Effective Motivation of Paraprofessional Staff in Academic Libraries In Nigeria

The paper examined the factors that affect paraprofessional staff motivation and performance in academic libraries. It underlines the importance of well-motivated staff in ensuring a continuously maximized performance. The literature review comprises relevant papers which discuss how motivation is used to modify behavior of staff to improve performance. It explores Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and its application to the category of staff under study. Training and development of paraprofessional staff were some of the benefits highlighted

Provision of Formal Education to Almajiris: The Role of Libraries

Provision of formal education to Almajiris has become a subject of national discourse in Nigeria today. This paper examines the concept and plight of the almajiris. It identifies parental influence, infrastructural decay of Qu‟ranic schools, religious fanatism and poverty as causes of lack of formal education of almajiris. The study advocates that public and school libraries must begin to play relevant roles and contribute to the provision of formal education to almajiris. It outlines the roles public and school libraries must play in order to enhance almajiri education. In order to effectively play their roles, the study suggests that libraries should source for funds from external agencies rather than depend only on their parent institutions/organizations

An Assessment of the Training and Retraining Needs of Nigerian Cataloguers

The study examined the capacity building efforts and training needs of Nigerian cataloguers. One hundred and thirty two respondents comprising cataloguers from various libraries in Nigeria were used for the study. A descriptive survey method using a self-constructed questionnaire was used. Four research questions were posed and analyzed using frequency counts and percentages. Most of the cataloguers in the study have left library schools for over eight years and this makes retraining highly imperative. Results showed that the cataloguers were depending more on onthe job training for capacity building and retraining. The study also revealed that the cataloguers did not depend on only cataloguing education received in library school. There was less dependence on some other means of capacity building like video conferencing, reading web based resources, electronic discussion list/weblog and mentoring. It was discovered that most of the cataloguers studied are becoming interested and willing to be involved in activities formerly the domain of systems librarian e.g. metadata creation, organization of web/digital resources . Interestingly, even cataloguers from purely traditional libraries desired training in recent ICT cataloguing feats. Some challenges identified facing cataloguers in the area of training and capacity building include the fact that conference/ workshop attendance is not affordable, insufficient cataloguing training outlets in Nigeria, inadequate ICT platform to practice what has been learnt as most libraries in Nigeria are not automated and a dearth of current cataloguing literatures. The study concluded that the cataloguers’ sampled need to take urgent steps to train and retrain regularly since knowledge is dynamic in natur

Use of Academic Library: A Case Study of Covenant University, Nigeria

This study examines the extent of use of library resources in Covenant University, Nigeria. Two separate questionnaires were used to gather data. 400 registered library users were selected using the stratified random sampling technique. The findings revealed that 88% of the students sampled visited the library to read for examination while most faculties visited the library to read journals, electronic or print. Also, students used OPAC more than faculty. It is recommended that faculty give reading assignments that will require students to consult journals and other resources in the library, not just for examination purposes. And the library should organize a “library week” each semester to showcase the various resources available in the librar

Capacity Building Initiatives in Preservation Techniques: A Case Study of Nigeria Universities

The librarians are often encouraged to maintain and keep their collections accessible through digitization as their stock in trade is their collection. This study examined capacity building initiatives in preservation techniques in selected libraries and assessed the level of training received by different library staff. Four university libraries were randomly selected and a descriptive survey method using a selfdeveloped questionnaire. The respondents comprised librarians and non-librarians. A total of one hundred and twenty copies of questionnaires were distributed, but a hundred and twelve was retrieved and used for the analysis. The study revealed that there were no professionals to manage the preservation section of the university library and as such, most institutions make do with Para-professionals like binders, technicians and library officers etc. Analysis from the respondent’s show that Universities in Nigeria are not exposed to capacity building in preservation. Finally, regular trainings are vital for the development of all staff and for any university to stand out amongst others; there must be provision for usual capacity building of both faculty and staf