EVALUATION OF LIBRARIANS ACCEPTABILITY LEVELS AND USE OF
CLOUD COMPUTING FOR LIBRARY SERVICES IN TERTIARY
INSTITUTIONS OF KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.
BY
IYAL USMAN
E65F/29625/2014
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE.
A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
JUNE, 2018
CERTIFICATION
I declare that this research project is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in
any University/Institution for consideration. All referenced sources are duly acknowledged,
using APA 6th edition style and in conformity with anti-plagiarism regulations.
Signature _________________________ Date _________________
Iyal Usman
E65F/29625/2014
Department of Library and Information Science
SUPERVISOR
I confirm that the work reported in this research project was carried out by the candidate under
my supervision as University supervisor.
Signature _________________________ Date _________________
Dr. Charles Kamau Maina
Department of Library and Information Science,
Kenyatta University
i
DEDICATION
I dedicated this work to my parents Alhaji Usman Ibrahim and Hajiya Zainab wushishi, Mardiya
Ladan & Aishatu and Salamtu who have shared the burden of been away for two years.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I have tasked and taxed the magnanimity of so many people in the course of my studies, their
names are too numerous to mention. By and large, I want to extend my profound appreciation to
supervisor in person of Dr. Charles Kamau Maina for doing everything possible to guide and
guide me through this research work. Dr. Peter Wamae, Mwalimu Martin Gichugu, Dr. P.G.
Mwathi, Dr. J.R. Njuguna, Dr. Michael Mukuvi, Dr. Zipporah Gichuhi, Dr. Rose Njoroge, Dr.
Grace K., Dr. Mathu, Dr. Namaande Ben Wekalao, Dr. Caroline Mutwiri, Dr. Daniel Wanbiri
Muthee, I say THANK YOU.
To Bara’u Usman, Usman Abdu Maijinka, Ali Muhammad Fakandu, Muntari Ado Matazu,
Usman Lawal A. Mani, Abdulmalik Bappah Mamood, Abdullahi Kasim, Jafar Abdullahi, Idris
Ibrahim Saleh, Prof. A.A. Balarabe, Dr. Ahmed K. Nuhu, Dr. Aliyu Gadanga Tsafe. To my
sponsors Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto in conjuction with Tertiary Education Trust
Fund (TETFUND) and to the generality of Nigerians who in one way or the other sacrifice their
lives to make Nigeria great and to the rest of Nigerians living, dead and yet unborn who will be
inheriting a world not of their making. Peace to all men.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATION ........................................................................................................................... i
DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF FIGURE......................................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF TABLE ......................................................................................................................... viii
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ...................................................................................... ix
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... x
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1
1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Background to the Study........................................................................................................... 1
1.3 Statement of the problem .......................................................................................................... 8
1.4 Purpose (General objective) ...................................................................................................... 9
1.5 Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 9
1.6 Research questions .................................................................................................................. 10
1.7 Significance of the study......................................................................................................... 10
1.8 Limitation and delimitation..................................................................................................... 12
1.8.1 Limitation ............................................................................................................................. 12
1.8.2 Delimitation ......................................................................................................................... 12
1.9 Assumptions............................................................................................................................ 13
1.10 Theoretical framework .......................................................................................................... 13
1.11 Conceptual framework .......................................................................................................... 14
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS .............................................................................. 17
CHAPTER TWO - REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .............................................. 18
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 18
2.2 The ratonale to adopt cloud technology in libraries................................................................ 18
2.2.1 Technology improvements................................................................................................... 21
2.2.2 Data efficiencies................................................................................................................... 21
2.3 Areas where cloud computing can be deployed in academic libraries ................................... 22
2.3.1 Searching Library Data ........................................................................................................ 23
2.3.2 File Storage .......................................................................................................................... 23
2.3.3 Searching Scholarly Content................................................................................................ 23
2.3.4Website Hosting .................................................................................................................... 24
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2.3.5 Digital Library and Repository: ........................................................................................... 24
2.4 The Extent of cloud computing use in library services ........................................................... 24
2.5 Areas of concerns in Cloud Computing Adoption .................................................................. 26
2.6 Global trends in cloud computing acceptance ........................................................................ 35
2.7 Cloud computing in Nigeria.................................................................................................... 38
2.8 Challenges for adoption of cloud computing ......................................................................... 43
2.9 Summary of the research gap. ................................................................................................. 45
CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................... 47
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 47
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 47
3.2 Research design ...................................................................................................................... 47
3.2.1 Variables .............................................................................................................................. 48
3.3 Research methodology ............................................................................................................ 49
3.4 Location of the study .............................................................................................................. 49
3.5 Target population .................................................................................................................... 49
3.6 Sampling techniques and sample size ..................................................................................... 50
3.6.1 Sampling Techniques ........................................................................................................... 50
3. 6.2 Sample Size......................................................................................................................... 50
3.7 Research Instruments .............................................................................................................. 51
3.8 Pilot Study............................................................................................................................... 51
3.9 Validity and reliability ............................................................................................................ 52
3.9.1 Validity ................................................................................................................................ 52
3.9.2 Reliability............................................................................................................................. 53
3.10 Data Collection .................................................................................................................... 55
3.10.1 Interview ............................................................................................................................ 55
3.10.2 Questionnaires.................................................................................................................... 56
3.10.3 Review of Documentary Sources..................................................................................... 57
3.10.4 Data Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 57
3.11 Logistical and Ethical Considerations .................................................................................. 58
CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 60
DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF RESULTS .................................................. 60
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 60
4.2 Analysis of Demographic Variables of Respondents ............................................................. 60
4.2.1 Questionnaire Response rate per institution......................................................................... 60
4.2.2 Age of the respondents......................................................................................................... 61
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4.3 Educational qualification of the respondents .......................................................................... 63
4.4.1 Librarians’ perception on need for cloud computing ........................................................... 65
4.4.2 Librarians’ general perception of cloud computing ............................................................. 68
4.4.3 Challenges of adopting cloud computing............................................................................. 69
4.4.4 Ratings on level of use of cloud computing......................................................................... 71
CHAPTER FIVE ........................................................................................................................ 74
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................ 74
5.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 74
5.2 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 75
5.2.1 perception on the need for cloud computing........................................................................ 75
5.2.2 librarians’ general perception of cloud computing .............................................................. 75
5.2.3 librarians’ extent of use of cloud computing ....................................................................... 76
5.2.4 Challenges faced with use of cloud computing ................................................................... 76
5.3 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 76
5.4 Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 77
5.4.1Policy recommendations ....................................................................................................... 77
5.5 Recommendation for further research .................................................................................... 79
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 80
APPENDIX 1: TABLE FOR DETERMINING SAMPLE SIZE ................................................. 86
APPENDIX 2: CONSENT LETTER ........................................................................................... 87
APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE.................................................................................. 88
APPENDIX 4 QUESTIONNAIRES FOR LIBRARY STAFF .................................................... 89
APPENDIX 5: APROVAL LETTER FROM KENYATTA UNIVERSITY ............................... 93
vi
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure: 1.1 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................. 15
Figure 4.1 Response rate ............................................................................................................... 61
Figure 4. 2: Librarians’ educational qualification......................................................................... 64
Figure 4.3 Ratings on frequency of using cloud computing ......................................................... 72
Figure 4.4 Satisfaction on cloud computing ................................................................................. 73
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LIST OF TABLE
Table 3.1: Population according to institution .............................................................................. 50
Table 3.2: Chronbach’s Alpha Reliability .................................................................................... 55
Table 4.1 Librarians age bracket ................................................................................................... 62
Table 4.2 Librarians’ perception on the need for cloud computing. ............................................. 66
Table 4.3 Librarians perception on benefits of cloud computing ................................................. 67
Table 4.4: Librarians’ general perception on cloud computing .................................................... 69
Table 4.5 Challenges of adopting cloud computing ..................................................................... 70
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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
AEC
Amazon Elastic Cloud
ICT
Information and Communication Technology
KASU
Kaduna State University
KSCOE
Kaduna State College of Education
LAN
Local Area Network
NBP
Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic
TAM
Technology Acceptance Model
WWW
World Wide Web
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ABSTRACT
This study focused on the evaluation librarians’ acceptability levels and use of cloud computing
for library services in academic libraries. The study was narrowed to only academic libraries of
Kaduna state, Nigeria. The background covers the levels of acceptance of cloud computing from
the global, regional and national perspectives. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the
librarians’ acceptability and use of cloud computing for library service in academic libraries. The
objectives of the study were to explore the perceived need for adopting cloud computing in
academic libraries of Kaduna State; to explore librarians’ perceptions of cloud computing in the
academic libraries of Kaduna State; to evaluate the extent of use of cloud computing in academic
libraries of Kaduna state and to identify the challenges of the adoption of cloud computing in
academic libraries of Kaduna State. In the study Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was
used for its theoretical framework and compliments the model with a conceptual framework for
the study. The study has applied descriptive research using survey approach and both
quantitative and qualitative methods have been applied in the study. The location of the study
population for the study was tertiary institutions owned by Kaduna state in North-West Nigerian.
There are total populations of 130 librarians across the 3 academic libraries. The sample size for
the study will be 97 across the libraries. Both questionnaire and interviews schedule will be used
as instrument for data collection. Piloting will be conducted in a library with similar
characteristics but, outside the study area thereby to establish validity and reliability of the
instrument which was tested accordingly to ensure internal consistency. All data collected will be
sorted and coded for easy handling. Descriptive and inferential statistics methods will be used for
data analysis and presentation of results. The key findings from the study were that librarian have
adopted cloud computing based specific need attached to their institutional mission and vision,
that the benefits derived prompted the need to accept the technology and they believe it can
provide a solution to a number of challenges facing their academic libraries. The study also
found out that the major bottlenecks were the issue of trust between cloud service providers and
consumers which ranges from data integrity, data ownership, data privacy and absence of
legislation that guide and guard deployment of cloud. The study concluded that these challenges
have significantly influence their level of acceptance. The study recommends that government
should make policies to regulate the activities of cloud service providers. Librarians should be
train at regular intervals to update their knowledge about cloud services which will give them an
insight to carefully study “terms of service”. The study proposes further research in other types
of libraries with aim of assisting librarians to make informed decision about which platform of
cloud computing to be adopted based on their aspirations to serve their user community.
x
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION
1.1
Introduction
This chapter covers the background of the study, statement of the problem, General objectives,
and specific objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, limitation and
delimitations, assumption of the study as well as theoretical and conceptual frame work of the
study.
1.2 Background to the Study
The field of Library and Information Science today has been facing numerous challenges due to
the development in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and its application in various
sectors of the society. Ironically, with the emergence of the Internet, libraries are facing
problems to justify their services. New concepts are developed within the field to keep pace with
technological innovation around the world. Cloud computing, which was developed as a result of
Internet and the web, have gradually sets the stride for a new era of computing as it determines
the level which we share and store information (Abidi, 2012). Practically cloud computing is all
about rendering services through the use certain applications online by the providers to those
who needs them on either as a pay-as-you-go basis or by subscription.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology of United State of America (USA) defines
cloud computing as a platform which provides a convenient, on-demand network access to a
collective pool of computing (e.g. applications, and services) that can be instantly deployed to
serve the users of the technology with little or no effort from the service provider (Mell, 2016).
According to Priya (2011), Cloud computing is a technology that can provide a service through
which one can use applications that are not actually installed on his/her computer, the platform is
provided to you as a service by another company and accessed over the Internet. Goldner (2014)
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propounded that cloud computing is a technology that uses the Internet in collaboration with the
central isolated servers to store, share and manage data. Therefore, cloud computing is that
technology which allows users to use application, files storage and information sharing over the
Internet.
Armbrust, Fox, Griffith, Joseph, Katz, Konwinski, Lee, Patterson, Rabkin, Stocia and Zaharia
(2015) defines cloud computing as an assembly of applications using a combination of both
hardware and software systems to render services to users via the Internet. Cloud computing is a
result of advancements in various technologies, which includes the Internet, hardware and
software, systems management and distributed computing (Buyya, Broberg and Goscinski,
2014). Cloud computing provides a variety of services such as information storage, sharing,
retrieval and other different approaches of use (Leavitt, 2016). Cloud computing enables
organizations to deliver support applications and avoid the need to develop their own IT systems
(Feuerlicht, Snášel, Szczepaniak, Abraham, and Kacprzyk, 2016).
Stroh et al, (2009:12) defined “cloud computing as “the computing software and services that
can be accessed via the internet rather than residing on a desktop or internal server.” Gartner
(2012:64) defined cloud computing as “a style of computing in which massively scalable and
elastic IT-enabled capabilities are delivered as a service to external customers using internet
technologies. Infrastructure is buying Space/ times on external servers, Examples are Amazons,
A3, and Bungee. Platform on the other hand, is an existing software platform in which one can
build its own application on, such as Facebook. While Application is a software application
accessed with a Web browser, examples are Google Docs, Salesforce.com, whereas, Service is a
ready to use services accessed with a Web browser such as ADP.
2
Mell, P (2011) defined each of the three services models thus: Software as a Service (SaaS)
which allows users to use the provider’s applications on a cloud through a web browser, while
Platform as a Service (PaaS) allows users to deploy their own applications on the provider’s
cloud infrastructure under the provider’s environment. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) allows
users to control and manage computing resources. Cloud computing can transform the way
information systems are built and services delivered. This provides library with an opportunity to
extend its impact to its users anywhere anytime. Anyone connected to the internet is probably
using some type of cloud computing on a regular basis. Whether they are using Google’s Gmail,
organizing photos on Flickr or searching the Web with Bing they are engaged in cloud
environment. As Geoffrey (2013) pointed out, the interesting thing about cloud computing is that
it did not start as a technology for the business enterprise, but was driven by the public with
services like Facebook and Flickr.
Education today is becoming completely associated with Information Technology (IT) on
content delivery, communication and collaboration. The need for server, storage and software are
highly demanding in the tertiary institutions libraries. Whong, (2014) remarked that the primary
purpose of academic libraries is to serve and support the academic community via
complementation of teaching, learning, research and community services in ways consistent with
and supportive of the institutional goals and objectives.
According to Tuncay and Wu (2011), libraries have benefited from using cloud computing
technology by increasing computing performance, storage capacity, universal accessibility and
cost reduction. This has helped libraries in many positive ways, specifically in terms of fixed and
maintenance, cost reduction in the IT investment of both hardware and software as well as
computer services, avert technological headaches such as computer viruses, system crashes, and
3
loss of data. According to Spreeuwenberg (2012), with cloud computing, it becomes easier to
access data with several devices. Especially for mobile devices, this can be really useful since the
only thing that is needed is an internet connection.
Libraries are shifting their services to cloud computing technology to facilitate its services
anywhere and anytime. In libraries, the following have been identified as possible areas of
applying cloud computing: Building Digital Library/Repositories, Searching Library Data, Web
Site Hosting, Searching Scholarly Content, File Storage, Building Community Power and
Library Automation. Nevertheless, the biggest benefit of the adoption of cloud computing
technology is that one does not “buy” the cloud, as purchases for software and hardware and
hitherto being made for library automation. It is more or less a common utility, one just pays for
what was used, and then turn it off when one is done. The ability to have a server somewhere is
therefore not required, Library community can apply cloud infrastructure to amplify the power of
cooperation and to build a significant, unified presence on the Web. This approach to computing
has helped libraries save time and money as well as simplified workflows. To date, the main
focus of libraries moving into the cloud has been due to, the need to disclose their vast
collections (Gbaje and Aliyu, 2014). In order to contend with the barrage of information
available in today’s society, a medium, and an educational institution such as library needs to be
put in place for proper acquisition, processing, documenting, retrieving and disseminating of
information.
