A Survey of Digital Literacy Skills among Library Professionals in Zambia

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate digital literacy skills among library professionals in Zambia and to examine the extent to which digital skills are being used in libraries to enhance service delivery. A survey research design was used. This study was therefore quantitative in nature in which purposive sampling was employed to select a sample of 81 respondents out of a population of 346 librarians. An online questionnaire was developed using Survey Monkey for data collection and the collected data were analysed with the help of a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The study found that 24 (40.0%) considered their level of digital skills as basic, 19 (31.7%) perceived their level as intermediate while 17 (28.3%) considered their level as advanced. Therefore, digital literacy level among librarians is still low. Consequently it was recommended that concerted efforts should be devoted to incorporate digital literacy programmes in the institutions’ curricular, as well as more training programmes for librarians. The paper provides insight into the state of digital literacy levels of library professionals in Zambia. The results of this study would inform policy direction with regard to the development of new or expanded digital literacy skills programs and digital competencies essential for developing and managing digital resources and protecting digital contents.