Catching Up with Innovation and Trends in University Library Services in Nigeria: an Analytical Study of University Library Websites in Nigeria

This study focused on the emerging innovative and trendy services on the library websites of all the approved 49 Federal Universities in Nigeria. Document examination was used as an instrument for data collection. The Library websites of all the approved Federal Universities in Nigeria were examined to collate data for this study. Three research questions were developed and analysed quantitatively using frequency tables and simple percentages. The result revealed that some of the Federal University libraries operate without library websites. Again, the study revealed that twenty-three innovative and trendy services were found displayed on the library websites of the Federal university libraries. The majority of the Federal University libraries have inadequate innovative services on their websites e.g. 32 out of 49 have between 0-5 innovative services only, on their websites, which are on the ratios of 7:2:4:6:6:7 universities to 0:5:4:3:1:2 services respectively. Again findings revealed that twelve universities have no official library websites at all. The findings of this study have made it possible for university libraries to discover their shortcomings of not having a library website and of adequate innovative services that would satisfy the needs of present-day information users. This study also makes academic libraries see the need to update their websites from time to time. Holistically, this research adds to the existing body of knowledge on academic library website creation and development. The study brought to the limelight what emerging innovative services are and the need to integrate them on the university library websites particularly in this digital era as there is limited research conducted on this topic. It, therefore, recommends that Federal universities should not only have official library websites but that they should integrate all their innovative services on the websites to enable them to catch up with innovation and trends in library services

Pedagogy in Library and Information Science Programme in Nigeria

Abstract The attitude of some of the library and information science instructors (LISIs) to continue to teach students with pedagogies not aligned with the changing trend in today’s information environment has been identified as one of the reasons why there is low job performance among librarians in their workplaces in Nigeria. This study is aimed to find out the most preferred pedagogy adopted by LISIs in the University based library and information science school programme in South East, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to 138 librarians with the help of research assistants by face to face contact. The questionnaire contained both closed and open-ended questions. All the 109 respondents that responded to the questionnaire preferred to use lecture method for convenience sake even though most of the instructors knew that it is not the most beneficial for students. The reasons for nonuse of other teaching methods by LISIs include: inadequate time, inadequate resources and management problems among others. The result of this study shows a need to initiate change in the teaching methods used in undergraduate library and information science programme in Nigeria. This study recommends that library school management should provide enabling environment for teaching and learning, teaching methods that will benefit students in a way that better prepares them for the workplace. A method that will be more interactive, up-to-date and more diverse than the lecture method

Achieving sustainable development goals two and three: role of academic libraries

Purpose: This study investigated the role academic libraries play in the achievement of sustainable development goals 2 and 3 Design/Methodology/Approach: An exploratory approach through an extensive review of related literature and case study was adopted for this study. Discussion on the efforts made by academic libraries in Federal University of Technology Library Owerri, Nigeria; Makerere University Library, Uganda, Kampala International University, Uganda and Ghana Institute of Journalism Library made in the achievement of SDGs 2 and 3. The study was guided by three research questions. Research questions 1 and 2 were gotten from the literature reviewed while the answer to research question 3 was based on information provided by the researchers being staff in the universities studied and the result of the interview from the rural host community. Findings: Major findings revealed that natural disasters (extreme weather, drought, flood,etc); ineffective food distribution, poor packaging, processing and storage, social support networks, untimely delivery of information, physical environment, inappropriate media for information dissemination among others were the problems militating against attainment of food security and good health. The finding also revealed that the community lacked agricultural information such as where to get the best variety of farm inputs, where and how to source agricultural loans, the market where they will get a better bargain for the products among others. Members of the rural host also lacked health information. Practical Implication: In a hunger crisis society and where health care services are not given the utmost attention, the life of the citizens are endangered. The provision of library and information services to people will empower them to seek and find the solution to these problems. Originality/Value: It is recommended that academic libraries can achieve SDGs 2 and 3 through repackaging of agricultural and health information in different formats and in the language rural communities will understand and make it accessible to them. Libraries can also partner/collaborate with agricultural and health professionals in the provision of extension services to their host communities

Reskilling Librarians: A Panacea for Bringing Students Back to the Academic Library

