THE USE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR DISPLAY OF UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR USE STATISTICS AND FUNCTIONAL AREAS

The purpose of this study is to present University of Calabar statistics and functional areas using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The process of using a GIS is faceted and involves different methods of presentation. Being that University of Calabar Library has not yet been geo-mapped, author traced in-use statistics in the different divisions for a 3-years period especially to show that the library, in whatever format is useful for Information services. The summed in use statistics gave a total data for study in all the functional areas. Analysis was presented using three different types of GIS charts------ Lines with markers charts, Radar charts, and a 3-D 100% stacked column chart. The findings revealed that library use data can be represented using a GIS. In addition, when data is accurate, whatever GIS design used for presentation and visualization will be accurate, most times self-explanatory and easy to understand. There is little published research to date on the capabilities and applications of GIS in this area of the world. This research provides a practical application-base overview. The paper therefore recommends that library Management in collaboration with the parent institution should arrange for the training of librarians in GIS usage. This would be important to boost contemporary Librarianship in this aspect. Keywords: Information, GIS, In-use statistics, Functional areas, GIS-charts, University of Calabar Library.
INTRODUCTION The train of modern librarianship is moving rapidly through libraries as recently, all types of libraries have become active users and providers of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) resources. Larsgaard [...]