Institutional support for professional competence of librarians to improve the codification and preservation of traditional knowledge in the libraries
Codification and preservation of traditional knowledge is of great importance, more so by professionals from the library and information science. Acquisition and management of traditional knowledge in academic libraries is one of the evolving areas of research and this is why this paper examined the impact of institutional support for professional competence of librarians to improve the codification and preservation of traditional knowledge in Lagos State, Nigeria. It provides a perspective from which institutional support can be viewed as an important element for codification and preservation of traditional knowledge in the libraries. In addition, the paper identified institutional support as funding, motivation, staff training/development, facilitative policy; including the inadequacies. The paper discussed the concept of professional competence and the competences required of professional librarian for codification and preservation of traditional knowledge in the library. This include: educational qualification, understanding the source of traditional knowledge, ability to locate traditional resources, possession of knowledge of traditional knowledge codification and preservation, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills. In conclusion, the paper reiterated that there is need to include other librarians apart from the library management staff in the formulation of institutional policy for improvements in codification and preservation of traditional knowledge in Lagos State. Moreover, the library management should make adequate provision for regular training and retraining of librarians to improve the codification and preservation of traditional knowledge in Lagos State.