ACQUISITION AND UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION RESOURCES IN NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This  study  investigates  acquisition  and  utilization  of  information  resources  in  National Library of Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the study us 465, consists of all the NLN staff in the five (5) professional departments of the National Library of Nigeria. The research was guided by eight research questions which covers:  the acquisition methods employed in National Library of Nigeria,  types of resources acquired in National Library of Nigeria, the  extent to which  the  Information Resources  are acquired in National Library of Nigeria, the extent to which the Information Resources are Utilized in National library of Nigeria,   the problems associated with NLN acquisition of information  resources,     the  problems  associated  with  NLN  utilization  of  information resources,    the  strategies  to  be  employed  to  enhance  acquisitions  in  National  Library, strategies to be employed to enhance utilization in National Library? The instruments for data collection are questionnaire, checklist and interview. The data from the questionnaire were analyzed using frequency distribution table, percentage and mean scores. The findings revealed  that  library  resources  are  acquired  basically  through  purchases  and  not  legal deposits,     both book and non book resources are acquired to great extent, most of the resources in the library are appropriately utilized, funding is the major problem confronting the acquisition of resources in the National Library of Nigeria, staff indifference to users constitute the major problem of utilization of the resources, training and retraining of staff as well  as  offering free access to  resources are among the  major strategies  for enhancing utilization of resources in the National Library of Nigeria. The study recommended that there should be adequate staff training ,government should make more funds available for book purchase,there should be communication between the staff and users so there needs  will be made known to the organization ,resource sharing should be encouraged .

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

National library of any given country is so important because of the role it performs in the society. National libraries hold the nations literary works and thereby preserves these works for posterity. They are regarded as apex libraries in any given country, which are specifically established by the government of a country to serve as the national repository of information

United  Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization  (UNESCO) 1970 defined National library as:

Libraries which irrespective of their titles are responsible for acquiring and conserving copies of all significant publications in the country, thereby functioning as a deposit library by law. They  will  also  produce  the  National  Bibliography,  compile Union  Catalogue,  and  represent  the country  in  international library conferences.

In the light of the above it can be seen that the key function of National Library of Nigeria  is  to  acquire  good  information  resources  which  are  comprehensive  and    near complete . As such taking a look at National Library of Nigeria acquisitions, is a welcome idea. In doing this it is appropriate to look at the history of National library of Nigeria, acquisitions of library resources in National Library of Nigeria and also the information resources  available.

In Nigeria, the first documented call for a National library of Nigeria appeared on the pages of the West African pilot in 1947 in an article   by Right Honourable  Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dosumu (2001). This was followed by the emergence of a body of professionals under the name  Nigerian  Division  of  West  African  Library  Association  (WALA)  agitating  for  a

National library of Nigeria in 1958. According to Olanlokun & Salisu (2001) in 1958 the Federal Government appointed a library advisory committee which comprised of government officials and leaders of the library profession. The then information minister Chief T.O.S. Benson initiated a move which culminated into the founding of the National Library board with the appointment of Dr. Carl. M. White, from Columbia University, New York as a library adviser in 1958.

National  library  of  Nigeria  opened  to  the  public  in  1964.  Olanlokun  and  Salusi (2000). In 1970  a decree giving National Library full mandate to be the nation’s repository library was passed The library has it’s headquarters in Abuja with 24 state branches .

In 1964 there were four professional departments they are, Acquisitions department, cataloguing department, serials and documents department and lastly reference department, Oderinde (1984).

Each of these departments was headed by an expatriate.

By August 1964 when Dorathy Poter was due to return to the United States Oderinde replaced her thereby being the only Nigerian heading a department in National Library of Nigeria as at then Oderinde (1984).  The first information resources acquired were gifts from Ford foundation while the Nigerian collections and government documents consisted of the information resources transferred to it from the old secretariat library. The Ford Foundation gifts  included  library  of congress  and  British  Museum catalogues  and  monographs.  The foundation also provided  grants for the purchase of monographs. The Nigerian resources were largely those resources deposited in the office of the secretary to the government in accordance with the provisions of the publication ordinance of 1950 which mandated the National library to collect published literary works in the country from different categories of

publishers. The collection also included collection of British parliamentary and command papers, blue books, hazard dairies and journals of the colonial masters relating to Nigeria Oderinde (1984).