ABSTRACT The academic library that failed to reskill members of its workforce might face consequences of automatic loss of patrons. Based on this, the study examined reskilling librarians as a panacea for bringing students back to the library. 191 academic and research librarians (ARL) on the telegram group platform as of February 14, 2023, formed the population. An Online questionnaire was prepared and sent to the ARLs’ on their group chat. 122 ARLs filled the questionnaire out of the 191 thus having a response rate of 63.9%. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The study revealed the need for librarians to go for reskilling. The findings showed that bringing students back to the library entails retraining librarians on 21st-century skills. The findings also revealed that the desertion of students from the library is caused by the attitudes of librarians, disorganization of the library, unawareness of the services and resources of the library, etc. This study recommends that academic library management and even the parent institution should not downplay on reskilling/retraining of librarians on different aspects of the library work

Pedagogy in Library and Information Science Programme in Nigeria

Abstract The attitude of some of the library and information science instructors (LISIs) to continue to teach students with pedagogies not aligned with the changing trend in today’s information environment has been identified as one of the reasons why there is low job performance among librarians in their workplaces in Nigeria. This study is aimed to find out the most preferred pedagogy adopted by LISIs in the University based library and information science school programme in South East, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to 138 librarians with the help of research assistants by face to face contact. The questionnaire contained both closed and open-ended questions. All the 109 respondents that responded to the questionnaire preferred to use lecture method for convenience sake even though most of the instructors knew that it is not the most beneficial for students. The reasons for nonuse of other teaching methods by LISIs include: inadequate time, inadequate resources and management problems among others. The result of this study shows a need to initiate change in the teaching methods used in undergraduate library and information science programme in Nigeria. This study recommends that library school management should provide enabling environment for teaching and learning, teaching methods that will benefit students in a way that better prepares them for the workplace. A method that will be more interactive, up-to-date and more diverse than the lecture method

Oral health disease and library service delivery among library staff of the universities in Nigeria.

This study investigated oral health disease (OHD) and its effect on the library service delivery in the Federal Universities in South East, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was employed. All the library staff (353) was used for this study. Questionnaire was used to elicit data from the library staff. Frequency and simple percentages were used to analyse data on the bio-data and data on the OHD status of library staff. Descriptive statistical techniques such as mean and standard deviation were used to analyse data on research questions 2-5. Regression analysis was used to test one null hypothesis formulated which was tested for significance at 0.05. The findings showed that the OHD has a significance effect on the productivity of library staff at an alpha value of (0.003). Major findings showed that many library personnel suffer from OHD. Again, some do not know all the causes and preventive measures of OHD even though almost all those affected agreed that OHD affect their general well being and productivity. Based on the findings the following recommendations were proffered: Library staff should read widely on OHD and attend health conferences and workshops to get themselves abreast of causes and preventive measures to avoid OHD. Library staff should be conscious on how to care and store their toothbrushes and also be aware of the techniques in drinking acidic beverages so as not to be affected by OHD. Again, library management should try to close the gap immediately any section of the library that lack staff as a result of OHD by way of staff redeployment

Availability of funds, time and information resources as predictors of quality research outputs among librarians in Nigerian university libraries

The study examined availability of fund, time and information resources as determinants of quality of research outputs in Nigerian universities with reference to university librarians in south east, Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study, with three research questions guiding the study. Enumeration sample was used in selecting sample size of 102 librarians across the university libraries in south east. A well structured and self-designed questionnaire was used in data collection, 102 copies of questionnaire were distributed to the respondents with 85 fully filled and returned, representing returned rate of 83.3%. The data generated was analyzed using simple descriptive statistics. The study revealed that availability of fund, time, information and infrastructural resources are critical factors that determine the quality of research outputs by librarians in university libraries. The study concludes that lack of funds among librarians will limit the extent to which they can source for material that will improve the quality of their research output. Librarians should be granted “Research Leave” and also granted research grants, as this would empower them towards carrying out quality research. This study has opened up the frontiers of variables that acts as predictors of quality research outputs among librarians in university libraries  in south east Nigeria. The study has provided empirical evidence on the availability of funds, time, and information resources as predictors of quality of research outputs among librarians.Keywords: Funding, Time, Factor, Information, Resources, Librarians, University, Librarie

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals Two and Three: Role of Academic Libraries

