University libraries and students of low socio-economic status in Nigeria

The paper examined the roles of university libraries for students of low socio-economic status in Nigeria.The authors are extremely concerned about the plight of this cluster of university students because we have travelled this road before.Concepts were identified and discusssed. University libraries from the discussion were seen as hub of academic activities of universities with a number of functions. The paper however believesthe plight of students from low socio-economic background was not properly covered by the operations of university libraries in Nigeria and as such they are disadvantaged. The authors feel this segment of students are important to be cared for because of their future survival, academic performance and achievement, they constitute the population of Nigeria and they may turnout to be leaders of tomorrow. Inview of this, the article suggested support from university libraries for the students, university libraries should engagestudents from low socio-economic statusin extra academic activities such as ICTdrill, writing competition organize seminarsessions etc.

Ownership, gender, and experience as correlates of policy implementation in the management of university libraries in the South-South, Nigeria

The study examined ownership, gender and experience as correlates of policy implementation in the management of Universities Libraries in South-South, Nigeria. The correlational survey design was adopted for the study. Three (3)research questions and three (3)hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study was 1,465 which comprised 12university librarians from the 12 State and Federal Universities in South-South, 263 other professional librarians and 1,200 year 3 students who are regular libraryusers in the universities. The sample for the study was 385 respondents which consisted of 12 university librarians from the twelve universities, 263 other professional librarians and 120 years 3 students. The convenience sampling technique was used to select 10 year 3 students each from the 12 universities. Three instruments were used for datathe collection namely:questionnaire,interview, and focus group discussion. The overall internal consistency reliability index of the questionnaire obtained through Cronbach’s alpha estimate was 0.95. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviations for the research questions. The null hypotheses were tested using multiple regressionsand associated t-test. The findings showedthat in the management of university libraries in South-South Nigeria, library policies on main duties and responsibilities, user-oriented library concepts, schedule of duties, were highly implemented. On account of these findings, it was recommended among others that: The National Universities Commission (NUC) should monitor the implementation of the policy statements. This is to ensure that libraries irrespective of ownership, gender and experience of the librarians, are encouraged and supported to implement the policy statements to a very high extent.

Current trends in information retrieval systems: review of fuzzy set theory and fuzzy Boolean retrieval models

This paper reviews the concept and goal of Information Retrieval Systems (IRSs). It also explains the synonymous concepts in Information Retrieval (IR)which include such terms as: imprecision, vagueness, uncertainty, and inconsistency. Current trends in IRSs are discussed. Fuzzy Set Theory, Fuzzy Retrieval Modelsare reviewed. The paper also discusses extensions of Fuzzy Boolean Retrieval Models including Fuzzy techniques for documents’ indexingandFlexible query languages. Fuzzy associative mechanisms were identified to include:(1)fuzzy pseudothesauri and fuzzy ontologies which can be used to contextualize the search by expanding the set of index terms of documents;(2)an alternative use of fuzzy pseudothesarui and fuzzy ontologies is to expand the query with related terms by taking into account their varying importance of an additional termand (3)fuzzy clustering techniques, where each document can be placed within several clusters with a given strength of belonging to each cluster, can be used to expand the set of the documents retrieved in response to a query.The paper concludesby recommending that in an electronic library environment, the librarians and information scientists should acquaint themselves with these terms in order to be more equipped in helping library users retrieve online documents relevant to their information needs.

Degradation and preservation practices of information resources in academic libraries in Cross River State, Nigeria

The purpose of this study was to studyinvestigate degradation and preservation practices of information resources in academic libraries in Cross River State, Nigeria.It examined the nature and causes of degradation of information resources, strategies used in their control, and constraints limiting effective preservation.The study adopted survey design. The population for the studyconsisted of all information resources in the five academic libraries in the state. Purposivesampling technique was used in selecting 202 respondents who suppliedthe information used for the study. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection and the data were analyzed using t-test. The result of the analysis showed that all the four null hypotheses were rejected. This means that the nature of information resources degradation in academic libraries in Cross River State is significantly high. The study also revealed that barriers to effective preservation of information resources in academic libraries in Cross River State are significantly high. Based on the findings,the study recommended among others that academic libraries should recruit adequate and trained manpower in the libraries for effective preservation programmes and activities.Academic libraries should consider various methods that could be applied to curb degradation of information resources in their holding. And,adequate annual budget allocationshould be provided for preservation programmes in academic libraries in the state.

Forms and usage of indigenous knowledge as tools to improve the quality of life in Idemili South Local Government Area Anambra State, Nigeria

The study investigatedthe forms of indigenous knowledge (IK) and how their utilization determines the quality of life of people in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. While the main objective of the research wasto investigate how the forms and usage of indigenous knowledge improve the quality of life of people in Nigeria, the specific objectives were: to identify the forms of indigenous knowledge in Nigeria, examine the use of indigenous knowledge in Nigeria and determine the quality of life of rural people in Nigeria. Adopting a survey research design, a multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 287 rural dwellers whose age range was between 20-65years from seven (7) communities as respondents for the study. The questionnaire hadthree sections A-C. The questions were tested for validity and reliability using the Cronbach‟s alpha test. One of the major findings was that appropriate use of the identified forms of IK significantly improve the quality of life of rural people. The study recommended, among others, that libraries and librarians should endeavor to preserve and disseminate IK in Nigeria in order to rekindle interests in indigenous knowledge as a research domain intended to improve the quality of life of the rural people.

