UTILIZATION OF ACADEMIC LIBRARY RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY AMONG LECTURERS IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-SOUTH NIGERIA

This study examined the relationship between use of library resources and research productivity of lecturers in Private Universities in South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. A sample of 368 lecturers was selected for the study and questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. 231 copies of the questionnaire were retrieved, representing 63% response rate. Data was analyzed using simple percentages, and mean; Pearson correlation coefficient was used for test of hypothesis. Findings indicated that lecturers made use of library resources; however the following challenges were identified as obstacles to library use: work pressure, deadlines to meet and time constraints among others. Consequently, lecturers’ research productivity level was average (they published between 1- 5 times in three years). The test of hypothesis revealed a significant relationship between use of library resources and research productivity of lecturers. It was recommended that University Management should invest more on acquisitions of information resources for libraries, employ more lecturers in order to reduce work pressure and load among others