Abstract The study probed the various forms of discussions engaged in by library staff at duty posts, the frequency of such discussions and its effect on graduate students' research activities. The descriptive survey research design was employed in the study, with a population of 9035 graduate students at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 180 graduate students who were more than a year in the university and have visited the sampled library for research purpose. A self-structured and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. In analyzing the collected data, the mean and standard deviation were used. The result of the study revealed that library staff engaged in both service-motivated and unrelated discussions at duty posts, and such discussions occurred often. Also, it was revealed that discussions at duty posts have a more negative effect than positive on the research activities undertaken by graduate students in the institution. Based on these findings, it was recommended, among others, that the library authority should map out feasible strategies for ensuring strict adherence to professional work ethics by library staff as this would assist in minimalizing casual discussions at duty posts.

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探讨图书馆工作人员在岗讨论对研究生研究活动的影响：来自尼日利亚大学图书馆的证据

摘要 本研究探讨了图书馆在职人员进行的各种讨论形式、讨论频率及其对研究生研究活动的影响。该研究采用了描述性调查研究设计，共有 9035 名扎里亚艾哈迈杜贝洛大学的研究生。采用目的抽样技术，选取180名在校一年以上并曾到抽样图书馆进行研究的研究生。使用自建和验证的问卷来收集数据。在分析收集到的数据时，使用了平均值和标准偏差。研究结果显示，图书馆工作人员在值班岗位上既有以服务为动机的讨论，也有与无关的讨论，而且此类讨论经常发生。还，据透露，在职岗位上的讨论对学院研究生开展的研究活动产生的负面影响大于正面影响。基于这些调查结果，除其他外，建议图书馆当局应制定可行的策略，以确保图书馆工作人员严格遵守职业道德，因为这将有助于最大限度地减少值班人员的随意讨论。