Shuaib Agboola Olarongbe, Yusuf Ayodeji Ajani and Ganiat Adebola Kosoko-Oyedeko
The study examines the relevance of Big Data in the context of library management within the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) landscape. The study concentrates on exploring the awareness, perspectives, and expected challenges faced by librarians as they strive to incorporate Big Data into their library operations. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative methodology was employed, involving the administration of open-ended questionnaires to librarians from six selected federal universities located in Southwest Nigeria. The findings of this research highlight that a significant proportion of librarians are well-acquainted with the relevance of Big Data and its potential to positively revolutionize library services. Librarians generally express favourable opinions concerning the relevance of Big Data, acknowledging its capacity to enhance decision-making, optimize services, and deliver personalized user experiences. Concurrently, they are cognizant of the challenges surrounding data privacy, data quality assurance, and ethical considerations. Among the challenges foreseen by librarians are concerns regarding data privacy, the assurance of data accuracy, the demand for adequately trained personnel, the scalability of systems, data security, and the effective integration of data from diverse sources. The study recommends that Policymakers should prioritize ethical data handling and the safeguarding of user privacy while allocating resources for comprehensive librarian training in data management and analytics tools. These measures will empower libraries to harness the potential of Big Data effectively, ultimately enhancing library services and addressing the unique challenges posed by the 4IR era.