In confirming the initial resources of National library of Nigeria. Olaulokun & Salisu (2001) says “the initial resources assembled comprised the literacy contents of the old secretariat library and gifts of a few thousand volumes of books by Ford Foundation of America”. These gifts covered a wide variety of subjects but with distinct emphasis on the social sciences. Olanlokun & Salisu (2002).   Mention must be made of the Rhodes House collection. This is a collection on micro films of private papers of past colonial civil servants who lived and worked in Nigeria Olanlokun & Salisu (2001). From the forgoing it can be deduced that National Library of Nigeria was acquiring every available information resource irrespective of type and form.     Subsequently an acquisition policy was derived from the objectives of the library, Oderinde (1984). The clientele of the library were identified and as such their needs indicated the resources that were to be acquired. The clientele are students, civil servants, researchers, and the entire populace except children below the age of eighteen (18) years.

However subject fields like law, medicine, international relations and banking were avoided. This is primarily because the National library of Nigeria was avoiding duplication of effort as there were other libraries acquiring these resources. The primary interest of the National library according to Oderinde (1984) is to acquire, own and make available for consumption  all materials relating to History, development  and character of the Nigerian Nation in particular and of African continent in general, social sciences, humanities, arts science and technology, reference works and bibliographies NL 439 (1980). As a result of

statutory provision in the National library Decree No 29 of 1970 that branches of National library be established in all the states of the federation decision was taken to purchase extra copies for all existing branches.

From the forgoing, acquisition, through purchase, legal deposit and gifts are  integral methods  of  meeting  the  objectives  of  the  National  library  of  Nigeria.  Acquisition  of information resources is a core activity of libraries. It can be said that acquisition is the only way through which libraries build up their collections. Adedibu (1989) says acquisition is the procurement of library materials either by purchase, gifts and legal deposit into the library. Supporting this, Eguavon (2012) says acquisition involves selection, ordering, purchase, soliciting for gifts or exchanges as well as maintaining appropriate records.

Acquisition is a very important aspect of librarianship since the strength of a library’s collection solely depends on the information resources acquired. The acquisition librarians therefore  have  a  tremendous  role  to  play  in  maintaining  a  good  collection  as  well  as achieving organizational  goals through  acquisition of relevant information  resources. If a library acquires good and relevant materials the benefits are enormous to both the library and the users, the library will have credibility and authority while the users will always find answers to their questions from such a library. Prytherch (2005)

says that the process of planning a stock acquisition programme is not simply to cater for immediate needs but to build a coherent and reliable collection over a number of years to meet the objectives and the services of a library.       In this work it is also important to know the methods of acquisition used in National library of Nigeria.

The major source of acquisition is purchase, though information resources are also acquired through gifts and exchanges and legal deposit, Oderinde (1984).

Having  introduced  the  concept  of acquisition  it is  necessary  to  know  what  information resources are and the types available in National library of Nigeria. Aina and Aina (2007) defined information resources as materials consulted for aid or for knowledge about a topic, a theme, an event, a date, a number, a place or even a word.

Edoka (2000) categorized information resources into two (2). These include;

1.   Print resources and

2.   Non-print resources.

He further stated that print category includes; text books, periodicals, magazines and newspapers. The non-print category according to him include; audio-visual aids, non-book media . These include illustrations, maps, charts and posters, the newer media which require machines for their use for example films, film loops, filmstrips, slides transparencies, audio tapes, video tapes, and three dimensional objects termed realia or models.

Obi and Aina (2007) agrees with Edoka’s two categories of print and non-print. They categorized  information  resources  into  two  groups.    In  National  library  of  Nigeria  the resources include all published works and all intellectual output of citizens including print and non-print resources.  All the categories of information are acquired by National library of Nigeria. According to Arua (1997) the legal deposit materials are indigenous materials published  within the country and  those published  about the country outside the country. These resources include books, magazines, journals, films, newspapers, government publication, oral recordings or documentaries.

