CONTRIBUTORY ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL, LEGAL AND ETHICAL FACTORS AS PRECURSORS OF CONSORTIUM BUILDING READINESS AMONG UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Consortium Building Readiness (CBR) is inevitable for university libraries that intend to provide adequate information resources and services to users. Preliminary investigations showed that efforts at CBR have not been successful in Nigeria. This may be as a result of the unpreparedness among university libraries to provide Institutional Factors–IF (Organisational Culture–OC, Organisational Policy–OP, finance, Power Supply–PS, Internet Connection–IC, ICT Literacy skills–ILS and digitisation), Legal Factors–LF (Governing Law–GL, Log-in-Option–LO, Non-disclosure of Log-in-Option–NDO, Dispute Resolution–DR, Cash Contribution–CC and dissolution) and Ethical Factors–EF (professional and business) to drive Consortium Building (CB). Little attention, however, has been paid to factors that could predict readiness for a successful CB among university libraries. This study therefore was carried out to investigate institutional, legal and ethical factors as precursors of CBR among university libraries in Southwestern Nigeria. Exchange and Resources Dependence, Social Exchange, Socio-Technical theories and Teamwork Model were used as the framework, while the survey design of the correlational type was adopted. All the 643 university library personnel in 45 university libraries in southwestern Nigeria were enumerated. The instruments used were Institutional Factors (α=0.75), Legal Factors (α=0.79), Ethical Factors (α=0.89), CBR (α=0.81) scales. Key informant interviews were conducted with nine selected university librarians. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation and Multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance, while the qualitative data was thematically analysed. The IF, LF and EF jointly influenced CBR (R = 0.47; F(3; 545) =51.17; Adj. R2=0.22), contributing 22.0% of its variance. The business ethics (β=0.34), OC (β=0.33), GL (β=0.24), LO (β=0.24), finance (β=0.17), PS (β=0.10) and digitisation (β=0.07) relatively contributed to CBR. The university librarians complained that CBR was impossible due to lack of acceptable platform for all university libraries to disseminate and share resources. There were yearnings to come together as a team of consortium but finance and organisational commitment of their various institutions limited the move. Business ethics, organisational culture, governing law, log-in-option, finance, power supply and digitization and accessible platform level enhanced consortium building readiness among university libraries in southwestern Nigeria. These factors should be addressed to drive consortium building among them

A review of Nwauche’s “The Protection of Cultural and Traditional Expressions in Africa”.

A review of The Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions in Africa, by Enyinna Nwauch

On a numerical algorithm for uncertain system

A numerical method for computing stable control signals for system with bounded input disturbance is developed. The algorithm is an elaboration of the gradient technique and variable metric method for computing control variables in linear and non-linear optimization problems. This method is developed for an integral quadratic problem subject to a dynamic system with input bounded uncertainty

Impact of Microfinance Banks on Poverty Alleviation in Selected Local Government Areas of Oyo State, Nigeria

The study examined the impact of microfinance banks on poverty alleviation in selected Local Government Areas of Oyo State. Standard of living of the respondents was examined; relationship between size of loans and standard of living and the extent to which women has benefitted from microfinance bank activities were also evaluated. The study was carried out in three Local Government Areas which were selected using stratified and purposive sampling techniques. 150 customers of microfinance banks were selected. Primary data were analyzed using Foster Greer Thorbecke; Matching Framework Analysis and Partial Correlation. The results revealed that poverty index of the respondents reduced from 0.1668 to 0.1551 after collection of loans which implied that microfinance banks has impacted positively on their living standards. The extent at which women has benefitted from microfinance banks ranges from 65% to 74% between 2007 and 2010. The result indicated that women are increasingly benefitting from microfinance activities in contrast to yester years when there was gender disparity skewed against women. Moreover, the relationship between size of loan, asset acquisition and profit after loan were positive and significant with P = 0.085 and r = 0.152, this revealed that as the size of loan increases, asset acquisition and profit also increases. It was recommended that the size of loans given to customers should be increased in order to enhance their standard of living and consequently alleviate poverty. Microfinance banks should encourage formation of cooperative societies through which they can give out loans to customers. Keywords: Microfinance bank, Poverty, Living standard, Nigeri

