Information Literacy Skills and Awareness of Electronic Information Resources as Influencing Factors of their Use by Postgraduate Students in Two Universities in South-West Nigeria

This work focused on Information literacy skills and awareness of electronic information resources as influencing factors of their use by postgraduate students in two Universities in South-West Nigeria. The need for this study was prompted after observing that most postgraduate students in Nigerian Universities have poor information literacy skills and awareness of electronic information resources which could be due to inadequate end user training, poor search skills, mass irrelevant information, slow internet connectivity, the need to filter the results from the search of information, failure to find information, inaccessibility of some information sources etc. This therefore raises a question of what could be done to assist postgraduate students with these challenges. The population of this study was the postgraduate students of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State and the Lagos State University, Ojo Lagos State. The descriptive survey method was used for this study. Five research questions were used and tested on a sample size of 407 that represented the population of postgraduate students of the University of Ibadan and 117 that represented the population of postgraduate students of the Lagos state University. The data collection instrument that was used for the conduct of this study was the questionnaire. Frequency counts and simple percentages were used to analyze the data. The findings of this study revealed that there was high rate of information literacy skills and awareness of electronic information resources, EIR among the postgraduate students of the University of Ibadan and the Lagos State University to achieve their various academic goals. Power outage was ranked the highest problem encountered by the respondents of the two universities under study in the use of Electronic Information Resources, EIR for their various academic pursuits. Because of the mentioned problems, necessary measures should be taken as recommended by the researcher in the concluding part of this research work

An Evaluation of Library and Information Science Education in Some Selected Nigerian Universities

This paper intended to investigate the perspective of final year students of Nigerian Library and Information Science (LIS) schools in ascertaining the current status of LIS education and training in Nigeria. This has been necessitated by the fact that prospective fresh graduates of LIS schools are expected to be fully formed and equipped in providing timely and relevant information services to their immediate environment and the society at large especially in this era where the continued advances of ICTs upon the profession even places greater expectations on the prospective LIS professionals to be agents of transformation and development in Nigeria. The studies revealed that the current sets of students are predominantly between the age bracket of 20-24, with a large enrollment of female students. Cyber Security and Digital Archiving were ranked the least courses included in the departmental curricula. Most of the respondents agreed that Library and Information Science Education is very educative. There is low satisfaction among the respondents in the quality of faculty available in the Library Schools. Facsimiles and Scanners are least accessed and utilized ICTs in the Library Schools. There is a general low rate of ICTs access and utilization in the Library School by the students especially on a daily basis. Power Outage, inadequate computers and limited access and utilization of ICT in the computer Laboratories and departmental Libraries are the major challenges confronting the students in the Library Schools. Recommendations were made for all stakeholders of Library and Information Science Education in Nigeria

Ethical and Spiritual Values of the Church Library in Nigeria: A Study of Three Selected Church Libraries

This study was aimed at investigating the current state of church libraries in Nigeria considering the fact that not much attention has been given to the place and relevance of the church Library in promoting ethical values and spiritual growth among Christians in Nigeria. A survey was undertaken in three selected church libraries within Nigeria. Findings from the study showed that the teenage category of the library users was the largest and that there were a sizeable number of people who are not members of the churches that uses the library. The major problems identified included inadequacies in the availability of computers, internet connection and furniture and poor awareness of the church library. It is hoped that Church Administrators and Leaders will find this report useful and inspiring in considering the establishment of libraries within their churches. Keywords: church libraries, ethical and spiritual values, library resource

Physicochemical and microbiological evaluation of acidmodified native starch derived from Borassus aethiopum (Arecaceae) shoot

Purpose: To evaluate the physicochemical properties and microbiological quality of Borassus aethiopum shoot acid-modified starch (AMS) for potential pharmaceutical applications.Methods: Modification of Borassus aethiopum native starch (NS) was carried out using 6 % w/v HCl at 37 ± 2 oC for 192 h. The AMS was characterised for their morphological, micromeritics, rheological, thermal properties as well as their microbiological quality using standard protocols.Results: AMS demonstrated increased aqueous solubility, crystallinity and slight increase in flow properties. There was a reduction in swelling and hydration capacities, amylose content as well as viscosity of the modified starch. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the integrity of the modified starch granules were maintained and there was no disruption of the granular structure. Fourier transform infrared spectrophometer data confirmed the hydrolysis of NS with the increase in the intensity of the O-H stretch. AMS met United States Pharmacopoeia requirements in terms of microbiological quality, however, there was presence of Aspergillus niger.Conclusion: Modification of Borassus aethiopum shoot starch by acid treatment led to desirable improvement in some of its physicochemical properties which could improve its functional properties in pharmaceutical industries.Keywords: Native starch, Acid-modified starch, Borassus aethiopum, Microbiological quality, Physicochemical propertie

