Search

The article investigated the nexus between academic libraries and accreditation in the higher institutions with special focus on the Nigerian experience. It showed that all accreditation agencies place a high premium on library provisions as a major component of requisite benchmarks in determining the status of the program or institutions being assessed. Academic libraries help to enrich formal classroom curricular and act as a broadening influence on lecturers and students as well as nurture in them the virtue of independent inquiry. State-of-the-art academic libraries confer prestige on the institutions and have tremendous impact on student retention, rankings, and high profiling of parent institution during accreditation. The article noted that there exists strong intrinsic and sometimes imperceptible relationship between academic libraries and higher education. It recommended institutionalization of global and regional ranking of academic libraries, among others.

This paper examined the involvement of public libraries in information provision to breastfeeding mothers in a developing country – Nigeria. It noted the importance of necessary and adequate information in the health care of both mother and child during the breastfeeding period. It further outlined the types of information needed by breastfeeding mothers and the role of public libraries in the provision of the various types of information. The paper identified the challenges inhibiting information provision for breastfeeding mothers to include negative attitude of breastfeeding mothers, digital divide, and poor state of libraries among others. It recommended the involvement of government and nongovernmental agencies in the provision of education and enlightenment programs for women in order to improve on their literacy levels and effect attitudinal changes toward their reception of formal healthcare information; it also recommended the intervention of government and donor agencies in the revitalization of public libraries and provision of necessary infrastructure for information provision especially in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic and print resources usages and preferences among undergraduates of Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria has been examined. The study population consist of all undergraduates of the University, from which a sample of 250 that is 10 percent of the population was selected. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire. 231 copies of the questionnaire were completed and returned, representing 92.45 per cent response rate. Results from the study revealed that 110 (47.6 %) of the respondents preferred print resources, while interestingly, the same number 110 (47.6 %) preferred electronic resources; 11(4.8 %) of the participants did not provide any response to the question. It therefore implies that both print and electronic resources are complementary in meeting the information needs of undergraduates. However, majority of the respondents indicated that they usually supplement print materials with electronic resources or vice versa. The test of hypotheses revealed that user preferences were influenced by demographic factors such as age, course and level of study. Libraries should maintain hybrid collections, as both resources were found to be relevant sources of information for teaching, learning and research is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the bedrock of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is eradication of poverty and hunger. In an attempt to actualize this goal, the role of public libraries in information provision to agricultural extension agents in Nigeria becomes paramount. This paper discusses provision of information to agricultural extension agents in a developing country. It starts with the concept of extension agents and the essence of information provision to them. It further discusses types, sources and challenges of public libraries in information provision to agricultural extension workers in a developing country. Some of the challenges are as follows: poor funding of public libraries, demotivated staff, and so on. Based on these discussions, the paper recommended adequate training and retraining of staff, adequate funding of public libraries by the federal, state and local government, the revitalization of the abandoned mobile library services among others. The paper therefore concludes that information provision to agricultural extension agents by public library is very crucial for national development. The current state of poverty, hunger and lack in Nigeria and some other African countries could be reduced to a great extent if current, relevant and up-to-date information are provided by libraries to the concerned agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of social network sites among library professionals in university libraries in Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria is investigated. The study population consisted of seventy-eight librarians in four universities in the state. Questionnaires (which was the instrument for data collection) were administered to the entire population, out of which 55 (representing 70.5 % response rate) were filled, returned and analysed for the study. The study revealed that library professionals do make use of SNS. The most frequently visited SNS was Linkedln (58.2 %). The respondents also indicated that they visited SNS for the purpose of connecting and collaborating with friends and colleagues, carrying out current awareness and reference services to library users, etc. Majority of the respondents (94.5 %) in the study further revealed that the greatest challenge to the use of social network sites was lack of social media skills. The first hypothesis tested in the study indicated that there was moderate positive significant relationship between device used for internet access and use of social network sites (r=.408**, N= 55, p<.002.). The second hypothesis revealed that there was no significant relationship between gender and use of SNS (r = 0 .157, N=55, p >.05). The study was concluded with recommendations that library professionals should undergo training in social media skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]