DIGITAL LITERACY AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES OF ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated digital literacy and information management competencies of administrative personnel in public universities in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study was anchored on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) propounded by Davis (1989) and the Information Literacy Theory articulated by Zurkowski (1974). Two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a correlational survey research design. The population comprised 1,247 administrative staff drawn from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State University, and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. A sample of 303 respondents was selected using Taro Yamane's (1967) formula and stratified random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled the “Digital Literacy and Information Management Competencies Questionnaire (DLIMCQ),” which was validated by three experts and yielded a Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.87. Data were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and simple linear regression analysis at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that digital literacy competencies significantly predicted records management efficiency (R = .612, p < .05) and knowledge organisation performance (R = .581, p < .05) of administrative personnel in the studied institutions. The study concluded that digital literacy is a critical determinant of information management performance among administrative personnel in Nigerian public universities. It was recommended that university administrations should invest in periodic digital literacy training programmes and establish functional digital information management systems to enhance administrative productivity.