Disclosure of Depression in Primary Care: A Qualitative Study of Women’s Perceptions

Background Health care providers are better able to diagnose depression and initiate treatment when patients disclose symptoms. However, many women are reluctant to disclose depressive symptoms. Little is known about the experience of disclosing depression symptoms in primary care among racially and ethnically diverse women across the life course. We qualitatively explore experiences of disclosure of depressive symptoms to primary care providers among self-identified African American, Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women. Methods Twenty-four women with depression were recruited for open-ended interviews. We recorded, transcribed, and coded interviews using inductive content analysis. Findings Two distinct domains emerged: participant factors that hinder and facilitate disclosure and provider cues that encourage and dissuade discussing depression. Participants described perceptions about primary care not being the appropriate place, fear of not having a choice in treatment decisions, and the emotional cost of retelling as impediments to disclosure; perceiving an increased likelihood of getting help was described as a facilitator. Women identified provider behaviors of asking about depression and showing concern as facilitators, and provider time constraints as a barrier to disclosure. Conclusions Women perceive that primary care is not the appropriate place to disclose depression symptoms. Increased public education about behavioral health management in primary care, as well as more robust integration of the two, is needed. Efforts to improve depression disclosure in primary care must also encompass systematic use of depression screening tools and implementation of targeted interventions to cultivate provider empathy

Foreign aid, human capital and economic growth nexus: Evidence from Nigeria

This study investigates the link between aid and human capital in promoting economic growth of Nigeria. The study used two models; the first model was used to test the validity of the medicine model in Nigeria; while the extended model was used to investigate the effect of aid and human capital shocks on growth using Engle-Granger and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) estimation techniques respectively. The findings from the first model suggest that persistent increase in foreign aid flows beyond a particular point (the optimal point) may adversely affect growth thus confirming the proposition of the Medicine Model. Evidence from the study’s extended model indicates that growth in Nigeria is sensitive to human capital shock via education while the response from aid shock is trivial in the long run. The mechanism through which aid impacts economies is influenced by many heterogeneous factors, notably; the role played by the recipient governments is often not considered. Our implication from the obtained results is that government expenditures on education with additional inflows of aid can promote economic growth in Nigeria. However, there is also an indication that attainment of economic growth might be challenging for this aid-dependent country

Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses of the Illinois and Michigan Canal at Lockport, Illinois

Includes bibliographical references (p. 75)

Managed flood storage option for selected levees along the lower Illinois River for enhancing flood protection, agriculture, wetlands, and recreation: Second report, validation of the UNET model for the lower Illinois River

"March 1997.""A division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Onset of Hearing Loss, Gender and Self Concept as Determinants of Academic Achievements in English Language of Students with Hearing Disability in Oyo State, Nigeria

Since every class of students with hearing disability is always a heterogeneous one, the need for establishing relationship between some intrinsic factors in these students and their academic achievements becomes very imperative. This study therefore examined the influence of onset of hearing loss, gender and self concept on their academic performance in English language. 100 Senior Secondary School class III students with hearing disability were purposively selected to participate in the study. The study also raised 3 hypotheses to ascertain relationships between onset of hearing loss, gender, and self concept and English language achievement. Instruments such as the self concept scale of the Adolescent Personal Data Inventory, Adapted English Language Test and Audiological Reports were used. Findings showed that postlingually hearing disabled students were superior to their prelingually hearing-disabled colleagues, male students did better than female students and student with high self concept outclassed those with low self concept. It was therefore recommended that teachers and curriculum developers should adequately consider these findings in teaching and curriculum development activities