Availability and accessibility of e-resources in academic libraries in Nigeria: the impact of the interventionist programmes

The impact of e-resources and the accompanying infrastructural development has not been fully realized in most developing countries necessitating some interventionist programmes. This study was undertaken to assess the impact of donor agencies in interventionist programmes with regards to the availability and accessibility of e-resources in Nigerian Federal University of Ibadan (UI) and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). A structured questionnaire was adopted for data collection. A total of 480 lecturers were involved in the study with 240 per institution, 80 from each of the three Faculties per institution and 20 lecturers from each of the four departments per faculty. Frequency counts on availability of e-resources were subjected to Analysis of Variance and Duncan’s Multiple Range Test while frequency counts on accessibility of e-resources were subjected to percentages. Results indicated that AGORA, HINARI and JSTOR were popular and also that the percentage of accessibility of these e-resources was 98.2, 98.2 and 96.4 for the Faculties of Agriculture, Science and Social Sciences, respectively in UI and 100% in each of the three Faculties in OAU. AGORA, HINARI, and JSTOR are members of the interventionist group and being significantly more available than the other resources is a strong indication that the interventionist programmes have had a positive impact on the e-resources users in Nigeria

Motivating factors for male and female librarians in four Nigerian Federal Universities

This study was conducted to assess the levels of motivation of 14 motivating factors on academic librarians in four Nigerian Federal Universities based on gender and years of service. The population comprised of 66 librarians from the universities of Abeokuta, Calabar, Ibadan, and Uyo. An 18-item structured questionnaire, with section A soliciting for respondents’ biodata and section B soliciting for respondents’ opinion regarding how much they were motivated by each of the 14 motivating factors, was adopted for data collection. Data were subjected to Analysis of Variance and Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. With regards to gender, results indicated that male librarians were similarly motivated by each of the 14 factors while the female librarians were significantly motivated by Professional development/Growth and Promotion. For years of service, the librarians who have worked for 1 – 10 years and 21 years and above were similarly motivated by all the factors while Training, Professional development/Growth, Conducive environment, Job security, Promotion, and Career advancement significantly motivated those who have worked for 11 – 20 years. It is concluded that the female librarians were better focused on the factors that motivate them than the males; their primary motivator was promotion. Motivation of librarians also varied with years of service

AVAILABILITY AND REMOTE ACCESSIBILITY OF ACADEMIC LIBRARY SERVICES IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the state of operations of academic library services in the Nigerian Federal Universities by assessing the existence of functional library websites and remote availability and remote access to library services during the COVID-19 lockdown. All the academic libraries in the 43 Federal Universities form the population of the study. A purposive sampling technique was used to sample all the 43 academic libraries. Results indicated that 10 (23.3%) of the libraries had no functional websites while 33 (76.7%) of the libraries had websites and subscribed to various e-resources some of which were library Internet Protocol (IP) restricted. With regard to the availability and remote access to information resources, 17 (39.5%) of the libraries had websites but had no online information services available and none remotely accessible to users from remote locations. Three (7.0%) of the libraries had very few digital resources, and they are remotely inaccessible. Only 13 (30.2%) of the libraries provided tangible information sources that were available online and remotely accessible during the lockdown. It was concluded that many academic libraries in Nigeria failed to provide remote library and information services during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, and this would force users to access other unverifiable sources of information

Impact of external quality assurance on academic libraries

Forty nine librarians from the University of Ibadan (UI), University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) were surveyed by employing a structured questionnaire seeking respondents’ opinion on quality assurance. The respondents indicated that they fully participated in accreditation exercises of the National Universities Commission (NUC) which is the main body responsible for ensuring quality in Nigerian universities. The importance of accreditation is to improve quality and to maintain standards and guidelines. As regards the impact of accreditation, all the librarians rated improved provision of library services and resources to be the highest impact. Most of the criteria for assuring quality received very high scores with leadership having a score of 100% in the three institutions. It is concluded that the highest impact of accreditation on libraries is the improved provision of library services and resources. The library is the hub of activities during accreditation because each accreditation team is obliged to visit the library to ascertain the quality of library holdings and services in relation to every programme being accredited

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN TOWN AND GOWN: ROLE OF LIBRARIANS IN COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAMMES

