The Role of Librarians in The Development of Education in Nigeria

This study investigates the working relationship between the Nigerian Library Association and the Federal Ministry of Education by exploring the provision and use of libraries in the National Policy on Education in Nigeria. The condition of school libraries and the implementation of this policy by some selected schools in the north, south, west and eastern part of Nigerian was investigated and reported accordingly. Two hundred and fifty questionnaires were drawn and administered to respondents, including 150 librarians, 50 teachers and 50 staff of the Federal Ministry of Education. A total of 189 were recovered from 110 librarians, 47 teachers and 32 Federal Ministry of Education Staff. Interviews were conducted with three librarians, two principals, one head teachers, three teachers and three Federal Ministry of Education staff making it 12 people in all who were interviewed. They were selected by cluster sampling technique, using table of random numbers. The social survey design was used for this study, with a 31- item questionnaire instrument for data collection. Two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha levels to get the correlation coefficient and regression result. The findings show that there is a weak working relationship between the Nigerian Library Association and the Federal Ministry of Education and policies on libraries in the National Policy of Education are not being implemented. The study is concluded by recommending a feasible working relationship between the Federal Ministry of Education and the Nigerian Library Association, while Librarian Registration Council of Nigeria, National Library of Nigeria and other library stakeholders need to be involved in the inspection of schools at Federal, state and local government level to ensure policies are implemente

Enhancing Information Access And Use For The Dyslexics Adopting New Strategies For Public Libraries In Nigeria

It is estimated that dyslexia affects 8 -10% of the world's population and between 5 to 10% of a given popufat1on .. The purpose of this paper ts to create awareness among librarians about dyslexia an(} to introduce some of the issues that dyslexic people ftice ·;n connection with using the public library. The paper identifies likely factors. that can discourage dyslexic people from visiting and using libraries including· difficulty w1th reading quietly in a library and problems with locating books and other resOU(Ces. The paper recommends some low cost measures for ; enhancing access and use of information by the Dyslexics and l suggests that librarians should go the extra ml!e by providing f access to information and resources in a yanety of media, along with providing pictograms, talking books, bold use of siqnage and selective dissemination of information. These will help in achieving one of the goals of the public library which is to provide equal access to all library users mcluding people with dyslexia ·their attendant problems notwithstanding.

ICT competencies in the 21st century library profession: a departure from the past

This paper examined the different challenges posed by ICT competencies/literacy to librarians in the 21st century. It established that librarians possess digital skills and competencies; that ICT facilities are in libraries; librarians access the internet and provide digital information resources services; it also revealed that different libraries are on the path to digitization; librarians agreed that there are challenges and that they are working to mitigate them. The study concluded by encouraging those librarians not yet on the ICT competence track to join the train. Descriptive survey method was used with a randomly selected sample of one hundred (100) librarians from a target population of over five hundred (500) librarians. Ninety-two percent of the librarians say that ICT facilities are available in their working environment, however 81 or 93% of the librarians complained of problems of ICT including poor bandwidth, lack of fund for expansion of network by service providers and epileptic power supply among other challenges

Citation Analysis of Social Science Research: A Case Study of Bachelor Degree Research Project Reports of A Nigerian University 2009-2013

The study is an analysis of the citations in the research project reports of Social Science Bachelor degree graduates between 2009 and 2013 submitted to the Covenant University Library. This was with a view to determine the type of information resources that were cited more by the researchers, find the average citations made per project report, determine the amount of internet or e-resources cited as against print resources and ascertain the recency of citations and author preference in the ICT age. It was revealed that the authors cited more from textbooks than journal and internet / electronic resources. Citation from books was 69.4% followed by journals 16% and Internet/ E-Resources 8% among others. The average of 39 citations per report generally was discovered. 34.6% of the total citations were Very Recent, 21% citations were Recent, while 13.4% citations were Not Very Recent and 31% of the total citations were Not Recent. The researcher’s author preference is foreign authors as against African authors. It is recommended that the Library must engage more in a variety of education and information literacy skill programmes. Project supervisors should randomly check citations to deter students from using spurious authors. Students should seek for more recent materials and there should be lectures on citation/reference of consulted materials especially internet/e-resources. African authors should intensify writing and publishing among others

The Importance of the Use of Libraries and the Need for a Reading Culture

Libraries are very important for information, communication and transformation. They help to inculcate a reading culture for an upward progression of people’s life. They reduce ignorance, thus they are empowering literacy, knowledge and skill acquisition. This paper is an opinion paper. The authors employed literature research methodology to carry out the analysis. It gives an insight into the reading culture of different nations and further portrays the role of libraries in promoting reading and an effective reading environment in the society. The authors also aim at improving the reading culture of different nations by using their own nation as a case study. The paper demonstrates that establishing of reading clubs, reviving of education in the schools through electronic libraries, promotion of books and reading in the media are those factors that could improve the situation of reading