The mode of information storage and transmission has undergone many radical changes in
format; ranging from print materials to other information storages and transmitting media like
non-print sources such as Compact Disc (CD); Diskettes; Magnetic tapes; CD ROMS; hard
disks; punched paper tapes; Internet publications; zip disks; educational video and
transparencies; books on cassettes; micro form publications; electric publications; machine
4
readable tape; and cloud computing. Libraries have been using some cloud computing services
for over a decade. Online databases are accessed as cloud applications. Large union catalogs can
also be defined as cloud applications. The selection of which of these information resources to
use is a continuous process dictated by changing curriculum, availability of new materials for
Library Services (Gbaje and Aliyu 2014).
It is observed that these media are useful for storage of data, information, and programs for safe
keeping Creeger (2009), as cited by Gbaje & Aliyu (2014), asserted that cloud computing comes
into focus when there is need for increased capacity or added capabilities of computer without
investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Users can
access database resources via the internet from anywhere for as long as they need without
worrying about any maintenance or management of information technology infrastructure.
Several cloud computing projects are already under way or under study. Of these projects, the
most solid are the result of partnerships between international players and African economic
operators. The benefits to be derived from this advanced IT service appear to have convinced
African players, and the indications are that the characteristics of cloud computing would be very
appropriate to the African context. This would explain the interest shown by the various
stakeholders, each of which is seeking to tap into those benefits as speedily as possible and get in
at the beginning, in spite of the technical shortcomings and regulatory difficulties associated with
the deployment of cloud computing technology.
Many countries, mainly in the west partake in developing strategies to fast-track the acceptance
of cloud computing. Some university libraries especially in more developed and advanced
countries (western Europe and America) have implemented the technology for various reasons
such as reduced cost of software acquisition, licensing and upgrade to a much bigger access of
5
cloud applications for members of the academic community to enhance their academic outputs
(Ercan, 2010). In the United States of America for instance, academic libraries such as in North
Carolina State University, Eastern Washington University saves a lot funds on licensing other
applications despite the availability of adequate and sustainable funding. Others include
Lakehead University in Canada have save a lot of costs with the adoption of Google mail
service. University of Washington have effectively implement Google classroom application in
order to encourage collaborative learning among students and staff (Cenon, 2012). Developing
nations have exploited the power and benefits of these technologies (Erenben, 2016). According
to Babu (2012), the swift growth and adoption of cloud computing has been necessitated by
recent technological innovations which provides opportunities and alternatives to save cost
through introducing relatively cheap computer systems, large storage, platform for sharing and
collaboration in businesses and academic institutions
In Africa, according to a survey carried out by Cisco and World Wide Worx (CISCO, 2013)
South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are leading countries in use of cloud computing in Sub-Saharan
Africa as of the year 2013, 50% of South Africa’s academic institutions, 48% in Kenya and 36%
in Nigeria use cloud computing applications. These organizations cut across banks, government
agencies and academic institutions. Development in information technology is more or less
difficult to keep-up with and the speed renders academic libraries to a state enigma and
perplexed so as not loose their users to other information service providers.
In Nigeria, the present system in most academic libraries, the IT department is responsible for
meeting the needs of all members of the academic community (staff and students), the IT
department receives all request from faculties and departments for whatever service is required.
The department manages services such as installations and activation students and staff email
accounts. With the adoption of cloud computing it will allow users to perform their tasks at the
6
comfort of their location. Cloud computing applications offers a technology that can any
foreseen challenges which may lead to loss of data as it provides a platform for storage and
recovery in case of eventualities. This is because, servers where data storage are being made are
not physically present in the building and the service providers have some better and more
advance modules for backup and recovery plans that are better than academic libraries can
provide (Ume, A., Bassey, A., & Ibrahim, H. (2012).
Akintoye (2016) affirmed that academic institution are such institution which comprised of
universities, polytechnics, mono-technics, institutes of technologies, colleges of education and
any other post-secondary school. Tertiary institutions play different roles in national
development. Okpareke (2015), and Akintoye (2016) noted that the role of tertiary institutions
includes manpower development, research and development and training of players in both
formal and informal sectors of the economy.
Maidabino (2008) define academic libraries as such libraries that are found in institution of
higher learning such as the university, polytechnics, mono-technics and colleges. He
(Maidabino) further assert that, academic library is a place for inspiration and a house for
knowledge to students, teachers, researchers and members of the academia, and has a number of
collections ranging from monographs, digital, and to computerized data-bases which forms the
majority of resources accessed by its users. Libraries are an integral part of tertiary institutions.
In providing services to their users, libraries have to continue to evolve with the changing
technology and be dynamic by responding to their needs in terms of nature, content and channels
in which information is disseminated (Mavodza, 2013).
7
However, according to Buyya, Broberg and Goscinski (2014), cloud computing services differ
based on requirements. These requirements are called service models such as the followings: i.
Software as a Service (SaaS) this requires libraries to pay for access in order to use the
application. The service provider is in charge for provision of data, software and
hardware maintenance to the libraries. Some examples are LibGuides, Hotmail, Survey
Monkey, Google Apps etc
ii.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) the service can provide libraries with the tools and an
enabling environment to adopt, test, install and embrace the platform they need in the
cloud. Nevertheless, information systems and internet access are single handedly take
care of by the service providers and not by the libraries. Examples include, 800APP and
Sales force etc.
iii.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) this can provide libraries with storage and information
sharing services on many platforms with different choices such as an on-demand and
“pay per use” formula. The other storage devices consist of information center,
Bandwidth, non-public Line access, Servers and Server Room, Firewall and storage area.
Examples of this type service are Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Rack space
etc.
It’s as the result of this background; the researcher intends to evaluate the librarians’
acceptability levels and use of cloud computing for library services in academic libraries of
Kaduna state, Nigeria.
1.3 Statement of the problem
There are numerous threats that continue to bedevil the growth of academic libraries in Nigeria
today in spite of the adoption of automation of library services that leads to digitization of
8
resources. Some of these threats include: unreliable internet connections, librarians’ technical
know-how and show-how, epileptic electricity, poor and short of funds for the libraries.
Similarly, systems hardware issues, application and systems software issues, workforce training
and development, outdated applications software of business are some of the problems
experienced by automated libraries.
Ideally, the “predictions on the increase in the rate of adoption of the cloud technology, the
acceptance level is still very low according to a survey carried out by TechTarget from
September 2012 to March 2013 on the actual rate of adoption and usage of cloud computing, the
results show that the adoption rate is not rising as expected with security concerns being the most
prominent reason for the reluctance in the acceptance of the cloud technology”.
Despite the important contributions of cloud computing, academic libraries get trapped in
persistent and continues upgrade mode, which involves lots of trials and errors, re-testing and
customization that is time consuming. This is even made more complex by the issue of remote
access, media archiving, trust between vendors of the technology and users, data security, data
privacy and ownership and the struggle to keep pace with technological innovations. Those
challenges necessitated this study so as to evaluate the librarians’ acceptability levels and use of
cloud computing for library services in tertiary institutions of Kaduna State, Nigeria in the face
of all the challenges.
1.4
Purpose (General objective)
The purpose of this study is to evaluate librarians’ acceptability levels and use of cloud
computing for library services in academic libraries of Kaduna State, Nigeria.
1.5
Objectives
i.
To explore the rationale for adoption of cloud computing in academic libraries of Kaduna
State;
9
ii.
To identify perceptions of librarians on cloud computing in the academic libraries of
Kaduna State;
iii.
1.6
i.
To evaluate the extent of use of cloud computing in academic libraries of Kaduna state
Research questions
What are the rationale for adoption of cloud computing in academic libraries of Kaduna
State?
ii.
What are the librarians’ perceptions of cloud computing among academic libraries of
Kaduna State?
iii.
To what extent do librarians use cloud computing in academic libraries of Kaduna state?
1.7 Significance of the study
Cloud computing is seen as a technology that is still new, the study may be beneficial to
librarians, academic institutions, special, private and public libraries. The study intends to
evaluate the librarians’ acceptability levels and use of cloud computing for library services in
academic institutions of Kaduna state.
To librarians as information vendors, they may benefit from the result of this study as it may help
them to improve on their technique to information provision, records dissemination in addition to
data storage and retrieval.
The study may also benefit to the academic institution’s administration in policy formulation. It
may enable them to understand the need to allocate adequate funds for regular training of staff
who may use the technology effectively and efficiently. The university administration may
therefore, be in a better position to make adequate provision to ensure that internet connection is
available within its campuses, this can allow for appropriate and maximum utilization of the
technology.
10
Similarly, it may be beneficial to the libraries and its management in the sense that it will reveal
to them the degree of effectiveness of the cloud computing technology in meeting the
information needs of the users and consequently encourage them towards working out modalities
to improve the functionality of cloud computing technology if the need arises.
More also, it will help to reveal the extent to which cloud computing technology is being adopted
by the academic libraries as it will highlight the past and present state of the adoption of cloud
computing technology in the library for its services. The improvement of cloud computing in the
library will lead to better library services for the fulfilment of the objectives of the libraries.
Cloud computing acceptance may lead the librarians to gain knowledge about practical problems
facing traditional library practice. This would be useful for teaching, curriculum design, review
and implementation.
Cloud computing would help the librarians to gain access to intellectual knowledge and creative
thinking within the academic environment. This would help them solve specific product/service
design problems including production of new products and services. Such adoption would also
enable the librarians to work towards the continuous improvement of the quality of the products
and services. This would go a long way in boosting public satisfaction.
The findings of the study may also benefit future researchers. This is because the suggestions for
further research may serve as reference tool for their research. Future researchers may be
informed of the findings of the study by making the copy of this work available to my employer
and the Kenyatta university library.
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1.8 Limitation and delimitation
1.8.1 Limitation
Similar to any other research undertaking, this study was carried out within the context of
epistemology. Objective knowledge was inherently limited because of background theories and
methodologies. The nature of cloud computing, its deployment and adoption by subscribers and
its acceptability nature have undermined the strength of the area for study. The study was
however, made use of the most ideal methodological designs with regard to validity and
reliability of instruments of data collection. One of the limitations of the present study is that it
covers only academic libraries, particularly in Kaduna state, Nigeria. The impact of findings
cannot be generalized because it is not replicated in other types of libraries, gaining an insight
and a thorough perspective of cloud-based libraries. In the current study, no attempt was made to
compare acceptability of cloud computing practices in various sectors. Finally, the study only
evaluated the librarians’ acceptability levels and use of cloud computing for library services in
tertiary intitutions of Kaduna State, Nigeria.
1.8.2 Delimitation
According to Mugenda and Mugenda (1999) there are boundaries to any study. The researcher
has considered all the three (3) tertiary institutions owned by Kaduna State, Nigeria. This study
confined itself to the evaluation of librarians’ acceptability levels and use of cloud computing for
library services in libraries of the tertiary institution. Although secondary education is provided
by parents, communities, non-governmental organizations and the government, the respondents
in this study are from government sponsored institutions. Private institutions are precluded as
they do not enjoy government funding in anyway. Instead the researcher has covered all the three
tertiary institutions that are fully funded by the Kaduna State government of Nigeria.
12
The delimitation of this study has been described in terms of formal and subject limits. Taking
the objectives of this study as a yard stick for analysis and to make the study manageable, but
with adequate controls for generalization.
1.9 Assumptions
This study was based on the following assumptions:
Those most academic libraries have now adopted Cloud Computing technology and it is use for
service delivery in various sections of the library. That the information from the Sample
population will represent the diversity of the larger populations. That there are benefits for
adopting cloud computing to the academic libraries of Kaduna State.
1.10 Theoretical framework
In research, the essence of formulation of theories and models is to explain, predict and
understand an aggregate set of phenomena. A theoretical framework therefore, focuses on
introducing and describing the theory which explains the research topic by delineation the related
ideas together with their operationalization. However, this acts in conceptualizing the basis for
expertise, studying and designing methods to analyze a phenomenon. According to Anaekwe
(2007:22), “…theoretical framework is a structure that identifies and describes the major
elements, variables or constructs that organizes research work…” Models therefore, help
researchers in understanding the complexity of real systems by representing the main features
and dividing the larger system into manageable parts.
The study adopted Technology Acceptance Model by Davis, (1989). “The model explains that an
individual’s behavioral intention to adopt a system is determined by two beliefs: perceived
usefulness and perceived ease of use”. Perceived usefulness according to Davis (1989:15) as “the
extent to which an individual believes that the usage of a particular system would increase his or
13
her productiveness” at the same time as perceived ease of use is described as “the degree a
person believes that the use of a particular machine would be free of effort” (Davis, 1989:17).
The applicability of TAM in measuring the librarian`s acceptability of cloud computing
technology as well as the probability of using the technology can sum up as follows:
Use of the TAM for understanding the librarian`s acceptance of cloud computing applications
and its potential futuristic usage is based on following assumptions:
1) When the librarians perceive the cloud computing applications to be useful and easy to
use, then they may have a positive attitude towards its use.
2) Whilst librarians understand the cloud computing applications as simple to apply, then
they will have an effective mindset closer to the usefulness of the machine.
3) When librarians have a positive attitude towards the cloud computing applications, then
they may use them frequently and intensively and may develop favourable intentions
towards using the cloud computing applications.
4) When librarians continue to use the technology that means there are benefits attached
therewith.
1.11 Conceptual framework
Miles and Huberman (1994:87), defines conceptual framework “as a visual or written product,
which explains either graphically, descriptive or in a narrative form the main things to be
studied: key factors, concepts or variables and the presumed relationships among them”. The
term conceptual framework can be “rudimentary or elaborate, theory-driven or commonsensical,
descriptive or casual” (p. 18). The goal of a conceptual framework is to categorize and describe
concepts relevant to the study and map relationships among them.
The significance of it is to help a researcher to outline the study objectives, develop realistic
research questions, pick out suitable techniques and become aware of probable validity threats to
14
the study. Conceptual framework has five functions: (a) to build a foundation, (b) to demonstrate
how a study advances knowledge, (c) to conceptualize the study, (d) to assess research design
and instrumentation, and (e) to provide a reference point for interpretation of findings (Merriam
& Simpson, 2000). All five functions are not necessarily fulfilled by the review or framework in
each manuscript, but often they are, and the functions would be the same whether the form used
is a literature review, theoretical framework, or conceptual framework. Building a foundation
requires using previous work in such a way as to demonstrate linkages, illustrate trends, and
provide an overview of a concept, theory, or literature base. Demonstrating how any study
advances knowledge uses the literature to present existing knowledge building a case that clearly
shows the gap in what is known that a study will address. The common function of
conceptualizing a study occurs by describing hypothesis and propositions of previous studies,
defining terms, and clarifying assumptions and limitations citing relevant work to build a
rationale for a study.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
VARIABLE
DEPENDENT
Acceptability cloud computing
Adoption of cloud
Benefits of cloud
Challenges of cloud
Library services
INTERVENING
VARIABLES
Internet connectivity
Electricity
ICT Facilities
Funding
Figure: 1.1: Conceptual Framework researcher (2018)
15
Information dissemination,
Information storage and
retrieval,
Information sharing
In figure 1.2, the independent variable is the acceptance levels, adoption, benefits and challenges.