Owen (2007) in collaboration with Arua (1997) posited that books, journals, newspapers, government publications are collected and preserved for posterity through the legal deposit. These materials could be literary, collective, distinct or documentary work.

This is supposed to be the ideal situation. Utilization is to put into service, make work or employ  for a  particular  purpose  or  for its inherent  or natural  purpose.   As  asserted  by Ugwuanyi (1998), some factors determine utilization. He identified two principal factors (1) Accessibility and (2) Quality. He was citing Ford (1985).

A library is a place  where information bearing materials  are acquired, processed, organized  and disseminated  for use by patron. For a library to be relevant  to the users, information bearing materials are readily acquired and made accessible to the clients. These makes the materials available for use. Uwaifo (2010) opined that information resources are selected,  acquired  and  organized  by  library  staff  so  that  information  seekers  or  library clientele can have quick and easy access to them. According to him a good library is one that has a combination of print and non-print materials. Accessibility of materials is what attracts users to the library.

Bello (2009) in corroborating this opined that a library is regarded as the memory of human race, a means not just of obtaining access to required information but of giving the users independent access to all kinds of ideas and information.  According to Ola & Osagie (2011)  libraries  serve  as  content  and  knowledge  repository  by  collecting  and  providing access to books, journals and other recorded information, by acquiring, re-packaging and providing access to information, libraries can ensure that the right information is available and in form that the users can understand.

In National library of Nigeria limited access to resources affect proper utilization of the resources. According to Ola and Osagie (2011) the users are not allowed physical contact with the materials. The Nigerian collection is kept under close monitoring. This seems to limit the accessibility and utilization of the resources.  The researcher, working in National

library of Nigeria has perceived that the resources acquired may not be adequate and this could  affect  the use  of the  library.  This  may be  because  the avenues  of acquisition  of information resources are not paid proper attention to.

The National library of Nigeria as the co-ordinator of national information resources has  fulfilled  the  standard  to  assume  the  status  of  a  National  library  as  prescribed  by UNESCO in the definition above. This type of library exists in different countries. In the United States of America, it is called the library of congress and is regarded as the nation’s oldest  federal,  cultural  institution.  In  France,  it is  called  the  Bibliothoque  Nationale  de France, in Singapore it is called the National library board in Britain it is called the British council.

The National Library (2005) states the vision and mission of the library as:

To ensure the building of an informed and enlightened citizenry through the provision of resources that are readily available and accessible. The mission statement on the other hand is to acquire, process, organize, disseminate as well as provide links to information resources to all Nigerians  for  their  educational  pursuits  and  for  informed  decision making.

Based on the vision and mission statement it has four (4) main objectives according to Ukejianya( 2007). These objectives are to support intellectual efforts of all Nigerians,ensure that resources are comprehensive and are available to users ,encourage library development in the country and to generate free flow of knowledge between the nation and others .

Apart  from  the  vision,  mission  statements  and  objectives,  the  main  role  of  the National Library is not different from the role played by libraries in general which according to Adeyemi (2009) serves as a tool for intellectual freedom and economic development a gate-way  to  political,  economic  and  social  happiness  and  survival.  Based  on  these,  the

importance of National library to the political, economic and social development of Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. It serves as a repository of knowledge in all forms and shapes through the following functions as contained in the National Library Act No 29 of 1970

These functions are to be the National legal depository library, act as the bibliographic centre for the nation , responsible for establishing branches in the country,act as a link to other libraries and maintain the nation’s union catalogue.Issue starndard numbers to publications

. The National library of Nigerian also provides some fundamental library and information services which according to Omolayole, (2002) not at vary with the salient features that have been highlighted in UNESCO’s definition. The services are aimed at meeting the mission and vision statements and the objectives as stated above.

It has been observed that National library despite the mandate given to it to collect legal deposit, and the book votes and book grants given to it is far from having a robust and virile collection and this invariably affects services provided to the users, hence the study. Statement of the Problem

Acquisition and utilization are integral methods of meeting the objectives of National library of Nigeria which is ensuring the availability and accessibility of a comprehensive and a near complete  collection  of information  resources. Having robbust collection  which  is adequately  utilized  is  of  great  benefit  in  research,  study,  learning,  and  acquisition  of knowledge. The acquisitions of a library and its maximum utilization determine the strength or the weakness of the library. Good acquisitions can draw a lot of users to the library. They include students, researchers, civil servants, tourists etc.

