.
Originality/value
The findings of this study will provide insights as to academic librarians’ awareness, perception and readiness in applying gamification to library services in Nigeria and may provide insights into other developing Africa countries at large.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the participants that participated in this study, reviewers for their observations and comments to make the manuscript better, and the journal’s editor.
Funding: The authors declare that no research grant was received from any funding agency for this research study.
Citation
Adeyemi, I.O., Esan, A.O. and Aleem, A. (2021), "Application of gamification to library services: awareness, perception, and readiness of academic librarians in Nigeria", The Electronic Library, Vol. 39 No. 5, pp. 767-781. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-05-2021-0096
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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