Therefore, the independent variables can only make an impact when intervening variables are in
existence. The intervening variables are internet connectivity, availability of electricity, ICT
facilities and perception. The combination of both independent and intervening variables may
influence the impact of the dependent variable towards effective service delivery. The dependent
variable is the library service such as information dissemination, information storage and
retrieval and information sharing among libraries. In this case, acceptability of cloud computing
can only be achieved when both independent, intervening and the dependent variable work
together in a kind of symbiotic relationship.
In other words, illustrates the relationship between the various variables in this study. The
measurable aspects of the acceptance levels, adoption, benefits and challenges constitute the
independent variables. As an intervention strategy, this study explores the contribution of
Internet connectivity, Electricity supply, ICT Facilities and funding as the intervening variable.
Success in cloud computing is dependent on the perception and the implementation strategies
adopted. Adoption and use of cloud computing for effective library services among librarians
would bring about more linkages and exposure that would eventually result into an enhanced and
effective library services (dependent variable).
16
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
Academic libraries
these are types of libraries found in tertiary institution of
learning such as universities, colleges, polytechnics etc
Client Platform:
these are the device(s) used to access cloud resources. E.g.
mobile phone, tablets, laptop, etc.
Cloud:
Public or Semipublic space in the cloud used for
transmission.
Resource Pooling:
this refers back to the system which permits provider’s
computing sources to serve multiple clients or customers.
Scaling:
that procedure which allows for scalable provisioning, or
the ability to provide scalable services in the cloud.
Security
is the combination of confidentiality, the prevention of the
unauthorized disclosure of information, integrity, the
prevention of the unauthorized amendment or deletion of
information, and availability, the prevention of
unauthorized withholding of information.
17
CHAPTER TWO - REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1
Introduction
This chapter reviews the literature that relate to the subject of the study. The literature review is
organized according to the specific objectives of the study and are broken down into the subheadings; the rationale for adoption; areas where cloud computing can be applied for library
services, and presumed challenges of cloud computing adoption in academic libraries. The
purpose of the review was to provide an understanding of what has been done in the area of the
study and to discover other possible problems arising as a result of the problem to be studied.
The chapter concludes with summary of the research gap.
2.2 The need to adopt cloud technology in libraries.
Many researchers have found out the rationale for the adoption of cloud computing platforms by
libraries most especially academic ones. Goldner (2014), was of the opinion that, libraries that
transferred their services into cloud have chance to display their vast collections to unlimited
number of users globally.
Flexibility is important if a library has to maintain its character and yet be adaptive to inevitable
and unpredictable changes that happen at an accelerated pace. This calls for librarians being able
to provide a wide variety of information from an equally varied selection of sources and formats,
particularly with the prevalence of cloud use (Ambrose, 2015). The implication is for librarians
to work as complementary teams within the library and with other relevant departments and or
institutions (Christinger, 2017).
The benefits of cloud computing cannot be over emphasized despite the fact that most library
professionals face problems in the installation of software, server management, checking for
updates and configuration management, which has nothing to do with the core mission and
services of library. Even if the library software is launched, due to lack of necessary
18
infrastructure, complexity of software and lack of highly skilled library professionals, Online
Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) management is difficult. With the emergence of cloud-based
library management systems, IT support including installing hardware or the up gradation of
systems is circumvented.
Cloud computing has emerged as an attractive option for organizations, like libraries, that might
choose to focus on their core challenge instead of IT problems. This because cloud computing
has solved the urge for making use of constrained resources (Wale, 2015). Moving library core
programs to cloud-based services will reduce or eliminate most or the whole local technical
needs in handling server hardware and systems applications that underlie the applications (Luo,
2013). Cloud computing is no longer the most effective advantage that librarians as-customers
and organisation can benefit from. However, cloud computing still attracts libraries so many
ways such as how libraries should deal with price range cuts and unavailability of adequate
funds.
According to Christinger (2017), cloud computing provides colleges and universities with a
means to upgrade software and IT hardware attracting students and keeping pace with digital
technological developments. Scale (2015) puts forth his view that cloud computing is currently
enabling librarians to shift from the paradigm of ownership and maintenance of resources
towards the provision of access to information maintained and controlled by others. Although,
cloud computing involves more responsibilities and obligations of the service provider and the
client library need to worry about such things like local bandwidth, hardware and software
configuration as well as systems and software application (Prince, 2012).
Furthermore, Sorensen and Glassman (2015), cloud-based applications offer libraries new ways
to present information or offer services that were previously unaffordable or unavailable. Patel,
19
Seyfi, Tew and Jaradat (2012) have enlisted four core areas of cloud computing solutions in
libraries: technology, data-hosting archives, information and community.
Simultaneously,
various scholars have argued that cloud computing was already in practice before the concept
gained momentum and there are ample possibilities in the future. Hoy (2012) asserts that many
library patrons are already using cloud products such as Gmail, Google Docs and bibliographic
management tools for their daily needs. This is as against previous e-mailing services that are
provided mainly to a few members of the academic community with so many restrictions and no
online storage platform.
Cohn (2002) believes that libraries use database providers or integrated library management
system vendors who provide outside the user servers to host library software program and
information within the cloud. Romero (2012) argues that in the area of library automation, there
are numerous commercial vendors already providing different adaptations of their cloud services
which make the use of the cloud viable to a lesser or greater quantity.
Yunchuan (2014) have argued that, cloud computing can save an academic library's time and
money, but trusting the system is extra vital because the real asset of any corporation is the
records which they proportion inside the cloud to use the wanted services through setting it both
immediately within the relational database or eventually in a relational database via an
application software. This therefore, have indicated that data security and privacy is concern for
every user of cloud computing. Sun (2012), in an article and have discovered out that there are
some initiatives that are better applicable to cloud computing than others. Flexibility and price
savings are the exceptional motive for transferring projects to the cloud (Yuvaraj, 2015a).
Libraries as enterprises have benefited from cloud computing solutions in four core areas:
technology, data hosting archives, information and community. In a related development,
libraries as a community host center can apply, the concept and deployment of cloud computing
20
to strengthen the power of inter-library cooperation and to build a substantial and unified
presence on the web and the internet (Erenben, 2016). This can help libraries save time and
money by eliminating ICT-related headaches and allow them to take advantage of new
technology based on Web 3.0 (Christinger, 2017). Despite the numerous benefits that cloud
computing promises, its adoption faces numerous challenges. These challenges include Security
implications, trust between providers and consumers, legal considerations, organizational setup
and compliance requirements.
To this end, defining the scope and boundaries of the library services in the cloud, data trust,
privacy, migration and backups and competencies for cloud librarians is therefore necessary to
keep up to date with the issue of IT skills so as to be able to perform their duties effectively and
efficiently. The transfer of services to the cloud will allow libraries to share, to disseminate, to
collaborate with other institutions globally, regionally and nationally through consortium. The
rationale can be categorized into the following headings: technology improvement and data
efficiencies:
2.2.1 Technology improvements
Cloud technology was built on recent technological innovations and it is therefore necessary to
be design in such a way that it can be improve upon and be flexible enough to accept changes
due to technology improvement. A typical example is the use of handheld devices to have access
to variety of information resources and on the other hand, libraries use social media to render
library services effectively, efficiently with limited funds.
2.2.2 Data efficiencies
Geoffery and Walker (2015), propounded that all data that has been stored in the cloud platform,
libraries stand to benefit from it through easy retrieval and sharing of such resources between
21
users and collaborating institutions. Therefore, the necessity for data storage within the library,
its preservation and backups are hereby unnecessary. Collaborating libraries can share data
freely, effectively and efficiently.
Numerous scholars developed an intellectual contention of the interpretations regarding the
concept and implication of Cloud computing adoption in libraries. Yuvaraj (2015b) in Sadeh,
(2007:307) observed that “the widespread adoption of web search engines and other Internet
tools and services and the emergence of players such as Google Scholar and Windows Live
Academic in the scholarly information-retrieval arena have reduced users’ dependence on library
support to fulfill their information needs”.
Cloud computing and web collaboration are the two concepts that give new innovative
developments in library automation as observed by (Vaquero, Rodero, Caceres and Lindner
2009). Cloud computing enable for more optimal use of resource, and it simplify the accessibility
of information to be more effective and reduce unnecessary expenses. In other words, the
position of libraries to adopt cloud technology is solely based on its significant service-oriented
mission.
2.3
Areas where cloud computing can be deployed in academic libraries
Noa (2015:8) in a study titled “An exploratory study on factors affecting the adoption of cloud
computing by information professionals, have found that the behavioral intention to use cloud
computing was impacted by perceived ease of use and personal innovativeness”.
Libraries are moving their services via the cloud technology which provides access to unlimited
resources irrespective of time and geographical location (Mate, 2016). Clouding computing
technology provide enduring benefits to libraries by providing avenues to upload data into the
cloud with relative ease and security (Nandikishor, 2012).
22
According to Yunchuan, Zhang, Xiong, and Zhu (2014), in their article titled “Data Security
and Privacy in Cloud Computing” have found out that, Cloud computing environment provides
two basic types of functions: “computing and data storage”. The following possible fields were
identified by Yuvaraj (2015) as potential areas where cloud computing services and applications
may be applied in the library:
2.3.1 Searching Library Data:
Many academic libraries today have online catalogues and share bibliographic data with Online
Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC is one of the best examples for making use of cloud
computing for sharing libraries data. It offers different platforms for library services such as
circulation, cataloguing and classification, acquisition etc via what is called web share
management system.
2.3.2 File Storage:
To store data on the cloud a number of services are available such as Dropbox, Jungle Disk, Sky
Drive, Bitcasa Infinite Drive, SugarSync, Amazon Cloud Drive, OneDrive, Apple iCloud,
Evernote etc (Christinger, 2017). These platforms allow virtual share of the resources as well as
access to those resources remotely. LOCKSS (Lots of copies keeps stuff safe), CLOCKSS
(Controlled LOCKSS) and portico tools are extensively used for digital preservation purpose by
libraries (Yan, 2015).
2.3.3 Searching Scholarly Content:
Currently, Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) center has incorporated Knimbus
cloud service into its UGC INFONET DIGITAL Library consortium in order to search and
retrieve scholarly contents attached therein. Knimbus is cloud based research platform facilities
to search and share the scholarly content. It is dedicated to knowledge discovery and
collaborative space for researchers and scholars. Knimbus is currently used in over 600 academic
23
institution and R&D labs by scholars, researchers and scientists as well as over 50,000
researchers (Yang, 2012). Now Knimbus proposed a free offer to get registered to empower the
libraries for dynamic searching and also for single point search interface, maximum the usage of
all e-resources, customized search across selected sources reduces noise and highlights relevant
content and tools to support the complete research lifecycle.
2.3.4 Website Hosting:
According to Mavodza (2013), website hosting is one of the earliest adoptions of cloud
computing as many organizations including libraries preferred to host their websites on third
party service providers rather than hosing and maintaining their own service. Google sites serve
as an example of a service for hosting websites outside of the library’s servers and allowing for
multiple editors to access the site from varied locations.
2.3.5 Digital Library and Repository:
According to Christinger (2017), libraries can use Dspace or Fedora to develop and maintained
their digital libraries and institutional repositories. Another cloud technology is Dura cloud
which can provide all what is required for developing institutional repositories with a
standardized interface and open source codes for easy adoption.
To this end, academic libraries have various alternatives to choose from depending on where and
what service to deploy cloud computing to. This is in harmony with the nature of the library
service which the library wants to render to its users.
2.4
The Extent of cloud computing use in library services
Cloud computing has become an attractive option for organizations, like libraries, that would
prefer to concentrate on their core mission rather than IT issues. This because cloud computing
has solved the urge for utilising limited resources (Wale, 2015). Shifting library core applications
24
to cloud-based services will reduce or eliminate most or the entire local technical needs in
managing server hardware and operating systems that underlie the applications (Liu, 2013).
Cloud computing not only benefits individual end-users and companies but also attracts libraries
in many ways when they must cope with budget cuts and constrained financial resources.
Flexibility is important if a “library has to maintain its character and yet be adaptive to inevitable
and unpredictable changes that happen at an accelerated pace. This calls for librarians being able
to provide a wide variety of information from an equally varied selection of sources and formats,
particularly with the prevalence of cloud use” (Ambrose, 2015).
The extent at which cloud computing is used for library services cannot be over emphasized
despite the fact that most librarians face problems with software installation and it updates which
has no direct implication with library services (Yuvaraj, 2015a). Online Public Access Catalogue
(OPAC) management is difficult. With the emergence of cloud-based library management
systems, IT support including installing hardware or the up gradation of systems are
circumvented (Yuvaraj, 2015b).
Furthermore, Sorensen and Glassman (2015), are of the opinion that cloud-based applications
give libraries alternative channels to provide library services that are not available in traditional
library operations. Patel et al (2012:9) “have enlisted four core areas of cloud computing
solutions in libraries: technology, data-hosting archives, information and community”. This is as
against previous e-mailing services that are provided mainly to a few members of the academic
community with so many restrictions and no online storage platform.
Cohn (2002) believes that libraries use “database vendors or integrated library system providers
who provide external servers to host library software and data in the cloud. Romero (2012)
argues that in the field of library automation, there are several commercial suppliers already
25
offering various adaptations of their products which make the use of the cloud possible to a
lesser or greater extent”.
Sun (2012), in an article titled “Avoiding the death zone: choosing and running a library project
in the cloud” found out that there are some projects that are better suited to cloud computing than
others. Flexibility and cost savings are the best reason for moving projects to the cloud (Yuvaraj,
2015).
In addition, the researcher argues that pursuant of cloud computing would enable academic
libraries have a better understanding of the practical problems facing traditional library services
and LIS profession. Cloud computing would also enable academic libraries test practical
application of cloud computing for effective library services. The industry on the other hand will
have an opportunity to seek solutions to technical and design problems while enhancing the
production of new products and services. The practitioners will also have a chance to
continuously embark on quality improvement. And overall, such a collaboration among libraries
would ensure an on-going relationship and network between the libraries that form part of the
consortia and vice-versa.
2.5 Areas of concerns in Cloud Computing Adoption
There are several influential factors of adoption of Cloud Computing, the following factors has
been identified and analyzed the possible risks and opportunities according to thesis of Jlelaty
and Monzer (2012):
A. Reliability
Kim W, Kim S D, Lee E, Lee S, (Kim et al, 2009) stated that cloud service drop is an aspect
cloud computing. That outage is unavoidable and users should take it into account before
adopting Cloud Solutions. It might happen for a short or a long time, a few or many times. Even
26
large companies such as Google and Amazon experienced many similar cases in the past and
they will have many more in the future. In short, 100 % availability of the service is impossible.
