Intra-organizational communication

Abstract

Reports a study of the pattern of communication between library staff at two Nigerian university libraries: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) and Jos University (UNIJOS). Presents profiles of each library and discuss es the formal communication channels that exist at the two university libraries and which are instrumental in administrative decision making by ensuring that supervisors and decision makers get the right information needed. These include: library academic boards; library consultative committees; librarians' committees; sectional meetings; social services committees; staff general meetings; and departmental meetings. The degree to which informal information communication channels play an important role was deter mined by means of a questionnaire survey, which considered: length of ser vice ; gender distribution; number of people supervised; knowledge of library goals. Results indicated that the communication channels most frequently used in the two libraries were communication through heads of units, fol lowed by communication through the university librarian's office and staff general meetings. Further study of the process of communication via heads of units revealed that, while memo and face to face prevailed at ATBU, face to face was the main method of choice at UNIJOS. Notes the importance of the grapevine and gossip as means of communication and reports that it is unconsciously but consistently employed in both libraries. Presents a model for intraorganizational communication in university libraries, based on the findings of the study.