The transformation of public libraries through digital library models has significant implications for knowledge organisation (KO) practices, particularly in developing contexts where infrastructural and policy challenges persist. This study qualitatively explores how digital library models influence knowledge organisation practices among librarians in public libraries in South-South, Nigeria. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and Socio-technical Systems Theory, the study adopts an interpretivist approach using semi-structured interviews with librarians across six state public library boards. The findings reveal the predominance of hybrid digital library models, where digital and print-based systems coexist, shaping evolving KO practices centred on metadata creation, digital cataloguing, and electronic access provision. Librarians demonstrate positive perceptions of the usefulness and performance benefits of digital systems, which drive their willingness to adopt digital KO practices despite limited facilitating conditions such as inadequate infrastructure, insufficient institutional policies, and constrained professional training. The study further highlights the adaptive strategies employed by librarians, including informal peer learning and improvisation, to sustain digital KO practices within resource-constrained environments. The study concludes that the effective organisation of knowledge in digital public libraries is a socio-technical process requiring alignment between technological infrastructure, institutional policies, and human competencies. The paper contributes context-specific empirical insights to digital librarianship literature and offers policy-relevant recommendations for strengthening digital knowledge organisation practices in Nigerian public libraries.
Solomon et al. (Thu,) studied this question.