Consequently, Kim et al. (2009) recommends that critical applications should not be taken into
the cloud. Actually, most of the applications hosted in the cloud are currently non-critical such as
back up and software testing. Moreover, users who are using cloud computing solutions should
make sure to have backup of their data in other places. Nowadays, cloud providers are trying to
avoid outage and promise a high level of availability in the Service-Level Agreement (SLA) and
try to compensate their users in the case of an outage of the service. This factor represents a risk
and it is one of the effective factors in cloud computing adoption. It will determine the kind of
applications that can be used in the cloud along with its adoption strategy.
B. Security
Users of Cloud Computing give the cloud provider full control over their data and they should
trust that this third party will take care of their business, secure the data, and do backups for
them. This issue can be partly solved by Service-Level Agreements (SLA) where the conditions
of security issues in the contract will be clarified (Benlian and Hess, 2011). Security issue is one
of the biggest doubts when users think about adopting cloud computing as the users do not have
their own data in their companies anymore. "Our findings suggest that in respect to both SaaS
adopters and non-adopters, security threats are the dominant factor influencing IT executives'
overall risk perceptions" (Benlian and Hess, 2011:341). However, Marston S, Li Z,
Bandyopadhyay S, Juheng Zhang & Anand Ghalasi, (Marston et al. 2011:180) asserted the same
idea stating that "almost 75 percent of IT executives and CIOs report that security is their
primary concern". However, Kim et al. (2009) argue that security issues is a concern in all
computer systems not only the cloud hosted ones and achieving a 100% secure computer system
27
is almost impossible as expert hackers will have new ways for breaking the security strategy in
any system.
Kim et al. (2009) the have argued that “we can enhance the security of the computer system by
hosting it in the cloud as we will have some expert people who will care about securing the
server and the computer system which might not be possible for small and medium companies”.
Moreover, the same technologies which are used for securing the on-premise computer system
can be also used in the cloud. Finally, the cloud providers today are employing the latest
technologies and the highest standards in securing their servers and hosted applications. "We
believe, however, that the clouds are not less secure than on premises computing systems" (Kim
et al., 2009, p. 2). Marston et al. (2011) also agrees that this issue is being enhanced now and it
also has some advantages by giving the company more control options over their data. In
conclusion, security issues can be seen as an opportunity and a risk at the same time, but it is
mainly a doubt as it is seen by cloud adopters and non-adopters. It plays an important role in
determining the kind of applications which are taken into the cloud and the industry type which
can adopt cloud solutions.
C. Performance
The main source of performance problems come from the connection quality between the user
and the cloud computing server, mainly when more users are connecting at the same time and
large amounts of data are transferred between the end user and the cloud server. This results in a
slowdown in the cloud service (Kim, 2009; Benlian and Hess, 2011). The performance issue is
an important factor which companies have to think about when adopting Cloud Computing.
Companies should measure their possible current and future bandwidth and processing
requirements before they decide to adopt Cloud Solutions. Performance is seen as one of the
main risks, and an important opportunity at the same time (Marston et al., 2011).
28
D. Scalability
Scalability is an important factor that should be taken into account in terms of performance. As
the requirements of the cloud computing users increase, the cloud provider should be able to
scale up their resources and infrastructure to satisfy the user's new requirements of storage,
processing, and connection bandwidth (Benlian and Hess, 2011). On the other hand, scalability
in cloud computing is one of the main strength points and constitutes an important opportunity
for institutions and organisations. As these organisations' requirements change, their
infrastructure will be scaled up or down dynamically providing a high level of strategic
flexibility.
E. Amenability and Physical Location
Since cloud computing is a fairly young technology, so far, there are no rules and governmental
regulations that really exist to set the boundaries and laws regarding the storage of data by
enterprises on third-party computing facilities that are shared with others. Moreover, some old
regulations already exist concerning the enterprise data privacy, access, and location without
taking Cloud Computing into account, and these regulations might be violated by Cloud
Solutions (Kim et al., 2009). For instance, while many countries have regulations concerning the
physical location of enterprise data, the cloud providers cannot guarantee the exact physical
location of the data, and even some of them have policies to hide such kind of information from
the end user. However, some companies are now trying to solve this issue and comply with the
local regulations specifically in the United State America. For example, Amazon Web Services
(AWS) has started a new service called the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud which allows users to
connect their own infrastructure to AWS computing resources. Compliance with regulation is a
29
real risk when adopting cloud solutions and it is being handled by cloud providers now. "Perhaps
the biggest factor that will impede the adoption of the cloud computing paradigm is regulation at
the local, national, and international level" (Marston et al., 2011:178).
F. Integration with other Services
Libraries need to adopt different types of applications from different cloud providers and these
applications might need to interact with each other. At the same time, some companies might
adopt a hybrid strategy of cloud solutions as public clouds have different characteristics from
that of private clouds. Consequently, the integration between the data from these different
applications needs to be achieved and this issue poses many technical and business challenges
for cloud service providers and cloud users (Breeding, 2012). On the other hand, Mashups
(Mashups are a web services providing data or functionality relying on different external
sources) can be a real opportunity in cloud solutions. Nowadays, we can see new types of
Mashups relying on cloud services; integrating two or more cloud services into one new service.
Amazon's 'GrepTheWeb' is one example of cloud mashups (Marston et al. 2011).
G. Environmental Issues
Environmental issues constitute a real concern for companies in this era as more regulations are
issued to minimize the carbon footprint organizations leave behind. A previous 'Forrester' survey
concluded that most workers in IT departments believe that the efficient use of energy and
recycling IT resources are important issues that should be handled properly and these factors
constitute the main element of green IT. Thus, migrating the IT functionality into the cloud,
companies not only reduce their IT infrastructure but also use the energy in an intelligent way
(Goldner, 2014). However, other researchers suggest that cloud servers are consuming a huge
amount of energy and not all cloud providers are following the best standards in energy efficient
consumption, consequently, moving to the cloud does not reduce the global CO2 emissions
30
necessarily (Kim et al., 2009). In conclusion, moving to the cloud can reduce the IT
infrastructure by sharing with others and cloud providers can follow best standards in energy
efficient consumption which might not be possible for the small companies as a result of the
economy scale, but adopters of cloud computing should make sure that these providers are
applying these environmental standards before adopting their solutions.
H. Cost
Cost is a very important factor and opportunity in Cloud Computing. "Cost advantages are the
strongest drivers affecting IT executives' perceptions of SaaS opportunities" (Benlian, and Hess,
2011:342). Similarly, Marston et al. (2011) are of the opinion that, companies need to spend a
big part of their balance on the IT infrastructure, while less than 10 % of their servers can be
really utilized, resulting in a big waste of money. In addition, these servers need to be replaced
almost every three years and need to be maintained and administrated, increasing the total cost of
IT operations radically. Cloud computing has reduced these costs remarkably. "Economies of
scale for datacenters cost savings can lead to a five to seven-time reduction in the total cost of
computing" (Marston et al., 2011:179). Furthermore, cloud computing reduces the cost of entry
for educational institutions in developing countries where they operate with little resources. By
adopting cloud solutions, educational institutions can use expensive business analytic software,
which require high level of IT infrastructure to enhance their service at relatively low cost, while
this kind of applications was available only for large companies or enterprises before. However,
other researchers point out some possible economic risks. Benlian and Hess (2011) argued that
there is a hidden additional cost in cloud computing more than the anticipated one. For instance,
cloud computing users might need to customize these common platforms to fit their specific
requirements and consequently they will be responsible for maintaining the customized code and
have to pay additional cost more than what they expected at first. Kim et al. (2009) asserted the
31
same idea and mentioned that adopters of the cloud computing take the “only pay for what you
use” into account and they forget about the other potential hidden costs. For instance, cloud
computing adopters cannot totally rely on the providers to administer their solutions and
maintain them, they still need to do monitoring of performance and availability of resources in
the cloud which require additional time and cost, moreover, they will need to pay for the
additional bandwidth they might use in the future. Finally, cloud computing adopters should
choose the suitable pricing strategy for the adopted solutions which fit their needs. For instance,
they might choose to pay per use, monthly, or yearly. In conclusion, cost is seen as an
opportunity as it reduces cost for cloud computing adopters but it still has some potential
reasonable economic risks.
I. Innovation
Cloud Computing is considered as an innovative disruptive technology and it results in new
types of applications with richer functionality than their in-house counterpart. The service helps
IT departments' employees to innovate new core business applications instead of doing the daily
backup and maintenance routine tasks. "Cloud Computing can lower IT barriers to innovation"
(Marston et al., 2011). This is therefore, necessary for cloud librarians to weight in their options
critically before moving into the cloud for effective and efficient library services and maintaining
their role as information service providers.
J. Technophobia and Changes
While many people might see cloud computing as an innovative technology simplifying IT
operations, some librarians might see it as a real challenging threat. They believe that it will be a
threat to their job security by outsourcing their daily IT tasks to a third-party company. Even
some companies might see cloud computing as a big change in handling IT operations which is
32
somewhat different from the method they used to follow for a long time in handling these
operations. Benlian and Hess (2011), confirmed the importance of these psychosocial risks,
stating that outsourcing IT operations by adopting Cloud Computing can result in the loss of jobs
and seen as a failure of the IT departments in conducting their jobs which would harmfully
impact the reputation of the IT managers. Consequently, IT managers might respond negatively
to the Cloud Computing technology. These psychosocial issues also affect the adoption decision
of Cloud Computing.
K. Cloud Service Model (CSM)
The kind of applications that can or cannot be implemented in the public cloud is an important
issue that companies should think about when they decide to adopt cloud computing. libraries
might have some critical applications which require a high level of availability with sensitive
data such as statistical results generated for their daily activities. These types of data might be
better if it is hosted in a private not public cloud. Similarly, other institutions like banks,
hospitals, ministries, departments and agencies of governments that have other types of
applications which can be taken to the cloud to benefit from its advantages. The public cloud
applications have different functionality characteristics from its private counterpart. They are
generally suitable for the common purposes' applications such as Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) systems, while the private cloud would grant more control to its owner
compared to the public cloud, and it will be suitable for customized applications. At the same
time, the private cloud can provide some of the advantages of the public one. "It is also clear that
not all applications are currently ripe for moving to the cloud for instance general purpose
applications (like office, email, collaboration technologies) are prime candidates" (Marston et al.,
2011:181). In this case we can have a hybrid cloud of private and public model-types depending
on the sort of applications. This strategy allows adopters to use the advantages of the two types
33
and has many other potential capabilities for example when the capacity of the private cloud is
exceeded we might start using the public as well by moving the workload from the private to the
public cloud. However, the hybrid cloud can bring some new technical challenges as both clouds
will need to have the same hypervisor, file system, and chipsets for their servers.
L. Time to Market
Another factor which should be taken into consideration prior to the adoption of cloud
computing is the time to market. Jlelaty and Monzer (2012), states that time to market with cloud
computing can be reduced from months to weeks or even days for the companies who adopt
computing services. The cloud services help to eliminate procurement delays for software and
hardware, the upfront capital and time investment for purchasing hardware for proof of concept
work, and accelerate computer power for when applications require running at peak loads. Time
to market cloud services by its providers can also be considered some success criteria where an
organization can launch new products much faster depending on its goals and culture.
M. Ease of Use
According to a survey conducted by Chief Information Officer (CIO) Magazine (2011), one of
the top-rated factors when evaluating cloud computing was ease of use where "senior and midlevel IT managers (both with a 63% incidence) are more likely to feel ease of use is very
important when compared to other IT professionals (46%)" (CIO Magazine, 2011). Moreover,
ease of use can be considered an important factor in cloud solutions as user experience in humancomputer interaction is a significant criterion when evaluating whether an application is
successful or not. The adoption of cloud computing will result in improving user experience
unlike traditional systems like grid computing. Therefore, ease of use can be easily achieved
because of Cloud computing and valuable resources can be easily accessed by its adopters.
34
In addition, the researcher argues that pursuant of cloud computing would enable academic
libraries have a better understanding of the practical problems facing traditional library services
and LIS profession. Cloud computing would also enable academic libraries test practical
application of cloud computing for effective library services. The industry on the other hand will
have an opportunity to seek solutions to technical and design problems while enhancing the
production of new products and services. The practitioners will also have a chance to
continuously embark on quality improvement. And overall, such a collaboration among libraries
would ensure an on-going relationship and network between the libraries that form part of the
consortia and vice-versa.
2.6 Global trends in cloud computing acceptance
As higher education institutions adopt business frameworks and terminology, academic libraries
try to show how their own activities can be aligned with institutional goals. This has led to
changes in how performance is measured. Instead of concentrating on measuring user
satisfaction, in itself, through user surveys and statistics, the demand to link library activity with
broader outcomes means that services are examined in order to show how their improvement
may enhance the user experience and, therefore, contribute to institutional goals such as
increasing remote access to library collections by the academic community. Cloud computing is
popular approach for information handling and stockpiling. By using the cloud advancement data
is taken care of and set away on the Internet continually. Data appears on client contraptions
(PCs, notebooks, netbooks, mobile phones, etc.) by chance as needed.
Cloud computing has transformed into a standard registering model to bolster changing generous
volumetric data using groups of thing PCs. It appears to be, from every angle, to be astoundingly
troublesome advancement which is grabbing vitality and is a promising standard for passing on
35
IT advantages as utilities. The assessment of cloud computing can oversee colossal data as
indicated by on interest administration.
Academic libraries began to develop and adopt cloud, led by technology and innovation inclined
companies. Many countries, led by the western nations have developed strategies to accelerate
the uptake of cloud computing. Developing nations have a huge opportunity to exploit the power
and benefits of these technologies provided the right frameworks and investments are in place.
The rapid development and adoption of cloud computing has primarily been accelerated by the
emerging computing technologies that enable reasonably priced use of computing systems and
infrastructures as well as mass storage capabilities. The possibility of outsourcing computing
resources that have the potential to scale-on demand with little or no up-front IT infrastructure
investment costs makes cloud computing very attractive to organizations, particularly smaller
entities.
African countries have introduced cloud computing at different levels according to a study
conducted by ITU in 2012. There are very many initiatives by individual countries to upgrade
and revise legislative and regulatory frameworks with particular emphasis on the following:
•
Transposition to the national level of regional or international texts on data protection;
•
Revision of the relevant legislation to take account of the status of data hosted in the
cloud;
•
Strengthening of legislation, codes of conduct and standards applicable to the ICT sector;
•
Clarification of relations between data centre managers, cloud computing and data
protection.
South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are still the leading countries in use of cloud computing in SubSaharan Africa as of the year 2016. According to a survey carried out by Cisco and World Wide
Worx (2012). The study found that 50% of South Africa’s medium and large businesses
36
including tertiary institutions were using cloud services, compared to 48% in Kenya and 36% in
Nigeria.
South Africa currently leads the continent in Cloud computing uptake, but appears to not be
growing fast enough to retain that position in the years to come. For Kenya, in addition to the
48%, another 24% of organisations in Kenya were considering adopting within a short while.
Rapid adoption of cloud computing in Nigeria and Kenya was mainly due to the growing
confidence of the IT decision makers in the technology and environment.
