An Assessment of Information Brokerage in Academic Libraries in Nigeria: University of Calabar Library in Perspective.

This study is an assessment of information brokerage in the University of Calabar Library in the discharge of its functions to aid teaching, learning and research from 2005 to 2010. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study and the total sampling procedure was used in selecting the seven divisional heads of the study. A checklist of University of Calabar Library Information Brokerage Delivery (IBD) Systems was prepared together with an interview schedule and used to elicit information from these librarians. The results showed that the University of Calabar Library has been engaging in information brokerage activities in the different units of the library through information merchandizing. It was discovered that patronage on brokerage activities and services were disproportionate among the units surveyed. The study showed that brokerage on publication services and system/technical services rated highest between the period covered by the study. The two brokerage delivery systems undertook 113 and 925 transactions and generated a substantial amount of income for the library. The study concludes that the University of Calabar Library is engaging enormously in information brokerage and thereby sustaining Entrepreneurship Education in library and Information Science in Nigeria. It is recommended that subject specialist librarianship be encouraged in academic libraries to facilitate the attainment of financial goals in the specialized services delivery in University Library as well as other tertiary institutions’ libraries in Nigeria.KEY WORDS: Information Brokerage; Information Products and Services; University of Calabar Library; Fee-Based Services; Entrepreneurship  Education

Magnetic trapping and Zeeman relaxation of imidogen (NH X-triplet-Sigma)

Imidogen (NH) radicals are magnetically trapped and their Zeeman relaxation and energy transport collision cross sections with helium are measured. Continuous buffer-gas loading of the trap is direct from a room-temperature molecular beam. The Zeeman relaxation (inelastic) cross section of magnetically trapped electronic, vibrational and rotational ground state imidogen in collisions with He-3 is measured to be 3.8 +/- 1.1 E-19 cm^2 at 710 mK. The NH-He energy transport cross section is also measured, indicating a ratio of diffusive to inelastic cross sections of gamma = 7 E4 in agreement with the recent theory of Krems et al. (PRA 68 051401(R) (2003))Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Time-Domain Measurement of Spontaneous Vibrational Decay of Magnetically Trapped NH

The v = 1 -> 0 radiative lifetime of NH (X triplet-Sigma-, v=1,N=0) is determined to be tau_rad,exp. = 37.0 +/- 0.5 stat +2.0 / -0.8 sys miliseconds, corresponding to a transition dipole moment of |mu_10| = 0.0540 + 0.0009 / -0.0018 Debye. To achieve the long observation times necessary for direct time-domain measurement, vibrationally excited NH (X triplet-Sigma-, v=1,N=0) radicals are magnetically trapped using helium buffer-gas loading. Simultaneous trapping and lifetime measurement of both the NH(v=1, N=0) and NH(v=0,N=0) populations allows for accurate extraction of tau_rad,exp. Background helium atoms are present during our measurement of tau_rad,exp., and the rate constant for helium atom induced collisional quenching of NH(v=1,N=0) was determined to be k_q < 3.9 * 10^-15 cm^3/s. This bound on k_q yields the quoted systematic uncertainty on tau_rad,exp. Using an ab initio dipole moment function and an RKR potential, we also determine a theoretical value of 36.99 ms for this lifetime, in agreement with our experimental value. Our results provide an independent determination of tau_rad,10, test molecular theory, and furthermore demonstrate the efficacy of buffer-gas loading and trapping in determining metastable radiative and collisional lifetimes.Comment: 10 pages + 3 figures (11 pages total) v2 has minor corrections and explanations accepted for publication in PR

Meta-cognitive Strategy and Secondary School Students’ Achievement and Retention in Chemistry

