Application of Cloud Computing to Academic Library Services in Kwara State

This study examines the application of cloud computing to academic library services in Kwara state.

The population of the study includes library staff of the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara state university, Malate and Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State. Meanwhile, the University of Ilorin has a population of 57, Kwara state university 24, and Landmark University, Omu-Aran has 19 given 100 library staff. The research design adopted was a descriptive survey. The total enumerative sampling technique was adopted for the limited population. A researcher-designed questionnaire was used for data collection and descriptive statistic of table count and frequency was used as data analysis. 

The study found out that infrastructure as a service, software as a service, and recovery as a service is the type of cloud models adopted by academic libraries in Kwara state The finding of the study also indicated that google cloud, Alexandria, Duraspace, OCLC are the major vendors of cloud computing. It was also revealed that cloud computing applications to various library services like document download service; document sharing; digital preservation and scanning, social interaction were all done using the cloud.

Finally, findings of the research revealed that cloud management, budget constraints, hardware and software, technical skills required for maintenance, connectivity, and dependency on the cloud are the challenges that are facing cloud computing.