With regard to training, several African countries surveyed expressed priority requirements in
regard to the legal environment of cloud computing and technical considerations relating to
networks, IT and the management of data centres. At the level of the mobile operators, cloud
computing technology was already used by 33% of the African country operators surveyed,
while 23% of those operators had embarked upon its implementation. In the study, over 50% of
the economic operators such as big companies had already adopted cloud computing. A number
of countries had more than one operational data centre: Tanzania, Gabon, Burkina Faso,
Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Senegal, Cape Verde and Cameroon. A number of governments had
taken specific initiatives to promote cloud computing in their countries. These countries were
Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Gabon, Mali, Rwanda, Tanzania and Togo. About
half of the countries had no legislation on data protection.
Despite the numerous benefits that cloud computing promises, its adoption faces numerous
challenges. Security implications, trust between providers and consumers, legal considerations,
organizational setup and compliance requirements are some of the common research challenges.
Despite these misgivings, the pressure to justify the continued funding of academic libraries both
to their own institutions and to government is the major challenge facing many directors of
academic libraries. The digital age and the expansion of student numbers have led to many
37
changes over the years to create avenues to increase access to library resources. Some of the
ways in which libraries are attempting to adapt to the changing market and show how they
enhance the user experience is cloud computing.
2.7 Cloud computing in Nigeria
Cloud computing presents a shift of control from the traditional way of organisations owing their
respective data centre/infrastructure to a resolve on resource sharing thereby cutting down the
cost of running businesses. The service could be provided using an enterprise’s data centre, or
that of a cloud provider. Major Cloud providers in Nigeria are Microsoft, Google and
International Business Machines (IBM). They render services as cloud providers. This is done by
them in two ways – either providing services directly to organizations or via partnership with
other IT/service provider firms (Nnadozie, 2013).
IBM is currently managing the data centre of Airtel (Nigeria). This implies that if the
telecommunication industries outsource their infrastructure to a major cloud solution provider as
Airtel had done, cost of rendering services have drawn down drastically which invariably lead to
less pay in making use of their data services. To further enhance Nigerian businesses, IBM is
partnering with Sunnet technology solution provider to offer universities and banks a dynamic
infrastructure and cloud computing solution that would enable these institutions to ensure that
their infrastructural risks are well managed to promote their efficiency and reduce cost of
running their services.
Google (Nigeria) offers lots of cloud computing services organisations including banks,
hospitals, universities and colleges and rendering enormous support to its clients and partners.
Google Apps messaging tools which include email, calendar, and instant messaging solutions
helps people to communicate and stay connected anytime anywhere as they wish (Okwoli,
38
2015). With Google Apps Engine cloud platform, data is never lost and searches can easily be
performed with much data storage space available to each user anywhere anytime for hosting
documents of different formats, and for easy downloads, enabling secure Realtime collaboration
among workgroups, etc. For example, Gmail provides each user with up to 10GB inbox storage
space in the cloud, which is quiet enormous. There are several communication problems which
have hampered the smooth take off of cloud computing in Nigeria. Some of these problems
range from broadband to backbone infrastructure.
In Nigeria, the present system in most academic libraries, the IT department is responsible for
meeting the needs of all members of the academic community (staff and students), the IT
department receives all request from faculties and departments for whatever service is required.
The department manages services such as installations and activation students and staff email
accounts. With the adoption of cloud computing it will allow users to perform their tasks at the
comfort of their location. Cloud computing applications offers a technology that can any
foreseen challenges which may lead to loss of data as it provides a platform for storage and
recovery in case of eventualities. This is because, servers where data storage are being made are
not physically present in the building and the service providers have some better and more
advance modules for backup and recovery plans that are better than academic libraries can
provide (Ume, A., Bassey, A., & Ibrahim, H. (2012).
Nigeria the most populated country in Africa with over 187 million people has being described
as the largest growing market in Africa’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
market in terms of internet usage and mobile/fixed line subscriptions (Federal Ministry of
Communication Technology, Nigeria, 2013). Electronic communication has become the standard
of communication in developed countries and they also fast approaching making e-
39
communication the standard. This makes ICT a key factor for the much-needed poverty
reduction and economic developing world.
The emergence of cloud computing is enabling vendors in Nigeria to build services on cloud and
customers are able to deploy services from multiple providers with fewer complications and less
risk of integration issues. A collaborative environment in cloud computing enable vendors to
respond to current cloud challenges, and future cloud technology will become a viable option for
averagely sized firms that are yet to embrace the cloud (Abba, 2014). A rich environment in the
cloud will force interplay of competition and cooperation in the technology industry, thereby
enabling cloud providers to produce services catering to specialized needs. The state of Nigeria
in the cloud ecosystem is further analysed in the next section.
Consumers: emerging businesses and companies who utilizes online services and database such
as banks, firms, academic libraries and their parent oganisation and government ministries in
Nigeria constitutes the cloud ecosystem’s consumer that utilizes the cloud infrastructure majorly
for their day to day activities (Dahunsi and Owoseni 2015). In a country with a population of
more than 187 million people, the offerings can boost the productivity and provide improved
services to most if not all. Some of the many things the cloud can offer to consumers in Nigeria
includes;
i.
Bridging the digital divide
ii.
e-services such as e-finance, e-commerce, e government, Telemedicine and emedicine Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) amongst many others
iii.
Research and Collaborative purposes
iv.
Reduction in Environmental degradation by using e-communication and e-learning
v.
Disaster recovery and emergency response
vi.
Storage capabilities
40
Infrastructure: one major challenge faced by cloud computing in the country is lack of adequate
infrastructure on which the cloud runs such as electricity, fast internet connectivity, backbone
networks etc. Availability of electrical power in the country is also a major problem which is
why minimal data centers are being planted in the country (Dahunsi and Owoseni 2015). Most
consumers and third-party vendors prefer to partner with data centres outside the country with
guaranteed infrastructure than with ones within the country or at least have a backup with data
centers abroad. Lack of adequate infrastructure affects the expansion and installation of data
centers all over the country. The data centres within the country are concentrated in Lagos where
there is a lot of backbone access due to its proximity to the sea and a landing point to backbone
solution providers who provide fibre optic interconnection worldwide (Ogunruku, 2014).
The backbone network presently in Nigeria is mainly made up of wireless connections which are
limited and more error prone compared to wired connections. The government needs to ensure
that an adequate broadband network is available and assessable to most Nigerians. There is also
insufficient internet penetration in the country. No hardware IT infrastructure manufacturing
company is located within Nigeria, therefore every infrastructure required have to be imported
into the country.
Engineers and skilled personnel within the country are not trained first hand but rather most are
trained by other trainers. Most cloud solution and service providers in Nigeria are Third-party
vendors and they serve as intermediaries between end users and the source providers of cloud
services.
Some of the following suggestions were provided by many researchers as possible solutions to
the mentioned challenges encountered at the cause of adoption of cloud computing:
To ensure self-reliance in the ICT cloud computing it is important that there should be skilled
work force in ICT field. This might be challenging to obtain because firstly, there is huge brain
41
drain in Nigeria, particularly amongst citizens working abroad in ICT related fields. There is
poor funding of academic and research institutions (Cenon, 2012).
Building Infrastructures: The government should make ICT one of its priorities in the area of
developmental growth so that they can invest into technological growth of the country thereby
improving on the availability of power supply which is the major backbone of ICT. With
efficient power supply the cloud providers will implement data centers in the country with faster
access rate instead of accessing it from a distance country (Dahunsi, M. and Owoseni, T. M.,
2015).
Availability of user devices and ICT devices: Thin and thick clients are user devices which are
required tools to access the cloud and make use of the opportunities and services it is offering.
The government should encourage investors to establish ICT manufacturing companies to cater
for more than 100 million potential users of the cloud in the country (Abba, 2014).
Research and Development: Increase in research activities in cloud computing should be
encouraged in research institutions by sponsoring research grants and scholarships to
postgraduate students interested in the area for research. Research fellows in cloud Computing
could also be sponsored to research facilities where they have established hardware infrastructure
and software exposure and capabilities (Dutta, 2017). Academic institutions in the country
should be encouraged to have cloud network laboratory in their universities and teach it to
students and all interested. Workshops and Seminars can also be organized with experts in the
fields. Cloud computing is one of the major secret to enrooted of ICT and increase in internet
penetration to rural places of the country (Sultan, 2010).
Regulating bodies: There should be adequate regulatory bodies established by the Government
to ensure quality of cloud services and these have to be backed by Government laws and
policies. The Government has to be the major diver of cloud computing in Nigeria for it to have
42
an established and lasting footing and for clients to take optimal advantage of cloud services
(Abba, 2014).
Despite all these, cloud computing still remains a challenging technology peculiar to Nigeria in
particular. This is borne out of the fact that Nigeria falls short of the basic IT infrastructure
requirements (such as steady electricity, and poor internet connectivity) for the effective
adoption of the technology.
2.8 Challenges for adoption of cloud computing
Some of the most challenging issues in cloud technology are data security, resource ownership
and privacy. presently, there are no available guidelines on what produce, how to produce and
for whom to produce on the internet with regards to cloud deployment (Dutta, 2017).
According to Babu, Sarma, Vijaylakshmi, and Kalyankar (Babu, et.al 2012) in their research on
“improving the confidentiality of data stored in the cloud” proposed the need to ensure honesty
and integrity from cloud service providers. This is to protect the privacy of users and effectively
manage the integrity of educational data (Thomas, 2014). Most technologies are often easy but
times users find it hard to adopt due the processes involved and the issue of technophobia
(Adams, 2012).
Data security has consistently been a major issue in IT. Data security becomes particularly
serious in the cloud computing environment, because data are scattered in different machines and
storage devices including servers, PCs, and various mobile devices such as wireless sensor
networks and smart phones. Data security in the cloud computing is more complicated than data
security in the traditional information systems. To make the cloud computing be adopted by
users and enterprise, the security concerns of users should be rectified first to make cloud
environment trustworthy. The trustworthy environment is the basic prerequisite to win
43
confidence of users to adopt such a technology Latif (2014). Cloud computing can save an
organization’s time and money, but trusting the system is more important because the real asset
of any organization is the data which they share in the cloud to use the needed services by
putting it either directly in the relational database or eventually in a relational database through
an application.
Despite all the benefits that cloud technology provides, the level of acceptability still experiences
several challenges. These challenges include data security, integrity of service providers, data
privacy, data ownership etc.
According to (Mercie, 2015, p. 57), stated that the age of globalization is here and libraries and
librarians must evolve or die. She concluded that “...if you can’t use a computer, you can’t be a
librarian”. Because cloud computing has now replaced software, though, not entirely. However,
it important to note that, according to Moore (2014:23)
“…we must struggle not only to improve our libraries and services but, in many
cases, just to stay in business. It’s a struggle that many libraries are losing, and that
many more will lose unless we improve our relations with our users using whatever
technology possible...”
Carl Grant (2017) at the ALA annual conference in Anaheim opined that these “new Cloud
computing platforms are the technological foundations of that great age of librarianship.
They’re going to let us define new and better librarianship based services that will truly
give us the capability to differentiate ourselves from other information end-user services”.
It is therefore necessary to note that guidelines on how the technology should be adopted must be
followed in order to achieve maximum benefits of the technology.
Cloud computing come along with it numerous features which deserve a kin attention such as
issues of trusting the system. The trust of the entire system depends on the data protection and
prevention techniques used in it. Numerous different tools and techniques have been tested and
44
introduced by the researchers for data protection and prevention to gain and remove the hurdle of
trust but there are still gaps which need attention and are required to be lined up by making these
techniques much better and effective.
It is clear that while research holds the key to the development of any discipline, there are still a
myriad of issues revolving cloud computing adoption and use for effective library services.
However, it is important to note that majority of the impediments are personal and therefore can
easily be mediated through sensitization, training and encouragement. Therefore, all is not lost
and the potential for cloud computing adoption and use will continue to grow uninterrupted.
2.9
Summary of the research gap.
This chapter explored in depth the related literatures on the adoption and use of cloud computing
for library services. This was done under four themes viz, the need for adoption; the perceived
areas where of cloud computing can be deployed; the extent of usage of the technology and
presumed challenges to be faced towards adoption and appropriate utilization of cloud
computing.
While there exists literature on cloud adoption in libraries, there is limited mention of existing
acceptability levels of cloud computing by librarians. The challenges encountered in cloud
adoption in academic libraries for growing economies like Nigeria is also lacking in the reviewed
literature. Also, despite the existence of adoptions of cloud computing by libraries, there is no
universally agreed framework on what to adopt and what not to adopt by academic libraries. In
view of the above, this research aims at exploring the issues surrounding acceptability levels and
use of cloud computing for effective library services by librarians in order to determine the
existing acceptability levels and practices, challenges of adoption, potential areas where cloud
45
computing can be deployed to enhance effective services and propose sustainable adoption
research framework.
By and large, it has been revealed that much works has been done in this area of cloud
computing and its application for effective library services, but, there are very few works done in
Nigeria and particularly academic libraries. This revelation has offered the opportunity for the
researcher to fill the missing gap with information on adoption of cloud computing for effective
library services in academic libraries of Kaduna state, Nigeria.
46
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This section was organised into the following broad sub-headings: research design, variables,
research methodology, location of the study, population of study, sampling techniques, sample
size, research instruments, pre-testing/piloting, validity and reliability of data collection
instruments, data analysis, data collection technique and logistical and ethical considerations.
3.2 Research design
According to Ekeh (2003) a survey research design observes both large and small populations,
and by way of choosing and studying samples selected from the population, it allows to find out
the relative occurrence, distribution and interrelations of variables. Descriptive survey design
was used due to its consistency quantitative and qualitative data and statistically analyses the
facts to describe tendencies about responses to questions and to analyse research questions or
hypotheses (Creswell, 2008). Survey design is consistent with post-positivism paradigm, which
is pluralistic and allows the application of mixed methods. It is beneficial to use when
researchers seek to collect data quickly and economically, study attitudes, behaviours and
opinions as well as to survey individuals that are geographically dispersed.
This is consistent with the present study, because the institutions upon which the present study is
based are dispersed in different parts of Kaduna States of Nigeria, zone 1, zone 2 and zone 3
respectively. Survey design permits the researcher to summarize the characteristics of different
groups and to measure their attitudes and opinions towards knowledge management (Donald et
al., 2006). The reason for using survey design was to allow for the collection of empirical data
from the sample drawn in the three academic libraries using questionnaires, interviews, and to
47
analyse the data statistically to describe the state of acceptance and use of cloud computing in the
academic libraries. Survey studies describe trends in the data rather than offering rigorous
explanations.
3.2.1 Variables
Independent variables
These are the variables that are antecedent to the dependent variable (Kothari, 2004). The
acceptability of cloud computing, adoption of cloud computing packages, its benefits and
challenges towards achieving effective and efficient use of cloud computing. This factor cannot
be achieved without other collaborating factors which are termed as intervening variable
Intervening Variables
This is a control variable that follows an independent variable but precedes the dependent
variable in a causal sequence (Kothari, 2004).These are factors which are an integral part
required to complement the independent variables. The management support includes regular
and adequate funding, Internet connectivity, Electricity, ICT skills, Computer systems, technical
skills and Perception about the technology by librarians in the academic libraries.