The study examined the effect of meta-cognitive strategy (KWL) and secondary school students’ academic achievement and retention in chemistry in Uyo metropolis in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. Two research questions were raised and  two hypotheses formulated to guide the study. The design for the study was a pretest posttest quasi-experimental.  Two out of fifteen public secondary schools in Uyo metropolis of Akwa Ibom state were randomly selected for the study.  A sample of one hundred (100) SS11 students consisting of 47 boys and 57 girls from  two intact classes were drawn from the selected schools. Two validated instruments tagged chemistry achievement test (CAT) and chemistry retention test (CRT) containing 25 items each were used to collect data. The reliability co-efficient of CAT and CRT were determined using test-retest method. The data obtained were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and the reliability coefficients of 0.81 for CAT and 0.77 for CRT were obtained respectively. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions and  analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)  was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed a significant difference in achievement and retention scores of chemistry students taught alkanols using KWL and those taught with expository strategy. It is recommended that chemistry teachers use Know- What and  Learn meta-cognitive strategy during instructional delivery to make teaching and learning more participatory, self monitoring and self evaluating so as deeper to understanding and retention of chemistry concepts. Keywords: Meta-cognitive strategy, Know- What and Learn, expository, chemistry Achievement, self monitoring, Retention DOI: 10.7176/CMR/11-3-04 Publication date:March 31st 201

Acquisition and Use of Locally Published Law Textbooks as Correlates of Textbook Publishing in Nigeria

Basic textbooks that attempt to discuss and analyse subjects with particular reference to Nigerian circumstances and relevant judicial opinions are adjudged to be very useful for law teaching and learning in Nigeria (Jegede, 1981). In recent times, serious concern is being expressed about the acute shortage of essential law textbooks in University libraries and the adverse effects that the problem may be having on legal education and the practice of the profession. With the present gross under-funding of most universities, most law faculties do not seem capable of meeting the approved minimum standards with respect to physical and library facilities. In particular, the scourge of inadequate funding for university library acquisitions continues to pose serious challenges to collection development librarians and the various universities offering the law degree programme. Thus, law report, journals, basic textbooks and other reading materials are inadequate and outdated. Consequently, the legal profession and most especially legal education processes in Nigeria have been hard hit by inadequate funding. Most law facilities do not seem capable of meeting the approved minimum stands with respect to physical and library facilities. In particular, the present gross under-funding of universities has affected the ability of librarians to acquire relevant textbooks for students\u27 use. In a related development, the high cost of books has not helped matters. Panella (1990) pointed to the rising law library costs and stated that they increased at a higher rate than those of other general and special libraries due to the nature of legal research tools. It may thus be presumed that no other library would require the kind of investment on local and foreign publications as the law library. The high cost of books has affected the ability of libraries to acquire relevant textbooks for students\u27 use. It has also contributed to the reduction in students\u27 purchase of relevant textbooks, thereby affecting the growth of distribution points for locally published law textbooks and by implication the tertiary book market. Lawal (1989) identified other factors generally affecting acquisition from the Nigerian book market and these include; lack of bibliographic control, lack of promotional activities for published titles, insufficient distribution outlets and difficult payment terms on the part of publishers and booksellers. Previous studies on book situations in Nigeria have explored indigenous publishers\u27 contributions to general book provision (Apeji, 1997) and some have emphasized on issues and problems generally affecting the production and distribution of essential tertiary books (Bankole, 1985; Okekwe, 1995). Only very few studies have connected book production to library acquisition and use (Fasanya, 1978; Omadibi, 2000 and Nwagwu, 2001), although the more libraries they are, the wider and the more stable the book market. In Nigeria, the purported radical increase in law students\u27 enrolments in recent times, and the problem of acute shortage of essential basic law textbooks have brought the book needs of students into a sharper focus by the purported. The study raised the question; can variation law book production be accounted for by library provision use? The study assessed Indigenous law Textbook Publishing (ILTP) in Nigeria during the period 1960-1999 and related library acquisition of published titles, law student\u27s textbook utilization and Indigenous Law Textbook Publishing (ILTP) in selected Federal Universities in Nigeria. It was anticipated that study results would provide an empirical basis for determining the extent of the Nigerian book market for locally published law textbook The specific research questions are the following: What is the book output of Indigenous Law Textbook Publishing Firms? What are the attributes of the indigenous law textbook collection of selected Federal University Libraries? To what extent do law students utilize locally published law textbooks in their course of study? To what extent is Indigenous Law Textbook Publishing (ILTP) related to library acquisitions and law students\u27 textbook utilization