However it has been observed by the researcher, through on-the-job experience that the information resources in the National library of Nigeria are far from being large and vast

and  as  such  utilization  is  affected.  This  may  be  as  a  result  of  poor  funding  by  the government, legal deposits not made, purchases not made or policies not strictly adhered to The  national  library  of Nigeria  seems  not  to  be  living  up  to    expectation  in  acquiring information  resources  and  making  these  resources  available  to  users  to  satisfy  them. Perhaps, if this huge problem is not urgently addressed could make the National library not to have the large collection  it should have as a depository library where every information resource should be found.

Finally, the researcher’s extensive search of literature show that within the context of this  research,  no  empirical  work  has  been  done  on  the  acquisition  and  utilization  of information resources in National library of Nigeria on the acquisition and . This study is therefore carried out to fill the gap.

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of the study is to inquire into the acquisition processes and utilization of Information Resources in National library of Nigeria.

Specifically, the study intends to find out

1. Methods of acquisition employed in National Library of Nigeria.

2. Types of information resources acquired in National Library of Nigeria

3. Extent of Information Resources Acquired in National Library of Nigeria

4. Extent of utilization of Information Resources in National Library of Nigeria.

5. Problems of acquisition of information resources in NLN

6. Problems of utilization of information resources in NLN

7.  How acquisition in National Library can be enhanced

8.  How utilization of information resources can be enhanced in National library of Nigeria

Research Questions

The following research questions shall guide the study:

1. What are the acquisition methods employed in National Library of Nigeria?

2. What types of resources are acquired in National Library of Nigeria?

3. To what extent are the following Information Resources acquired in National Library of

Nigeria?

4. To what extent are the Information Resources Utilized in National library of Nigeria?

5. What are the problems associated with   acquisition of information resources?

6. What are the problems associated with   utilization of information resources in National

Library of Nigerias?

7. What are  strategies that can be employed to enhance acquisitions in National Library?

8. What are the strategies that can be employed to enhance utilization in National Library of

Nigeriaj?

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study are expected to be of benefit to management and staff of national library of Nigeria, the Federal government, researchers, students, authors, lawyers, civil servants, publishers and students of library and information science. The findings of this work, if adopted may be of great benefit to the management of national library of Nigeria  if the causes of the lapses in acquisition and utilization are revealed by correcting the errors especially in the area of legal deposit .Publishers will be pursued more vigorously to

comply .This will give a very great boost to the collection .And again management will have first hand information on how to approach government for more book votes

.For government ,their desire to improve educational standards  in Nigeria may be archived if they see the need to  give more funds to National library.

Authors will be more enlightened about the benefits of depositing their publications with the National  library.If they deposit their titles  will be listed  in the National Bibliography  of Nigeria which is a good selection tool ,their works will be standard because it will have standard numbers for publications and so many other benefits

For lawyers  ,getting copies  for evidence  in court will  no  longer be an  issue.  It is only National library that gives certified true copies of documents and when they are not available it becomes a problem for the lawyers

For students and researchers they will   always have available resources which are readily available for their educational pursuits

Scope of the Study

The study intends to cover the acquisition and utilization of information resources in National  library of Nigeria.  It will discuss in details the methods of acquisition  used  in National library of Nigeria, the types of information resources acquired, the utilization of the resources, the barriers to acquisition and utilization and the strategies for improvement on acquisition and utilization of information resources in National library of Nigeria.

The study will focus on the five (5) professional departments of National library of Nigeria. They are: Planning, Research and Statistics Department (PRSD), Collection Development  and  Processing  Department  (DPD),  National  Bibliographic  Control Department (NBCD), Virtual Library Services Department (VLSD) and Public Services Department (PSD). The public services department has twenty four (24) state branches, but

seven (7) out of the twenty four (24) state branches representing  the six (6) geopolitical zone of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory will be used.

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