The dependent Variable
This is the variable that depends upon or is a consequence of the independent variable (Kothari,
2004).The library services to be delivered via cloud computing package are the dependent
variable. These services include but not limited to the followings: information dissemination;
information storage and retrieval and information sharing. The effective use of the technology
solely depends on the systematic combination of the available independent and intervening
variables. This combination will therefore, give room to deliver services to the library users with
the use of the technology.
48
3.3 Research methodology
Mixed method research will be used in the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be
collected. The quantitative data will be collected through questionnaire and the qualitative data
will be obtained through interviews.
3.4 Location of the study
The study was carried out in three (3) tertiary institutions of Kaduna state. Kaduna state is
located in the north-west zone of Nigeria. The zone comprises of the following states: Kaduna,
Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara state. These libraries include Kaduna state
University library, Kaduna, Nuhu Bamalli polytechnic Zaria Library, Kaduna state College of
Education Library, Gidan waya.
According to Singleton (1993:22), “an ideal setting for any study is one that is easily accessible
to the researcher and one which permits instant affinity between the researcher and the
respondents”. Kaduna state is selected because of its accessibility and cloud computing has been
adopted by the institutions libraries. Similarly, Kaduna state which is an inclusive state that
mostly posed high prevalent of institutions of higher learning and thus earned its name as the
“Centre of learning” (Gwazah, 2011).
3.5 Target population
The target population will be from three (3) academic libraries in the state. There is one (1)
University librarian and two (2) college librarians (these are heads of the academic libraries).
There are One Hundred and thirty (130) librarians across the selected university and college
libraries in their various sections.
49
Table 3.1: population according to institution
Institutions
Kaduna state university, Kaduna.
Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria.
Kaduna State College of Education (KSCOE) Gidan Waya.
Total
Total number of
librarians
65
35
30
130
Head of libraries
1
1
1
3
3.6 Sampling techniques and sample size
3.6.1 Sampling Techniques
Convenience sampling method has been used to draw the sample size of the librarians in the
academic libraries. The librarians were identified at their duty post based on convenient,
accessibility and availability during data collection. The study has covered the all the head of the
libraries i.e one (1) university librarian and
two (2) college librarians from each of the three
tertiary institution libraries to be interviewed.
Table 3.2: Sampling Frame
Institutions
Kaduna state university, Kaduna.
Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria.
Kaduna State College of Education (KSCOE) Gidan Waya.
Total
Total number of
librarians
65
35
30
130
Head of libraries
1
1
1
3
3. 6.2 Sample Size
The determination of the sample size will be based on Krejcie and Morgan Sample Size
Determination Table for ±5% precision level and 95% confidence level. (Krejcie and Morgan
(1970), Israel, (2013). The total population of respondents is 130 therefore; the sample size for
this population across all sections will be 97 as reflected in the table. See Appendix 1
NxS
TP
50
Table 3.3: Sample size for librarians
Institutions
Kaduna state university, Kaduna.
Nuhu Bamalli polytechnic, Zaria.
Kaduna State College of Education (KSCOE) Gidan waya.
Total
Total number
of librarians
65
35
30
130
Sample
size
49
26
22
97
HoL*
1
1
1
3
*Head of libraries to be interviewed
To proportionately stratify the sample size of 97 from the total population of 130, the researcher
has adopted the method given by Anaekwe (2007) in his book titled “basic research methods and
statistics in education and social sciences”. Example:
Kaduna state university
Nuhu Bamalli polytechnic
KSCOE
=
65 x 97 = 49
130
35 x 97 = 26
130
30 x 97 = 22
130
Therefore, the total sample size will be 49+26+22= 97
3.7 Research Instruments
This study used two instruments for data collection which include the following:
•
Interview schedule for one (1) University librarian and two (2) College librarians
•
One set of questionnaire each for librarians.
3.8 Pilot Study
Thabane et al (2010) defines a pilot study as an investigation designed to test the feasibility of
methods and procedures for later use on large scale or to search for possible effects and
association that may be worth follow up in the subsequent study. Pilot studies are carried out in
51
research so as to identify loopholes in the instruments, variables and respondents’ dynamics
which may have a bearing on the validity and reliability of data. Prior to the study, the researcher
undertook a pilot study at Federal College of Education, Zaria on 30 librarians randomly
sampled. The sample possessed similar characteristics with the target population. The pilot study
thus gave baseline information for improvement on different aspects of the methodology,
particularly in relation to validity and reliability of the instruments.
The initial questionnaire appeared to have been complex due to the technical language used. As a
result of the difficulty experienced in the completion of the questionnaire during the pilot study,
the technical language used in the construction of the questionnaire was simplified for ease of
understanding. Besides, some of the questions which appeared to have been repeated, making the
original questionnaire cumbersome and therefore scary to some respondents to complete, were
revised to enable positive attention to the questionnaire for the actual data collection.
Results from the pretesting helped to test vagueness in the questions, helped to find out how long
it would take to fill in the questionnaire/conduct the interview and helped establish the usefulness
of the contents. The data collection instruments were then adjusted accordingly.
Table 3.4: Pre-testing Questionnaires Distribution, Completion Rate and Response
Respondents
category
No of
questionnaires
distributed
No of
questionnaires
returned
%
response
Librarians
30
30
100
Average
%
completion
rate
100
3.9 Validity and reliability
3.9.1 Validity
The validity refers to the extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure. The
validity of a test is therefore dependent on the purpose. This implies that a test, which is valid for
52
one purpose may not be valid for another. Whereas reliability on the other hand is concerns on
how far a particular test, procedure or tool like questionnaire will produce similar results in
different circumstances. To ensure content validity of the research instruments, the researcher
used a content validity- which implies the extent to which a test measures both the subject matter
and the instructions. Similarly, sampling validity which refers to the degree to which a rest
serves as an adequate sample of the area one wants to measure. In other to ensure high content
validity, all questions in the questionnaires covered all areas of each variable and the objectives
of the study and a table of specification mapped out. The researcher also solicited for experts
help in conducting an item-analysis in order to comment on the representativeness and suitability
of the items in the instrument and therefore judged that instruments was valid to collect the
intended data.
3.9.2 Reliability
Reliability is concerned with the findings of the research and relates to the credibility of the
findings. Leedy and Ormrod, (2005:72) asserted that “reliability is the consistency with which a
measuring instrument yields a certain result when the entity being measured has not changed”. In
order to “ensure reliability of the instruments, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and ‘Split half-test’
was used, this involves splitting the test in two and the score of each half of the test will be
compared with the other. Therefore, reliability of data was established through the consistency of
results drawn from the pilot centre. Similarly, Cronbach alpha was also used to estimate the
proportion of variance that is systematic or consistent in a set of test scores. It can range from
00.0 (if no variance is consistent) to 1.00 (if all variance is consistent) with all values between
00.0 and 1.00 also being possible.
53
Table 3.5: Cronbach Alpha
Cronbach (1951)
Cronbach (1951) stated that satisfactory value of alpha is required to be more than 0.6 for the
scale to be reliable. As shown above.
(1-∑S2i)
α=K
K-1
α
K
∑S2i
S2
=
=
=
=
S2
Cronbach Coefficient alpha
the total number of items in the test
sum of items variances
the variance of the total test
This is to note that the alpha value depends on the number of items in the test or instrument as
well as on the average inter-item correlation. As the average correlation among items increases,
the alpha value also increases. Similarly, as the number items in the test increases, the value of
also increases. Gronlund (1976) stated that the longer the test, the higher the reliability. In other
words, the internal consistency appreciates with increase in the number of items in the test.
The alpha value for this study was 0.856. Therefore, variables used in this investigation were
deemed to have adequate reliability. As shown in table 3.4
54
Table 3.6: Chronbach’s Alpha Reliability test result
Cronbach's Alpha Based on
Cronbach's Alpha
Standardized Items
.856
N of Items
.843
5
Source: Researcher (2018)
3.10 Data Collection
Due to the expansive nature of the research locale, the researcher engaged three research
assistants to collect data on his behalf in the various institutions due the location and assistants’
knowledge of the respondents’. Prior to embarking on the research, the researcher had discussed
and briefed the research assistants on the purpose, procedures and objectives for carrying out the
research. What was emphasized during the discussion were basically on effective administration
of questionnaires, conducting of interviews. Documentary review and content analysis was
carried out by the researcher towards achieving a credible research output. The methodologies
applied in the research are as explained below:
3.10.1 Interview
This is an instrument used in eliciting information from respondent through some verbal
interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee. A request letter for the scheduling of the
interview was sent to the head of the libraries ahead of time. The nature of the interview guide
was unstructured in nature. Rather, it allows the head libraries to give their own opinion without
guidance or restriction. The conversation took the form of face to face interview. The research
assistant was able to transcribed in long hand not short hand and recorded the conversations as
well which were later listened to by the researcher for content analysis. The choice of these
55
methods was based on the geographical location of the institutions under study which is across
over three senatorial zones with the farthest 207.7 km away.
3.10.2 Questionnaires
Questionnaire is the most frequently used instrument in educational research (Anaekwe, 2007).
A questionnaire is defined as a set of questions or statement presented in a written form to a
respondent or group of respondents and to which they are expected to answer in writing (Olaitan,
2000). Questionnaires are easy to administer and economical in terms of time. A five-point
Likert-scales was used in this study as they are relatively quick and easy to code and interpret.
In other words, questionnaires were employed in the study because they are known to most
respondents and can be administer especially for this study where respondents were scattered
across three different tertiary institutions. Secondly, questionnaires were preferred because of
ease of analysis. the questionnaire for this study was administered to the librarians hand-to-hand
by the research assistants and librarians where given time to fill in the questionnaires at their
discreet time, which were later followed up by research assistants for retrieval.
A total of 97 copies of questionnaires were administered to the librarians in the 3 academic
libraries and 90 copies of the questionnaires were returned and this represent 92.7% return rate.
The return rate was
90
97
x
100
1
= 92.7%
The use of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22 enabled the researcher to
convert the responses into figures so as to facilitate analysis.
56
Therefore, the use of research assistants in administering the questionnaires have yielded great
results enabled the researcher to contact greater percentage of the respondents and collect data
effectively and efficiently, quickly and easily.
3.10.3 Review of Documentary Sources
The researcher reviewed relevant documentary sources regarding the adoption of cloud
computing, use and challenges, as well as to bring together background information about the
area (cloud computing) under study. The review targeted institutions strategic documents such as
annual reports, libraries monthly statistics, library handbook and manuals. The documentary
sources consulted were also helpful in bringing together comments ad opinions from different
scholars with different background as pointed out in the literature review.
3.10.4 Data Analysis
Descriptive statistical analysis deals with the methods and techniques of summarizing and
describing information (data). That is, it tends to describe incidences, events, qualities in the
elements. On the other hand, inferential statistical analysis is concerned with gaining knowledge
or information about a population’s characteristics (parameters) from the information collected
from the sample of the population. With inferential statistics, it is possible to draw conclusions
that apply beyond the actual subjects studied, thereby extending to other subjects not studied but
which belongs to the same population as those studied. In this way generatability of findings is
achieved.
In this study, thematic and explanatory data analysis approach was used to analyze data. The
themes were derived from the research objectives and research questions. Quantitative data was
analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Software (SPSS). Descriptive and
57
inferential statistical techniques were used to make inferences and draw conclusions and
recommendations.
As regards qualitative data analysis, the researcher focused on meaning, sensitivity of context
rather than universal generalizations and descriptions of phenomena rather than measuring
specific variables. Using qualitative approach, data was analyzed along the identified codes, first
by coming up with summaries. This method allowed data to be described effectively using each
participant’s own original subjective frames and expressions before moving onto interpretation.
All opinions and comments from the interview are reported verbatim and Inferences made from
the analysis led the researcher into coming up with conclusions and recommendations of the
study.
5 scale likert scale rating number was used to weight the responses for the purposes of analysis
in SPSS. The ratings are based on a scale of one to five. : (1-1.5) strongly agree, (1.6-2.5) Agree,
(2.6-3.5) not sure (3.6-4.5) disagree, (4.6-5) strongly disagree. For the purposes of interpretation,
ratings will be summarized as agree and disagree as follows: (1-2.5) agree and (2.6 – 5) disagree.
Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage tables, pie charts and bar graphs are used
in this research to allow for easy interpretation, and conclusion of the findings.
3.11 Logistical and Ethical Considerations
Ethics in research is premised on the fact that researchers are genuinely concerned with
impacting positively on other peoples’ lives and are not motivated by personal gain, in addition
to the fact that there are laws which prohibit certain research practices (Mugenda and Mugenda,
2003). Ethics is therefore, meant to protect the rights and welfare of participants and researchers.
This study endeavored to apply all the relevant ethical principles at all levels of the study
(research design, sampling, data collection and analysis).
58
The principle of self-determination means that participants have the right to decide voluntarily if
they want to participate in the study or to terminate their participation, therefore researcher have
attached consent letter to the copy of the questionnaire which the participant signed before
conducting the research.
• The participants in this study were informed verbally by the research assistant about the
nature of the study and what would become of the findings once the study had been
completed.
• Participants were informed verbally by the research assistant that their time and
willingness to fill in the questionnaires was voluntary.
• The researcher ensured that appropriate confidentiality procedures are implemented as
indicated in the consent letter and by not providing a column for names or telephone
numbers.
• Subsequent to data analysis and compilation of the research report, all these documents
were to be destroyed by the researcher.
Ethical consideration was made to avoid encroaching on the respondent’s privacy and freedom
by giving them time to fill in the questionnaire, maintain confidentiality of information which
was ensured by not requesting of their identity. All works are cited are acknowledged in
references using APA style 6th edition to avoid plagiarism. Logistically, the researcher has
obtained clearance for this study from the institutions under study.
59
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
4.1
Introduction
This chapter presents the analysis, interpretations and discussions of the findings. The chapter was
organized in accordance with the specific objectives of the study as well themes derived from the
research questions. The purpose of the study was to assess the acceptability levels and benefits of
cloud computing in academic libraries of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Data were collected through semi
structured questionnaires from 3 academic libraries in 3 institutions found in Kaduna State. In line
with the objectives, data is presented in four main sections namely: general librarians’ demographic
data, librarians’ perception on needs for cloud computing, perception on current use of cloud
computing and the challenges encountered.
For the purposes of this study, the head of the institutions libraries under study who were
interviewed are identified using code UL for University Librarian, and CL1 and CL2 for College
Librarians respectively.
4.2 Analysis of Demographic Variables of Respondents
4.2.1
Questionnaire Response rate per institution
The response rate from each of the institution under study ranges from 20% to 59% according to
the institutions respectively.The study targeted a total of 97 respondents out of a total of 130
population. A set of 97 questionnaires therefore were distributed to the librarians across the 3
tertiary institutions under study. A total of 90 out of 97 questionnaires were filled and returned
reflecting 92.8% overall response rate. Details are shown in figure 4.1. According to Mugenda
and Mugenda (1999), a response rate of 50% is adequate for analysis and reporting; a rate of
60% is good and a response rate of 70% and over is excellent. This means that the response rate
60
for this study which was recognized to be 92.8% was excellent and therefore enough for data
analysis and interpretation.