Facebook and Political Communication in the 2011 General Elections

networking and mutual services have grown rapidly, enabling people to communicate and share interests in many more ways. Modern inclinations and advancement in modern technologies seem to be eroding the glory of the mainstream media. The tactics employed by Barack Obama in his presidential election campaign in the 2008 US elections has changed the rules of political communication and since then electoral campaigns have been more about social networking; using the existing and emerging social media platforms than the conventional approach which emphasized more of one-way communication with limited chances to generate feedbacks. This singular event brought social networks into limelight especially Facebook which has now been turned to an advertising medium especially for Nigerian politicians. Therefore this study examined the effectiveness and role that Facebook played as a tool for political communication and mobilisation in Nigeria during the 2011 general elections. Two Nigerian tertiary institutions were studied; the simple random sampling technique was employed to arrive at the two institutions. This study made use of the survey research method using questionnaire and interview as instruments in the gathering, analysis and interpretation of data. Findings showed that Facebook was used to a great extent by the aspirants in mobilising the support of the electorate. It was however found that mobilisation by Facebook was limited to the people who had internet access or smart phones with internet applications. The paper therefore recommends among others that credibility of social media should be encouraged because presently, most political stories obtained on the web are mere gossips and rumours which most a times are baseless. A little bit of caution should be exhibited by those who post comments into these social media sites. This is because; some of these comments are derogatory and appalling. Keywords: Elections, Facebook, mobilisation, new media, political communicatio

THE ROLE OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: ISSUES AND STRATEGIES

Academic libraries are institutions that are trustworthy knowledge providers. With the proliferation of information, academic libraries can help the communities develop. This study is a social survey research aimed at proffering solutions to the gap experienced between the academic communities, and that of their immediate surroundings. The data for the study were collected through the use of questionnaire and interview methods. The questionnaire was administered to academic librarians with higher qualifications in five higher institutions around Lagos and Ogun States. However from this research finding, it can be observed that the libraries have not had much impact on the towns/communities where the academic libraries had been established. Only the staff and students and the university community have been impacted immensely. Recommendations are for Academic libraries to organize programmes that will sanitize the communities to get users aware of the importance of libraries

Towards National Security and Peace: The Strategic Role of Libraries

This article is aimed at examining the causes of insecurity and violence in Nigeria and around the world. It discusses the active roles libraries play in promoting peace and security in different countries. It highlights the fact that several threats to lives, ranging from terrorism, communal and tribal clashes, kidnapping, pollution, health, physical and environmental hazards, and economic crisis amongothers, can be curbed through information and intelligence services. Premised on these, this article seeks to analyze and make recommendations for the promotion of literacy by libraries, build collaborative relationships between librarians and security operatives, and provide suggestions for the provision of current information against terrorism and security of lives and properties. It also seeks to provide current news on terrorism and intelligence services in Nigeria and around theworld, and on social and national security for peaceful co-existence in communitie

INFORMATION NEEDS AND MOST PREFERED SOURCES OF INFORMATION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN A NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

This study was carried out to investigate the information needs and most preferred source of information of undergraduate students in a Nigerian university of technology. Students in their second and third years of study in the departments of Estate Management and Architecture both in the school of Environmental Technology in Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) were surveyed. An adopted questionnaire was used to gather data for this study. The questionnaire was randomly distributed to the students in these departments thereby giving equal opportunity of being selected as part of the survey. Two hundred and fifty seven (257) copies of the questionnaire were distributed, two hundred and twenty (220) were returned but two hundred and three (203) representing response rate of 80% were found usable for data analysis. The result of the findings was analysed using simple percentages and is represented in charts. The study found out that the undergraduate students

Responsive Library Website Design and Adoption of Federated Search Tools for Library Services in Developing Countries

Library attention has been shifted away from only physical services, since much of its operations are now going virtual, and almost everything about library activities now compete for online attention. Librarians have no choice than to conform to the trend since the major concern of library is to meet the need of its clienteles at all cost. Moreover, the paradigm shift in information ecosystem is now ediscovery tools. Responsive website design and federated search tools are part of the tools adopted to meet and satisfy information needs of library users in this era of information exploration. This chapter looks at the concept of responsive website design and federated search, components of responsive websites design, need for adoption of responsive website design for libraries in developing countries, federated search products and vendors, benefits of federated search technology, dichotomy between open search and federated search, adoption of federated search tools in developing countries, issues to consider with the federated search too