Place of Residence, Environmental Characteristics and Child Mortality in the Princess Marie Louise Hospital Catchment Area

Consistently studies have shown that proximity to health services has a bearing on infant and child mortality. They commonly cite a distance of 4km beyond which the risk of under five death risks increase by four-fold. Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital is located at the heart of Accra Metropolitan Area serving a catchment area of about 35km2. Using geographic information system’s spatial analytical tools, this study analyzed spatial clustering of under five deaths reported at PML and compared that to distance travel to access service from PML. The study also compared under five deaths in a community to three environmental risk factors including access to improved toilet facility, access to potable water and the use of unimproved cooking methods. The study finds that high under five deaths occurred in communities closer to PML in similar frequency as they occur in distances further away. Similarly communities with high under five deaths are not necessarily the communities with more people with poor environmental characterization such as unimproved toilet facility, no access to potable water and the use of unimproved cooking methods. The study recommends that future studies may look deep into other factors contributing to under five mortality such as availability of intervening health facility, mothers’ education, income and distance accessible roads. Keywords: Child Mortality, Under 5 deaths, spatial patter

Cooling and Collisions of Large Gas Phase Molecules

Cold and dense samples of naphthalene $(C_{10}H_8)$ are produced using buffer gas cooling in combination with rapid, high flow molecule injection. The observed naphthalene density is $n \approx 10^{11} cm_{−3}$ over a volume of a few $cm^3$ at a temperature of 6 K. We observe naphthalene–naphthalene collisions through two-body loss of naphthalene with a loss cross section of $\sigma_{\Lambda-\Lambda} = 1.4 × 10^{-14} cm^2$. Analysis is presented that indicates that this combination of techniques will be applicable to many comparably sized molecules. This technique can also be combined with cryogenic beam methods to produce cold, high flux, continuous molecular beams.Physic

Drivers’ and Passengers’ Perspectives on Factors Influencing Intercity Bus Travel Time on the Accra-Takoradi Route, Ghana: an Exploratory Approach

The purpose of the study is to qualitatively ascertain the factors influencing intercity bus transport travel time on the Accra-Takoradi route in Ghana. The cross sectional study involved the use of in-depth interviews conducted on fourteen drivers and forty two passengers of GPRTU, VIP, VVIP, ISTC, MMT, DIPLOMAT and FORD on the route. This was supported with participants and non-participants observations. The identified determinants were time of departure,  purpose of travel, day/night journey, volume of traffic on the route, place of refueling, number of stoppages for  passengers, the nature of the road, the type of bus, approved rest stops, speed limit, the presence of MTTD officials, presence of toll booths, volume of passengers’ luggage and so on. Recommendations were proffered to reduce tension that might be generated by lack of understanding between the driver and the passengers on the travel time. Key words: Travel time, passengers, drivers, intercity bus

Cold N+NH Collisions in a Magnetic Trap

We present an experimental and theoretical study of atom-molecule collisions in a mixture of cold, trapped atomic nitrogen and NH molecules at a temperature of $\sim 600$~mK. We measure a small N+NH trap loss rate coefficient of $k^{(\mathrm{N+NH})}_\mathrm{loss} = 8(4) \times 10^{-13}$~cm$^{3}$s$^{-1}$. Accurate quantum scattering calculations based on {\it ab initio} interaction potentials are in agreement with experiment and indicate the magnetic dipole interaction to be the dominant loss mechanism. Our theory further indicates the ratio of N+NH elastic to inelastic collisions remains large ($>100$) into the mK regime