Unhindered medical information access: Health information outreach, the platform for citizen health empowerment

This paper focused on theoretical health information outreach which is a pivotal role of the medical librarian to citizenship health empowerment. Dissemination of medical information and access is the service required as the predictor of unhindered medicalinformation. Accessing the information as means of the outreach is where the problems lie. This article identified approaches to information outreach, its challenges in perspective and strategies to enhance health information outreach by medical librarians using the resources in the Libraries as a key to citizenry healthy nation.

Social media as platforms for information sharing among librarians in Anambra State, Nigeria

The global trend on the use of social mediahas enhanced professional information sharing andnetworking. This development has created spaces forgroupsthat determine who gets informed, updated, inspiredand connectedas members. The librarians in Nigeria are not left out in this strategic phenomenon. This paper evaluated the different social media platformsused by librarians in Nigeria, thebenefits and the challenges. It was an expository researchthat employedfocus group discussion. A total of 12librarians from different institutionsparticipated in the discussion.Interview was also used to elicit data.The findings revealed that WhatsAppwas rated 100% as the number one social media platform used by librarians, followed by Facebookwith 80%, twitter 50%, Instagramand LinkedIn41.7%, respectively while Skype rated 33% and blog 25%. It was also discovered that 50% of the respondents belonged to 6-10 professional groups while 33% and 25% belonged to over 11 professional groups on WhatsAppand Facebook, respectively. Benefits that werederived through the social media platforms are awards, sponsorships, collaboration, updates, networking,supports,exchange of ideas and professional relationship.However,unwanted copy and paste,inactive participation,personal and business advertisements, information explosion anddisregardsto rules and regulations of the platformsaffect their use ofthe social mediagroups.It was therefore, recommended that strict sanctions should be placed on unwanted posts as well as punishment onmembers that err. The implication is that if decorum was not placed on social media platforms, there would be nomeaningful sharing of information and full participation of members.

Undergraduates’ awareness, use and satisfaction with online public access catalogue (OPAC) of Benue State University Library, Makurdi, Nigeria

The purpose of this paper was to determine the extent towhich undergraduates atBenue State University are aware of the OPAC, the extent of usage, the level of satisfaction derived from the usage and challengesencountered in the use of OPAC in the universitylibrary. The study was guided by four specific objectives and four research questions. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The populationconsisted of 9,864 undergraduate who registered with the library during 2017/2018 academic session. The sample sizewas 384 undergraduate students.Data was collected through a self-structured questionnaire.The data collected were analysed using frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Thefindings revealedthat most of therespondents-232 (60.4%)-were not aware of OPAC services,only 152 (39.6%) respondents indicated theirawarenessof OPAC in retrievingneededlibrary materials. The study also showedthat the extent of OPAC use by undergraduateswas to a low extent and the students were dissatisfied with OPAC services; thattheundergraduates encountered several challenges which led to the low usage and dissatisfaction with the OPAC ofthe Benue State University Library. The study concludedthatthe creation of the OPACwas to facilitate retrieving information resources that had been acquired and organisedby the university library. However, poor awareness, improper orientation/training of studentsamong others have posedgreat challenge for its effective usage.The study therefore recommended that all the identified challenges be tackled by the university library management in order to enhance OPAC usage by thestudents.

Perceived effect of motivational strategies of promotion and work environment on the job performance of library personnel of universities in Benue State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to determine the perceived effect of motivational strategies of promotion and work environment on the job performance of library personnel of universities in Benue State. Two objectives were stated to find out the perceived effect of timely promotion and good work environment of library personnel of universities in Benue State. Two research questions drawn and two hypotheses formulated in line with the stated objectives. Survey research design was adopted. The study population was 223 library personnel from Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State University, Makurdi and University of Mkar, Mkar, both in Nigeria. The entire population was used as sample for the study. Mean values were used to answer research questions while one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to the test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that timely promotion and good work environment have significant difference on job performance of library personnel of universities in Benue State. The study recommended therefore, that work environment of the university libraries in Benue State should be made conducive by the provision of adequately equipped and well ventilated space, ICT gadgets such as computers, internet connectivity, for enhanced job performance.

Factors retarding the development of school libraries in North Central Nigeria

This study was conducted in secondary schools librariestoascertain the factors retardingthe development ofschool libraries in North Central Nigeriaand to proffer suggestedstrategies to overcome them.The researchersused tworesearch questions to guide the study which adopted the descriptivesurvey design method.A total of10 secondary schools were used as sample with8 respondents comprising the Principal, a Teacher Librarian and 6 other teachers were used as respondentsin each school. The main instrument for data collection was questionnaire while data collected were analyzed using the simple frequency and percentage table.The findings highlight lack of accommodation,inadequate funding in school libraries in Nigeria, as well as inadequate provision of library resources and services, amongst others, as factors retardingthedevelopment of school libraries.The study recommends some measuresthat would enhance the development of school librariesto includeproper awareness creation,recruitment of qualified staffas well as sufficient funding of the libraries.