Patterns of the use of information for decision making by administrative staff of a university in Nigeria
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120210432309 |
| Pages | 330-337 |
| Date | 01 September 2002 |
| Published date | 01 September 2002 |
| Author | Esharenana E. Adomi |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Patternsoftheuseof
informationfor
decisionmakingby
administrativestaffof
auniversityinNigeria
EsharenanaE.Adomi
Introduction
Theadministrativestaffarethosegraduate
staffwhoareemployedtoworkintheregistry
oftheuniversity.Theyareseniornon-
teachingstaffandthereforeperformnon-
academictasksintheuniversity.Their
functionsintheuniversityareprincipally
managerial.Administrativestaffarealso
referredtoas``administrators''or``managers''
intheuniversity.
Managersmakethousandsofdecisions
throughouttheircareers(Stahl,1995).
Administrativestaff,intheirroleasmanagers,
makeaseriesofdecisionsinordertoensure
thattheday-to-dayactivitiesoftheuniversity
aresuccessfullycarriedout.Informationisa
vitalresourcetoaiddecisionmaking(Yadav,
1998).Nzota(1993)indicatesthatitisan
essentialfactorindecisionmakingas
appropriateinformationisrequiredtoguidea
persontomakeasounddecisiononany
subject,atanylevelandinanycircumstance.
Henceadministrativestaffrequire
informationtomakeofficialdecisionsona
dailybasis.
Informationisregardedasthelife-bloodof
anorganisationanditisthedatathat
managersusetointerpretandunderstand
eventsintheorganisation,aswellasthe
operatingenvironment(Daft,1991).Tokeep
theuniversityrunningsmoothly,
administrativestaffareexpectedtohave
accesstoinformationwhichwouldguide
themtointerpretandunderstandevents,and
thereforemakerealisticdecisionsonmatters
relatingtothedifferentareasoftheuniversity
community.
Therearedifferentsourcesofinformation
whichadministrativestaffcanconsultto
enablethemmakedecisionswithease.
Carysforth(1994)identifiesfourmain
administrativesourcesofinformation.These
include:
(1)officialpaper-basedinformation
sourcessuchasbooks,newspapers,
journals,companydocumentation,
brochures,leafletsandthecompany
files;
(2)dataheldoncomputers;
(3)peopleattheworkplaceorinother
organisations;and
(4)aperson'smemoryand/orwritten
notes.
Ramsey(1985)indicatesthatthemajor
sourcesofproblemsolvinganddecision
Theauthor
EsharenanaE.AdomiisCollectionDevelopment
LibrarianatDeltaStateUniversityLibrary,Abraka,
Nigeria.
Keywords
Information,Decisionmaking,Universities,Nigeria,
Decision-supportsystems
Abstract
Reportsastudyoftheuseofinformationfordecision
makingbyadministrativestaffattheDeltaState
University,Abraka,Nigeria.Itexplorestheworking
experienceoftherespondents,sourcesofinformationfor
officialdecisionmaking,areasofdecisionalinformation
use,frequencyofutilisationofadequateandrelevant
informationfordecisionmaking,andproblems
encountered bythead ministratorswhileseeking
informationformakingdecisions.Concludeswith
recommendationswhichcouldhelpadministrativestaff
improvetheiruseofinformationfordecisionmaking.
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330
Library Management
Volume 23 .Number 6/7 .2002 .pp. 330±337
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120210432309
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