Physicotechnical, spectroscopic and thermogravimetric properties of powdered cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose derived from groundnut shells

α-Cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose powders, derived from agricultural waste products, that have for the pharmaceutical industry, desirable physical (flow) properties were investigated. α–Cellulose (GCN) was extracted from groundnut shell (an agricultural waste product) using a non-dissolving method based on inorganic reagents. Modification of this α -cellulose was carried out by partially hydrolysing it with 2N hydrochloric acid under reflux to obtain microcrystalline cellulose (MCGN). The physical, spectroscopic and thermal properties of the derived α-cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose powders were compared with Avicel® PH 101, a commercial brand of microcrystalline cellulose (MCCA), using standard methods. X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that the α-cellulose had lower crystallinity. This suggested that treatment with 2N hydrochloric acid led to an increase in the crystallinity index. Thermogravimetric analysis showed quite similar thermal behavior for all cellulose samples, although the α- cellulose had a somewhat lower stability. A comparison of the physical properties between the microcrystalline celluloses and the α-cellulose suggests that microcrystalline cellulose (MCGN and MCCA) might have better flow properties. In almost all cases, MCGN and MCCA had similar characteristics. Since groundnut shells are agricultural waste products, its utilization as a source of microcrystalline cellulose might be a good low-cost alternative to the more expensive commercial brand

Ethical and Spiritual Values of the Church Library in Nigeria: A Study of Three Selected Church Libraries

This study was aimed at investigating the current state of church libraries in Nigeria considering the fact that not much attention has been given to the place and relevance of the church Library in promoting ethical values and spiritual growth among Christians in Nigeria. A survey was undertaken in three selected church libraries within Nigeria. Findings from the study showed that the teenage category of the library users was the largest and that there were a sizeable number of people who are not members of the churches that uses the library. The major problems identified included inadequacies in the availability of computers, internet connection and furniture and poor awareness of the church library. It is hoped that Church Administrators and Leaders will find this report useful and inspiring in considering the establishment of libraries within their churches

An Evaluation of Library and Information Science Education in Some Selected Nigerian Universities

This paper intended to investigate the perspective of final year students of Nigerian Library and Information Science (LIS) schools in ascertaining the current status of LIS education and training in Nigeria. This has been necessitated by the fact that prospective fresh graduates of LIS schools are expected to be fully formed and equipped in providing timely and relevant information services to their immediate environment and the society at large especially in this era where the continued advances of ICTs upon the profession even places greater expectations on the prospective LIS professionals to be agents of transformation and development in Nigeria. The studies revealed that the current sets of students are predominantly between the age bracket of 20-24, with a large enrollment of female students. Cyber Security and Digital Archiving were ranked the least courses included in the departmental curricula. Most of the respondents agreed that Library and Information Science Education is very educative. There is low satisfaction among the respondents in the quality of faculty available in the Library Schools. Facsimiles and Scanners are least accessed and utilized ICTs in the Library Schools. There is a general low rate of ICTs access and utilization in the Library School by the students especially on a daily basis. Power Outage, inadequate computers and limited access and utilization of ICT in the computer Laboratories and departmental Libraries are the major challenges confronting the students in the Library Schools. Recommendations were made for all stakeholders of Library and Information Science Education in Nigeria

Physicotechnical, spectroscopic and thermogravimetric properties of powdered cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose derived from groundnut shells

α-Cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose powders, derived from agricultural waste products, that have for the pharmaceutical industry, desirable physical (flow) properties were investigated. α–Cellulose (GCN) was extracted from groundnut shell (an agricultural waste product) using a non-dissolving method based on inorganic reagents. Modification of this α -cellulose was carried out by partially hydrolysing it with 2N hydrochloric acid under reflux to obtain microcrystalline cellulose (MCGN). The physical, spectroscopic and thermal properties of the derived α-cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose powders were compared with Avicel® PH 101, a commercial brand of microcrystalline cellulose (MCCA), using standard methods. X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that the α-cellulose had lower crystallinity. This suggested that treatment with 2N hydrochloric acid led to an increase in the crystallinity index. Thermogravimetric analysis showed quite similar thermal behavior for all cellulose samples, although the α-cellulose had a somewhat lower stability. A comparison of the physical properties between the microcrystalline celluloses and the α-cellulose suggests that microcrystalline cellulose (MCGN and MCCA) might have better flow properties. In almost all cases, MCGN and MCCA had similar characteristics. Since groundnut shells are agricultural waste products, its utilization as a source of microcrystalline cellulose might be a good low-cost alternative to the more expensive commercial brand