Abstract The purpose of this paper was to review related literature on Community Service Programme and the involvement of librarians in such initiatives, with a focus on the University of Port Harcourt. This review was also undertaken to establish a link between the Community Service Programme and purposeful librarianship. Related literature was reviewed on the involvement of academic librarians in Community Service Programme in Universities with a focus on University of Port Harcourt Community Service Programme. It was observed that Community Service Programmes play an essential role in linking students with host communities and provide opportunities and prospects for the development of entrepreneurial skills. This paper highlighted the benefits of community service activities to all the stakeholders. It also exposed the problem of non-involvement of librarians in community service initiatives. This problem is more pronounced in Nigeria where librarians of all categories are not involved. It was, therefore, recommended that librarians should be actively involved in the design and implementation of the Community Service Programme in universities. In order to bridge the gap between town and gown, this paper also recommends the establishment of a functional Community Information Resource Centre with a library. This is a baseline review as no such paper has been written on this topic. Thus, it provides the basic information needed for further studies in this area

Motivating factors for male and female librarians in four Nigerian Federal Universities

This study was conducted to assess the levels of motivation of 14 motivating factors on academic librarians in four Nigerian Federal Universities based on gender and years of service. The population comprised of 66 librarians from the universities of Abeokuta, Calabar, Ibadan, and Uyo. An 18-item structured questionnaire, with section A soliciting for respondents’ biodata and section B soliciting for respondents’ opinion regarding how much they were motivated by each of the 14 motivating factors, was adopted for data collection. Data were subjected to Analysis of Variance and Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. With regards to gender, results indicated that male librarians were similarly motivated by each of the 14 factors while the female librarians were significantly motivated by Professional development/Growth and Promotion. For years of service, the librarians who have worked for 1 – 10 years and 21 years and above were similarly motivated by all the factors while Training, Professional development/Growth, Conducive environment, Job security, Promotion, and Career advancement significantly motivated those who have worked for 11 – 20 years. It is concluded that the female librarians were better focused on the factors that motivate them than the males; their primary motivator was promotion. Motivation of librarians also varied with years of service

Impact of external quality assurance on academic libraries

103-109<span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Times-Roman;mso-bidi-font-family:Times-Roman; mso-bidi-language:HI">Forty nine librarians from the University of Ibadan (UI), University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Obafemi Awolowo <span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Times-Roman;mso-bidi-font-family:Times-Roman; mso-bidi-language:HI">University (OAU) were surveyed by employing a structured questionnaire seeking respondents’ opinion on quality <span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Times-Roman;mso-bidi-font-family:Times-Roman; mso-bidi-language:HI">assurance. The respondents indicated that they fully participated in accreditation exercises of the National Universities Commission (NUC) which is the main body responsible for ensuring quality in Nigerian universities. The importance of accreditation is to improve quality and to maintain standards and guidelines. As regards the impact of accreditation, all the librarians rated improved provision of library services and resources to be the highest impact. Most of the criteria for assuring quality received very high scores with leadership having a score of 100% in the three institutions. It is concluded that the highest impact of accreditation on libraries is the improved provision of library services and resources. The library is the hub of activities during accreditation because each accreditation team is obliged to visit the library to ascertain the quality of library holdings and services in relation to every programme being accredited. </span

Availability and accessibility of e-resources in academic libraries in Nigeria: the impact of the interventionist programmes

229-233The impact of e-resources and the accompanying infrastructural development has not been fully realized in most developing countries necessitating some interventionist programmes. This study was undertaken to assess the impact of donor agencies in interventionist programmes with regards to the availability and accessibility of e-resources in Nigerian Federal University of Ibadan (UI) and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). A structured questionnaire was adopted for data collection. A total of 480 lecturers were involved in the study with 240 per institution, 80 from each of the three Faculties per institution and 20 lecturers from each of the four departments per faculty. Frequency counts on availability of e-resources were subjected to Analysis of Variance and Duncan&rsquo;s Multiple Range Test while frequency counts on accessibility of e-resources were subjected to percentages. Results indicated that AGORA, HINARI and JSTOR were popular and also that the percentage of accessibility of these e-resources was 98.2, 98.2 and 96.4 for the Faculties of Agriculture, Science and Social Sciences, respectively in UI and 100% in each of the three Faculties in OAU. AGORA, HINARI, and JSTOR are members of the interventionist group and being significantly more available than the other resources is a strong indication that the interventionist programmes have had a positive impact on the e-resources users in Nigeria