Abstract Purpose: This study investigated the role academic libraries play in the achievement of sustainable development goals 2 and 3. Design/Methodology/Approach: An exploratory approach through an extensive review of related literature and case study was adopted for this study. Discussion on the efforts made by academic libraries in Federal University of Technology Library Owerri, Nigeria; Makerere University Library, Uganda, Kampala International University, Uganda and Ghana Institute of Journalism Library made in the achievement of SDGs 2 and 3. The study was guided by three research questions. Research questions 1 and 2 were gotten from the literature reviewed while the answer to research question 3 was based on information provided by the researchers being staff in the universities studied and the result of the interview from the rural host community. Findings: Major findings revealed that natural disasters (extreme weather, drought, flood,etc); ineffective food distribution, poor packaging, processing and storage, social support networks, untimely delivery of information, physical environment, inappropriate media for information dissemination among others were the problems militating against attainment of food security and good health. The finding also revealed that the community lacked agricultural information such as where to get the best variety of farm inputs, where and how to source agricultural loans, the market where they will get a better bargain for the products among others. Members of the rural host also lacked health information. Practical Implication: In a hunger crisis society and where health care services are not given the utmost attention, the life of the citizens are endangered. The provision of library and information services to people will empower them to seek and find the solution to these problems. Originality/Value: It is recommended that academic libraries can achieve SDGs 2 and 3 through repackaging of agricultural and health information in different formats and in the language rural communities will understand and make it accessible to them. Libraries can also partner/collaborate with agricultural and health professionals in the provision of extension services to their host communities. Key Words: Food Production, Food Security, Good Health, Well-being, Zero Hunger, Academic Libraries, Sustainable Development Goals, Information Service Provision, Community Development

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals Two and Three: Role of Academic Libraries

Abstract Purpose: This study investigated the role academic libraries play in the achievement of sustainable development goals 2 and 3. Design/Methodology/Approach: An exploratory approach through an extensive review of related literature and case study was adopted for this study. Discussion on the efforts made by academic libraries in Federal University of Technology Library Owerri, Nigeria; Makerere University Library, Uganda, Kampala International University, Uganda and Ghana Institute of Journalism Library made in the achievement of SDGs 2 and 3. The study was guided by three research questions. Research questions 1 and 2 were gotten from the literature reviewed while the answer to research question 3 was based on information provided by the researchers being staff in the universities studied and the result of the interview from the rural host community. Findings: Major findings revealed that natural disasters (extreme weather, drought, flood,etc); ineffective food distribution, poor packaging, processing and storage, social support networks, untimely delivery of information, physical environment, inappropriate media for information dissemination among others were the problems militating against attainment of food security and good health. The finding also revealed that the community lacked agricultural information such as where to get the best variety of farm inputs, where and how to source agricultural loans, the market where they will get a better bargain for the products among others. Members of the rural host also lacked health information. Practical Implication: In a hunger crisis society and where health care services are not given the utmost attention, the life of the citizens are endangered. The provision of library and information services to people will empower them to seek and find the solution to these problems. Originality/Value: It is recommended that academic libraries can achieve SDGs 2 and 3 through repackaging of agricultural and health information in different formats and in the language rural communities will understand and make it accessible to them. Libraries can also partner/collaborate with agricultural and health professionals in the provision of extension services to their host communities. Key Words: Food Production, Food Security, Good Health, Well-being, Zero Hunger, Academic Libraries, Sustainable Development Goals, Information Service Provision, Community Development

Achieving sustainable development goals two and three : role of academic libraries

PURPOSE : This study investigated the role academic libraries play in the achievement of sustainable development goals 2 and 3 DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : An exploratory approach through an extensive review of related literature and case study was adopted for this study. Discussion on the efforts made by academic libraries in Federal University of Technology Library Owerri, Nigeria; Makerere University Library, Uganda, Kampala International University, Uganda and Ghana Institute of Journalism Library made in the achievement of SDGs 2 and 3. The study was guided by three research questions. Research questions 1 and 2 were gotten from the literature reviewed while the answer to research question 3 was based on information provided by the researchers being staff in the universities studied and the result of the interview from the rural host community. FINDINGS : Major findings revealed that natural disasters (extreme weather, drought, flood,etc); ineffective food distribution, poor packaging, processing and storage, social support networks, untimely delivery of information, physical environment, inappropriate media for information dissemination among others were the problems militating against attainment of food security and good health. The finding also revealed that the community lacked agricultural information such as where to get the best variety of farm inputs, where and how to source agricultural loans, the market where they will get a better bargain for the products among others. Members of the rural host also lacked health information. Practical Implication: In a hunger crisis society and where health care services are not given the utmost attention, the life of the citizens are endangered. The provision of library and information services to people will empower them to seek and find the solution to these problems. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : It is recommended that academic libraries can achieve SDGs 2 and 3 through repackaging of agricultural and health information in different formats and in the language rural communities will understand and make it accessible to them. Libraries can also partner/collaborate with agricultural and health professionals in the provision of extension services to their host communities.The Carnegie Corporation of New York and the University of Pretoria.http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilpracam2021Information Scienc