Figure 4.1 Response rate
Kaduna State College of
Education, 18 = (20%)
Kaduna State University, Kaduna
Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria
Nuhu Bamalli
Polytechnic, 19 = (21%)
Kaduna State College of Education,
Gidan waya
kaduna state
University,53 = (59%)
Source: Field Survey (Data 2018)
Figure 4.1 above gives a profile of the respondent’s institutions. Data indicates that 53 librarians
out of 90 representing 59% of the response population were from Kaduna State University, 19
librarians out of 90 are from Nuhu Bamalli polytechnic representing 21% of the sampled
population, while Kaduna state College of Education recorded 18 out of 90 responses
representing a total of 20% of the sampled population.
4.2.2 Age of the respondents
The researcher sought to establish the highest academic qualification of the librarians so as to
have a clear picture of their level of education. This is important for this study because it will
give an insight about their training so as to be able to use cloud computing judiciously. The
researcher also to find the age of the librarians and this is pertinent to this study because of
previous studies which the degree of relationship between age of librarians and computer usage.
61
The researcher sought to understand the age range of his respondents and educational levels in
relation to acceptability of cloud computing. Head of the institutions libraries who were
interviewed were not asked about their age and highest educational qualification because they
are not directly involved with the users. Therefore, age is not relevant to the study and as a
prerequisite for appointment to head an academic library, one of the requirement is having a
Doctor of philosophy in related discipline. Details in table 4.1 shows that most of the librarians
representing 31.1 percent (n=28 of 90) of respondents are in the age bracket of 26-30years, 25.6
percent (n=23 of 90) respondents are within the age bracket of 30-35years and 24.4 percent
(n=22 of 90) respondents in the age bracket of 36 and above. The age brackets of 21- 25
represent 11 percent of the total number of respondents (n=12.2 of 90). The least age bracket of
the employees are less than 21 years with 6.7 percent (n=6 of 90). This is important age category
because it constituted the very active working population. Previous studies by Harvey (2017)
established that the young adults were classified as aged between 21 to 45 years. In addition,
young adults are more sensitive towards acceptance of technological innovations than those
within 46 years and above Pepra-mensah (2010).
Table 4.1 Librarians age bracket
Librarians age bracket
less than 21 years
21-25
26-30
No. of lib
30-35
36 years and above
Total
Source: Field Survey (Data 2018)
Percent of total no. of librarians
6
6.7
11
12.2
28
31.1
23
22
90
62
25.6
24.4
100.0
4.3
Educational qualification of the respondents
The section explores librarians’ highest educational qualification and it was found out that most
of the librarians’ 50 percent (n=45 of 90) possessed educational qualification that ranges between
Higher National Diploma (HND), Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Library and Information
Science. It also indicates that 24.4 percent (n=22 of 90) of respondents have educational
qualification that ranges between National Diploma (ND) and National Certificate of Education
(NCE) respectively. Similarly, 13.3 percent (n=12 of 90) of the respondents have a Master
degree in Library and Information Science (MLIS), Master of Library Science (MLS) or Master
in Information Management (MIM). Accordingly, 11.1 percent (n=10 of 90) possessed
educational qualification of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and 1.1 percent (n=1of 90) of the
respondents have educational qualification of Secondary School Certificate of Education
(SSCE). Details are shown in figure 4.2.
The study findings revealed that the librarians had attained different levels of academic
qualification ranging from Bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Doctorate degree as indicated
in the figure 4.2 below. This was an implication that librarians in academic libraries had attained
training thus they were suitable to accept technological innovations like cloud computing. This is
in harmony with the research carried out by Buyya (2012), he states that “there is a significant
relationship between educational level and technology acceptance. Those with higher level
education tend to be able to conceptualize the pros and cons of a particular technology based
their rigorous training towards attainment of their relevant qualification”.
63
Figure 4. 2:
Librarians’ educational qualification
SSCE, 1= (1.1%)
Phd, 10 = (11.1%)
Msc,MLIS, MIM, MLS,
12= (13.3%)
NCE, HND,22 = (24.4%)
HND,Bsc, 45 = (50%)
SSCE, GCE, TGII
ND, NCE
HND, BSC, BA, MLS, BLS
MSc, MLIS, MLS, MIM
PhD
Source: Field Survey (Data 2018)
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the librarians’ acceptance levels and use of cloud
computing for library services in academic libraries of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study outlined
three objectives:
i.
To explore the perceived need for adopting cloud computing in academic libraries of
Kaduna State;
ii.
To identify librarians’ perceptions of cloud computing in the academic libraries of
Kaduna State;
iii.
To evaluate the extent of use of cloud computing in academic libraries of Kaduna state
The study was based on 90 employed librarians whose questionnaires were filled and returned
from 3 academic (Tertiary Institution) libraries in Kaduna State, Nigeria who .
5 scale likert scale rating number was used to weight the responses for the purposes of analysis
in SPSS. The ratings are based on a scale of one to five. : (1-1.5) strongly agree, (1.6-2.5) Agree,
64
(2.6-3.5) not sure (3.6-4.5) disagree, (4.6-5) strongly disagree. For the purposes of interpretation,
ratings will be summarized as agree and disagree as follows: (1-2.5) agree and (2.6 – 5) disagree.
4.4.1 Librarians’ perception on need for cloud computing
This section of the evaluation of librarian’s acceptability levels and use of cloud computing for
library services questionnaire was composed of eleven statements regarding general perceptions
of cloud computing in the academic libraries. Table 4.2 indicates the results from 90 respondents
from the 3 academic libraries in Kaduna State. Almost all the respondents 100% (Mean score
ranges from 1.56 to 2.30) of each item agreed or strongly agreed that all the rational factors
significantly influenced adoption of cloud computing. Table 4.2 shows that all the options below
are the needs which necessitated the adoption of cloud computing in academic libraries of
Kaduna state. The finding agrees with Goldner (2012), Buyya (2014) and Yuvaraj (2015) who
stated that the need behind libraries going cloud computing was to “ simplify workflows, meet
growing information need of large student, makes work faster and much easier, Cloud computing
keep pace with technological advancement, cloud computing provides opportunity for
collaboration and cooperative intelligence, Cloud computing provides an avenue for the removal
of local storage, Cloud computing make work more effective and efficient, Building significant
and unified presence on the institutional web repositories”.
65
Table 4.2 librarians’ perception on the need for cloud computing.
N
Building significant and unified presence on the institutional web
repositories
Cloud computing saves time
Cloud computing saves cost
Cloud computing simplify workflows
Meet growing information need of large student
Makes work faster and much easier
Cloud computing keep pace with technological advancement
Cloud computing provides opportunity for collaboration and cooperative
intelligence
Cloud computing provides an avenue for the removal of local storage
Cloud computing make work more effective and efficient
Others specify
Valid N (listwise)
Mean
Std.
Deviation
90
1.73
.577
90
90
87
87
87
86
1.87
1.83
1.70
1.56
1.61
1.98
.640
.838
.631
.499
.491
.797
90
1.80
.640
90
90
14
11
2.30
1.89
1.93
.988
.841
.616
Source: field survey (2018)
This means cloud computing has helped in time saving, information delivery efficiencies,
effective information storage and retrieval so also library cooperation and intelligence for better
decision –making in the academic libraries of Kaduna state. It also creates a platform for
innovation and sharing of intellectual conversations, ideas and knowledge. UL
“as you may know, the issue of cost was the most motivating factor to us. This is because we
have been operating on a low budget. By and large, even the entire institution is underfunded.
Therefore, anything that will give us the opportunity to render services to our users effectively
and with low budget we will adopt it”. CL1 “the main reason for the adoption was to keep pace
technology and to serve our user better most especially issues like emailing services which we
used to deliver services such as selective dissemination of information. It is easy and cheaper to
use google platform services like Gmail which we used to create corporate emails for our users
that allows them to have access to our electronic resources remotely and it give us the
opportunity to track who used what resources. This information helps us when we are to renew
our subscriptions with vendors”. CL2 “because it provides us the chance to save time and cost of
purchasing software that sometimes comes with difficult interfaces to understand and to modify
to our needs. Other reasons include scalability and data warehousing”.
Furthermore, the researcher attempted to find out what the libraries stand to benefits in the
adoption of cloud computing technology which has helped the libraries in improving the quality
66
of services to its users. This section tries to explore the benefits of cloud computing in relation to
its acceptability and use for library services. The questionnaire was composed of fourteen
statements regarding benefits of cloud computing in the academic libraries. Table 4.2 indicates
the results from 90 respondents from the 3 academic libraries in Kaduna State. Almost all the
respondents 100% (Mean score ranges from 1.68 to 2.28) and a Standard deviation ranges from
.470 to 1.056 of each item agreed or strongly agreed that all the factors significantly influenced
acceptability of cloud computing. Details indicated in the Table 4.3.
Table 4.3: Librarians perception on benefits of cloud computing
Cloud computing facilitate quick access to data
Cloud computing improves quality of library services
Cloud computing helps in high storage capacity
Cloud computing technologies helps in easy information dissemination
Cloud computing reduce space management problems
Using cloud computing technologies will create data security problems
Transfer the operation and services of library to the cloud will reduce
costs
Duplication of efforts in collection management are minimized and
network services sharing is optimized
Comparative intelligence and improved service levels enabled by the
large scale aggregation of data use
Cloud computing can help libraries collaborates with each other in a
facile manner
Cloud computing frees libraries from managing technology so they can
focus collection building
Cloud computing provide remote access to information everywhere you
go
Cloud computing results in the security enhancement
The adoption of cloud computing technology at the library helps to
activate new services
Valid N (listwise)
Source: field survey (2018)
67
N
Mean
90
1.79
90
1.68
86
2.08
83
1.69
88
2.26
90
2.20
Std.
Deviation
.662
.615
.923
.539
1.056
.851
90
2.18
.955
90
1.68
.470
81
2.22
.935
86
2.14
.960
90
2.28
.995
86
2.17
.960
90
1.96
.702
90
2.16
.847
73
These results are similar to the findings of Geoffery (2013), Gbaje & Aliyu (2014) found that
“with the adoption cloud computing academic libraries stand the chance to benefits from a
variety of services such as information storage, sharing, retrieval and other different approaches
of use”. Cloud computing enables organizations to deliver support applications and avoid the
need to develop their own IT systems. Other benefits include, cooperative intelligence and
improved service levels enabled by the large-scale aggregation of data use. Thus, Goldner
(2013), agreed that library community can apply the concept of cloud computing to amplify the
power of cooperation and build a significant, unified presence on the web. UL
“it provides us with the opportunity for additional space for storage and thereby provides a
solution against system crash and loss of data”. CL2 “the benefits cannot be over emphasized
one of such is a level playing ground for us to collaborate with other institutional libraries
bigger than ours with a very little cost. With this, we serve our users better through
collaboration, cooperative intelligence and referral services”. CL1 “we enjoyed the technology
for it gave us a chance to improve our services to growing number of our users, it also makes
our work faster. For instance, now we no longer rely on classification books to classify our
materials; what we do is that we accessed Online Computer Library Catalogue (OCLC) and
everything is there for you”.
4.4.2 librarians’ general perception of cloud computing
The second objective of the study was to explore librarians’ perceptions of cloud computing in
their libraries. The section intends to explore librarians’ actual use of the technology. The
research sought to find out whether cloud computing platforms in the libraries have actually
achieved what it set to achieved and the services have been delivered accurately and consistently.
The questionnaire was composed of seven statements regarding general perceptions and
application of cloud computing for service delivery in the academic libraries. Details in Table 4.4
indicate the results from 90 respondents. Almost all the respondents 100% (Mean score ranges
from 1.79 to 4.00).
68
Table 4.4: librarians’ general perception on cloud computing
Security is a big concern in using cloud computing application
Using cloud computing applications allowed me to focus on
delivering library services
Prefer to use cloud computing applications than downloading and
installing a specific software
Beneficial for the library daily works and services
Collaborating with library users to render services like (SDI)
Collaborating with other libraries to share information
Others specified
Valid N (listwise)
N
90
Mean
1.88
Std.
Deviation
.885
90
2.17
.838
90
2.18
.943
90
90
90
9
9
1.79
1.83
1.87
4.00
.814
.864
.767
1.500
Source: field survey 2018
The result shows that despite using cloud computing, security remains a big concern. Security is
a core concern for migrating to cloud computing solutions. This section was provided with
various statements drawn from the available literature to find out the perception of the
respondents on how they see cloud computing application in libraries. UL
“we are planning to expand our services so as to provide better and efficient information
dissemination by upgrading the technology so that not go out of business. As you know, libraries
are evolving we can’t be static as long as we want to remained relevant”. CL1 “we will continue
to adopt the technology as long as it remains available and affordable. That’s why we are
training our librarians to become cloud librarians so that the technology can be utilized
appropriately”. CL2 “the future is here, this leads to the need to understand the ways in which
modern library users interact with the cloud, and how library services may need to be modified
to fit into the emerging user patterns. These user patterns have a bearing on the collaboratory
work of faculty and librarians. The library’s participation in these platforms helps define the
evolving role of the library that is now complemented by the virtual space”.
4.4.3 Challenges of adopting cloud computing
This section intends to identify the challenges librarians encountered in the cause of acceptability
of the technology. The questionnaire was composed of ten statements regarding challenges of
cloud computing in the academic libraries. It indicates the results from 90 respondents from the 3
69
academic libraries in Kaduna State. Greater percentage of the respondents 76% and above (Mean
score ranges from 1.56 to 2.36) and a Standard deviation ranges from .499 to 1.186 of each item
agreed or strongly agreed that all the factors significantly influenced acceptability of cloud
computing as indicated in the Table 4.4
Table 4.5
Challenges of adopting cloud computing
N
Epileptic power supply
Slow internet connection
Lack of technical skills in hampering efficient use of cloud
computing in the library
Age can affect the use of cloud computing to reader library services
Irregular staff training and development
Data integrity
Data privacy
Data ownership
Any other please specify
Valid N (listwise)
Percentage
79
79
87.7%
87.7%
76
84.4%
76
79
87
87
90
79
84.4%
87.7%
96.6%
96.6%
100%
87.7%
76
Source: field survey (2018)
From the findings in the table 4.4 above, it is evident that those challenges still affects the level
of acceptability of cloud computing in the academic libraries of Kaduna state. This is in harmony
with the study of Latif (2016) “which discussed the assessment of cloud computing risks. He
propounded that, data storage, data protection and security are the primary factors for gaining
user’s trust and making the cloud technology successfully used”. The finding tallies with that of
Breeding (2012) whose study on challenges affecting the implication of cloud computing in
developing countries noted that the use of cloud computing in the libraries is challenged with
inadequacies funding, training of staff, recruiting the right staff to do the right job, privacy,
security of data among others.
70
UL opinioned that:
“cloud computing does save our library’s time and money, but trusting the system is more
important because the real asset of any organization is the data which they share in the cloud to
be use the needed by putting it either directly in the relational database or eventually in a
relational database through an application”. CL1 stated that “the major issues in the cloud
computing include resource security, resource management, and resource monitoring.
Currently, there are no standard rules and regulations on how and when to deploy applications
in the cloud, and there is a lack of standardization control in the cloud”. CL2 share the same
idea his words “data privacy, data location and data integrity, service disruption, outside
malicious attacks, and multi-tenancy issues”.
