Usability study of librarika management software in library services of a private university library in Nigeria

Abstract

Librarika Library Management Software (LMS), an integrated management software develops to manage library functions and services was evaluated. The study was conducted to determine the usability of Librarika cataloguing and circulation modules from the perspective of real users and three research objectives guided the study. The population of the study was 12 library staff consisting of eight librarians and four para-professional of the private university library. Usability testing method was adopted for this study and data were collected using observation and questionnaire from the participants. Results showed that cataloguing module was effective at acceptable level of good (66.67 and 75.00%), excellent for charging templates (83.33%) and best for discharging template (91.67%). The efficiency of cataloguing and circulation tasks were achieved at different times and participants were satisfied with the overall interaction with Librarika LMS. However, usability issues such as cumbersomess were also identified with the cataloguing module and circulation (registration template) modules. Therefore, the study recommends that cataloguing and circulation (registration templates) modules should be improved upon when designing and developing newer version.