A STUDY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) AND SKILLS OF STATE OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, POLYTECHNICS/MONOTECHNICS AND COLLEGES OF EDUCATION (OTHER TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN BENUE STATE

Information and communication technology has become an indespensible tool for effective information processing, storage and retrieval. Staff of academic institutions of all types are known for service provision to an elite clientel and require serious deployment of ICTs and great skills to increase efficiency in the way they serve the clientele.This study looks at the ICT skills of staff of university libraries and that of polytechnics/monotecnics and colleges of education in Benue State. The study identified the ICT facilities avaliable in these institution,compared the differences in ICT skills level between universities and other tertiary institutions in the state and variation in the trianing methods used by the staff of these institutions (universities and others)for the acquisition of the skills.the entire population of 248 library staff was surveyed with the useof a structural questionnaire by the researcher through the assistance of research assistants witin the period of two weeks. Results indicate a very sharp differencies in the ICT facilities avaliable, the skills acquired as well as the training facilities used for the acquisition of the skill in favour of universities. While university libraries have a good number of the staff possess most of the skills listed, staff of polytechnics/monotechnics and colleges of education show a paucity of these facilities and skills. While the staff of university libraries enjoy librabry sponsorship for some ICT skills trianing in addition to personal efforts, staff of other institution libraries acquire their skills through self sponsored efforts only. The study recommended the purchase of more ICT facilities and involvement in skills training by the authorities of polytechnics and colleges of educations. Staff of these institutions are also expected to purchase basic ICT facilities on personal level and engage in training more among others.