This implies that despite their acceptance and continues use of the system there are still
challenges based on trust issues and how actually the system works or where data is saved.
UL “our parent organization was able to provide our staff the chance to further their education
to be become what is called cloud librarians. This have widened their horizon and exposed them
to trends in cloud computing and provide the opportunity to discuss extensively with cloud
service providers on issues regarding data security and privacy”. CL 1 “with the limited
resources at our disposal, our staff were able to attend seminars and conferences with the tag
train the trainer and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has been very helpful in such a
way that funds are provided for projects which include alternative source of electricity”.
4.4.4 Ratings on level of use of cloud computing
The forth objective of the study was to explore librarians’ extent of use of the cloud computing
in their libraries. The section intends to range the actual frequency of use of cloud computing per
week, with responses from the librarians that ranges between 32% “often", 31% say “very
Often”, 23% say “occasionally” and 4.5% say “not often”. Details is shown in figure 4.3
71
Figure 4.3: Ratings on frequency of using cloud computing
frequency of using cloud computing
35
30
25
20
31
32
15
23
10
5
4.5
0
very often
Often
Occasionally
Not often
From the findings above, it shows that librarians are using the technology regularly despite the
challenges. This coincided with the theory that has been used for this study. according Davis
(1989), in his (Technology Acceptance Model) has also found that there is a relationship
between users’ beliefs about a technology’s usefulness and therefore that believe affects their
attitude towards the use of the technology. However, acceptability of the technology exhibits
stronger and more consistent relationship with the degree or frequency of use. In addition, an
individual may adopt a technology if he or she perceives it as convenient, useful and socially
desirable even though there are challenges attached or experienced while using the technology
(Saga & Zmud, 1994).
The researcher also sought to find out librarians’ levels of satisfaction with the use of cloud
computing to render library services. Responses from the librarians indicates 40% said they are
72
“Satisfied”, 25% of the librarians said they are “Very Satisfied” while the remaining 25% said
they are “Fairly Satisfied”. Details are shown in figure 4.4
Figure 4.4: Satisfaction on cloud computing
40
number of librarians
35
30
25
40
20
15
25
25
10
5
0
Very satisfied
Satisfied
fairly satisfied
The findings that satisfaction is influential in determining acceptability and use of the technology
confirms previous research such as Adams et al. (2014), which have highlighted that the
frequency to use technological innovations is significant in explaining technology acceptance
and subsequent use. This finding also agrees with Yang (2012) who stated that satisfaction with
the way cloud computing works will gives libraries the opportunity to use a cost-effective
platform to build a functional and efficient digital library. It implies that library services will be
more efficient. This is in line with Goldner (2012) who stated that as long libraries are satisfied
with the technology then they have nothing to hide but to disclose their vast collection to the
world to access”. This shows librarians are satisfied with cloud computing despite it challenges
that has to do with trusting the system as well as its integrity.
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CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter summarizes fundamental issues as established in the entire study and also makes
relevant conclusions and recommendations based on policy, best practice framework and further
research. These are derived from the purpose, objectives and research questions of the study.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate librarians’ acceptability levels and use of cloud
computing for library service in academic (tertiary institutions) libraries of Kaduna State, Nigeria
and suggest areas where improvement of services ca be made. The objectives comprised
exploring the need for cloud computing in the academic libraries, determining the librarians’
perceptions of cloud computing in the academic libraries of Kaduna State; evaluating the extent
of use of cloud computing in academic libraries of Kaduna state and to identify the challenges of
the adoption of cloud computing in academic libraries of Kaduna State.
The Research Questions that guided the researcher to interrogate the objectives of the study
included:
i)
What are the perceived needs for adoption of cloud computing in academic libraries
of Kaduna State?
ii)
What are the librarians’ perceptions of cloud computing among academic libraries of
Kaduna State?
iii)
To what extent do librarians use cloud computing in academic libraries of Kaduna
state?
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5.2
Summary
The following are the issues established by the study:
5.2.1 perception on the need for cloud computing
The need for the adoption of cloud computing in the academic libraries of Kaduna State was to
provide information to the members of the academic community who are spread across the state
and to equally make the information accessible remotely. Others includes cooperative
intelligence and improved service levels enabled by the large-scale aggregation of data use as
well as minimizing duplication of collections. However, librarians in this study acknowledged
the fact that most of them used cloud-based tools over traditional software to accomplish their
work. The analysis reveals that, in general, 100% per cent of the librarians have agreed with the
idea of the adoption of cloud computing by their academic libraries. It can be concluded that, due
to the inherent benefits of cloud computing, librarians have adopted the technology.
5.2.2 librarians’ general perception of cloud computing
The study revealed that a good number of the librarians are of the view that cloud computing has
the ability to address some of the many challenges facing the library services in the era of
technological advancement. This means that cloud computing has the potential to positively
contribute to the growth and development, effective and efficient library services. The findings
of the study also revealed that librarians are using cloud-computing tools in their daily works.
They want to adopted cloud computing in the libraries to improve library services and avoid
redundancy of works. Ubiquitous availability, economy and the various service layers are the
core drivers of its adoption in the libraries. The respondents showed their concern over security
and data privacy in cloud.
75
5.2.3 librarians’ extent of use of cloud computing
The study revealed that librarians used the technology frequently to render library services to its
users. Furthermore, respondents unanimously agreed that cloud computing enables librarians to
focus on their daily mission and services rather than being involved in information technology
operations. LIS literature shows that with the “involvement of librarians into IT operations such
as installation, configuration and updating, the day-to-day mission of libraries has been
compromised (Breeding, 2011; Corrado and Moulasion, 2011)”.
5.2.4 Challenges faced with use of cloud computing
Despite all the benefits that cloud technology provides, the level of acceptability still experiences
several challenges. The study revealed that these challenges include data security, integrity of
service providers, data privacy and the problem with data ownership. “Cloud computing comes
with its own set of standards, terminology and best practices that can be difficult to manage
within the traditional information security context. Although the Cloud computing industry does
not yet have any regulatory body, it is being governed by Internet regulations. Still, operations
face problems like data security, ownership, location, privacy and intellectual property”.
The general impression created is that cloud computing is viewed as a valuable technology both
for librarians as well as the service providers despite the challenges of trust and data integrity.
5.3 Conclusion
It is an established notion that library automation via the cloud is an unavoidable phenomenon
for libraries as long as they (libraries) want to keep-up with technological innovations and
meeting their obligations as information providers. Traditionally, libraries have tried to automate
their system purchasing servers and software, installing, updating and configuring them. Each
software product has its own design and defined workflows to meet its primary objectives. The
results of the present research indicate that librarians are using cloud computing applications in
76
academic libraries. However, librarians are also worried about data ownership, privacy, security
and legal jurisdiction in the cloud which have remained the major tailbacks in its adoption.
Academic libraries work under larger structures with different objectives and missions to support
their parent organisations. Academic library is a unit in an organisation (Universities,
Polytechnics, Monotechnic, Institutes and Colleges of Education). These institutions can support
their libraries by providing adequate finance to continue to use cloud-based services. For
libraries to be continually relevant, the need to continue to use the cloud technology to render
library service is paramount. By and large, it will continue to give libraries to opportunity to
make information more accessible than at any other time in history, thus meeting their
obligations as information providers.
5.4 Recommendations
5.4.1Policy recommendations
I.
There should be adequate regulatory bodies established by the Government to ensure
quality of cloud services and these have to be backed by Government laws and policies.
The Government has to be the major driver of cloud computing in Nigeria if it is to have
a lasting footing and for academic libraries to take optimal advantage of cloud service.
Technological advancement may not transform the cloud into a mainstream technology.
To motivate the expansion of cloud computing adoption, emphasis has to be laid upon
collaboration between the cloud service providers supplemented by solid cloud
legislations which need to be worked out. Right now, cloud computing is only guided by
internet regulations.
II.
One major challenge of the cloud is privacy issues. It is therefore necessary to read the
terms of service carefully with due diligence. Librarians must make sure that they are not
77
signing into anything they are not comfortable with. For example, “any cloud storage
company in the United State of America can be required to give the government access to
their files with a subpoena”. Librarians can take the advantage of a website called Terms
of Service – Didn’t Read, www.tosdr.org, the website tries to simplify “Terms of service”
into the easiest language to understand.
III.
To develop an effective and efficient cloud-based library, there is a need of librarian
training and practice to address the issues of cloud realities. This training will give the
librarians chance to make some informed decisions about which cloud service provider to
use as well as the opportunity to weigh their options based on several factors that can be
considered as guidelines for choosing a cloud service provider. These factors may include
the followings but not limited to, this include “the service providers” for instance,
Amazon web, Microsoft Azure, Google cloud platform etc. another factor is the “security
capabilities of the service provider” others include “compliance with existing
regulations”, “architecture” (how it can be incorporated into the library’s workflow),
“service levels” for example cloud Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
IV.
To make the cloud computing be adopted without prejudice by libraries and users, the
security concerns of users should be rectified first to make cloud environment
trustworthy. The trustworthy environment is the basic prerequisite to win confidence of
users to continue to use the technology. To adopt any cloud computing solutions in
libraries, there is a need for well-defined regulations as well as transparent policies. The
study can be used as a guideline by the libraries that are planning to adopt cloud
computing based solutions in the future.
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5.5 Recommendation for further research
I.
It is worth noting that academic libraries only constitute one segment among many types
of libraries which includes Public, School, Special or National libraries. A comparative
study of cloud computing in different libraries, as well as different cloud computing
platforms may therefore prove to be useful. It would monitor the different sectors and
avenues of cloud computing implementation and may help librarians to make informed
choices in terms of the implementation of cloud computing.
II.
More research work is needed in the area of building a trust between cloud service
providers and consumers and focus on issues of data security and data privacy which may
enhances efficiency and acceptability of cloud computing.
79
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APPENDIX 1: TABLE FOR DETERMINING SAMPLE SIZE
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APPENDIX 2: CONSENT LETTER
REQUEST TO FILL QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Sir/Madam
I am Iyal Usman a Master student at Kenyatta University, Department of Library and
Information Science. As a requirement for the award of the degrees, I am conducting research
on a topic titled Evaluation of librarians’ acceptability levels and use of cloud computing for
library services in academic libraries of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The aim of this study is to
improve understanding, acceptance and sustainable utilization of cloud computing for improved
service delivery in academic libraries of Kaduna State.
For the success of this study, your input is of utmost importance. Kindly spare some time to
complete the attached questionnaire. The information you provide will be handled with utmost
confidentiality and strictly for the study purpose. To this end, it is optional for you to provide
your personal information.
Thank you in advance for taking your time to assist me in this research.
Yours Sincerely
Iyal Usman
NB
Kindly sign here if you agree to participate in this study………………………….
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APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE ON THE BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING ACADEMIC
LIBRARIES OF KADUNA STATE.
UNIVERSITY/ COLLEGE LIBRARIAN’S INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
A- DEMOGRAPHIC DATA.
1. Name of institution…………………………………………………..
2. Year of establishment ………………………………………………
SECTION B
1. In your own opinion what is the rationale for the adoption of cloud computing in your library?
2. What is the current state of adoption (or plans for adoption within the next twelve months) in
your library?
3. In your own opinion what benefits does your library received from this adoption?
4. In your opinion what are the challenges encountered in the adoption cloud computing in your
library?
5. What support is your institution providing in relation to the above challenges?
6. Comment on the role your Library can play towards effective utilization of cloud computing
packages
Thank you
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APPENDIX 4 QUESTIONNAIRES FOR LIBRARY STAFF
A. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
INSTRUCTION- Please tick (√ ) the most appropriate answer to the following
1. Your Institution ……………………………………
2. What is your age?
a. Less than 21 Years
b. 21-25 years
c. 26-30 years
d. 30- 35 years
e. 35 years and above
3. Highest Qualification
a. SSCE, GCE, TCII
b. OND, NCE
c. HND, B.Sc, BA, BLS
d. MSc, MLIS, MLS, MIM
e. PhD.
f. Others (Please specify) ……………………………….
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SECTION B
KEY: SA= STRONGLY AGREE, A= AGREE, UD= UNDECIDED, DA= DISAGREE,
SD= STROGLY DISAGREE
4. Kindly identify with a tick (√ ) in your view, what is the rationale for adoption of cloud
computing in your library?
S/no. Rationale for adoption of cloud computing
SA A UD DA SD
1.
To build a significant, unified presence on the web e.g
institutional repositories
2.
Cloud computing saves time
3.
Cloud computing saves cost
4.
Cloud computing Simplify workflows
5.
To meet the growing information need of large number of
student spread all over the country
6.
Make work faster and much easier
7.
Cloud computing is the latest trend and the library want to
keep pace with technological advancement
8.
Cloud computing provides the opportunity for
collaboration and cooperative intelligence among academic
libraries
9.
Cloud computing provides an avenue for the removal of
local storage, maintenance and backup
10.
Cloud computing makes work more effective and efficient
11.
Others please specify
5. Kindly identify with a tick (√ ) the perceived gains, in your view, that the library stand to
benefits by their adoption of cloud computing technology.
s/no
BENEFITS
SA A UD DA SD
1.
Cloud computing facilitates quick access to data
2.
Cloud computing improves quality of library services
3.
Cloud computing helps in high storage capacity
4.
Cloud computing technologies help in easy information
dissemination
5.
Cloud computing reduces space management problems
6.
7.
8.
9.
Using cloud computing technologies will create data security
problems
Transfer the operations and services of library to the
cloud will reduce costs.
Duplications of efforts in collection management are
minimized and networked services sharing is optimized
Cooperative intelligence and improved service levels enabled
by the large-scale aggregation of data usage.
90
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Cloud computing can help libraries collaborate with each
other in a facile manner
Cloud computing frees libraries from managing technology so
they can focus on collection building
Cloud computing provide remote access to information
everywhere you go
Cloud computing results in data security enhancement
The adoption of Cloud Computing technology at the library
helps to activate new services
6. Kindly identify with a tick (√ ) in your view, what are the challenges encountered in the
adoption of cloud computing in your library
S/no.
Challenges
SA A UD DA SD
Epileptic power supply
1.
2.
Slow internet connection
3.
Lack of technical skills (human capacity) is hampering
efficient use of cloud computing in your library
4.
Data security
5.
Irregular staff training and development
6.
Data privacy
7.
7. Kindly identify with a tick (√ ) in your view, your general opinion about cloud computing
acceptance in your library
S/no
ATTITUDE
SA A UD DA SD
i.
Security is a big concern in using the cloud computing
applications
ii.
Using cloud computing applications allowed me to focus
on library services than being involved with IT bothering
iii.
Prefer to use cloud computing applications than
downloading and installing specific software
iv.
Beneficial for the library daily works and services
Collaborating with library users to render services
v.
Collaborating with other librarians to share information
vi.
vii.
others please specify………..
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8. How often do you use cloud computing applications in your library?
a) Very often
[
]
b) Often
[
]
c) Occasionally
[
]
d) Not often
[
]
9. How satisfied are you with the use of cloud computing applications in providing library
services?
a) Very satisfied
[
]
b) Satisfied
[
]
c) Fairly satisfied
[
]
d) Not satisfied
[
]
Thank you.
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APPENDIX 5: APROVAL LETTER FROM KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
93