TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page – – – – – – – – – – i
Approval page – – – – – – ii
Certification page – – – – – – iii
Dedication – – – – – – – iv
Acknowledgements – – – – – – v
Table of Contents – – – – – – – vii
List of Tables – – – – – – – – – x
Abstract – – – – – – – – – xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION – – – 1
Background of the Study – – – – – – 1
Statement of the Problem – – – – – – 11
Purpose of the Study – – – – – – – 13
Research Questions – – – – – – – 13
Hypothesis – – – – – – – 14
Significance of the Study – – – – – – 14
Scope of the Study – – – – – – – 16
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW
OF RELATED LITERATURE – – –
17
Conceptual framework- – – – – – 18
Concept of library resources – – – – – – 18
Standards for library resources – – – – 21
Concept of research productivity – – – – 23
Benchmark for productivity in Nigerian Research Institutes – – 24
Theoretical framework – – – – – 26
The Theorem of Marginal Utility of Productivity – – 26
An overview of research in Nigerian medical science research institute – – – – – – – – 27
Variables of the study- – – – – – 31
Empirical studies – – – – – 54
Summary of the literature review- – – – 57
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD – – 60
The Research Design – – – – – 60
Area of study – – – – – – – 60
Population of the study – – – – – – 61
Sample and sampling technique – – – – – 62
Instruments for Data collection – – – – – 62
Validation of instrument – – – – – – 64
Reliability of the instrument – – – – – 65
Method of Data collection – – – – – – 65
Method of Data analysis – – – – – – 66
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION
OF RESULT – – – 67
CHAPTER FIVE:
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS- – – – – – – – 91
Discussion of findings: – – – – – 91
Implication of the study – – – – – 99
Recommendations – – – – – – 101
Limitations of the study – – – – – 102
Suggestions for further studies – – – – – 102
Conclusion – – – – – – – 103
References – – – – – – – – – 106
Appendices – – – – – – – 115
List of Medical Science Research
Institutes covered by the study 116
Research tool type 1(for
librarians) 117
Research tool type 2 (other
researchers) 122
Observation check list 128
Computer print out of the reliability values of the questionnaires 131
Distribution of ranks of staff/ Productivity tables in the study population – – – – – – – – – 132
Distribution of respondents in the institutes under study 133
Productivity by ranks of researchers in each institute 134
Distribution of library users per institute 146
Classification of library resources used for correlation 147
Calculations for correlation coefficient (r) for print and non print resources and test for hypothesis – – – – 148
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Availability of print library resources in the institutes under study – – – – – – – – – 68
Table 2 Availability of non print library resources in the
institutes under study – – – – – – – 69
Table 3 Mean rating of responses on the extent of accessibility
to library
resources in the medical science research institutes under study 72
Table 4 Mean rating of responses on the areas where library resources are applied in the institutes under study – 74
Table 5 Extent of productivity in the five institutes under study- 76
Table 6 Extent of productivity by indicator and institute – 78
Table 7 Correlation between print resources per researcher (X) and
productivity
per researcher (Y) – – – – 81
Table 8 Correlation between non print resources per researcher (X) and productivity per researcher (Y) – – – – 82
Table 9 T-statistics for the significance of the relationship between Available library resources and research productivity – 83
Table 10 Mean rating of responses on the problems facing provision of library resources in the institutes under study – – 85
Table 11 Mean rating of responses on strategies for improving the provision of library resources in the medical research institutes – 87
ABSTRACT
The work embodied on this thesis is
principally meant to describe availability of library resources and research
productivity in five medical science research institutes in Nigeria. There were
seven objectives which included the determination of: availability of library
resources in the institutes; extent of accessibility to the resources; areas
where the resources were majorly applied; extent of research productivity in
the institutes; problems affecting provision of library resources in the institutes
and measures to improve the identified problems affecting provision of
resources. These were discussed using seven research questions and one null
hypothesis as guides. The work which was
anchored on Elgin William’s theory of Marginal Utility of Productivity adopted
a descriptive survey research design. The population size of the study
was 215 (198 researchers and 17 librarians) drawn from five research institutes
of which 166 (83.8% of researchers) and 17 librarians were actually used for
discussions. The area of study is Nigeria and the institutes are distributed in
Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos, and Plateau states of the country. The research
instruments used for data collection were questionnaire which appeared in two categories
(type 1 and 2) and an observation check-list. The tools were all face validated
and the Cronbach’s Alpha reliability analysis procedure was applied to
determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire items. About 85.1
percent of the questionnaires were returned and data obtained in the work were presented
in tables and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The Pearson’s Product Moment
Correlation coefficient procedure was applied in research question five to
determine the relationship which was found positive but not strong. Also, the
null hypothesis was tested using the t-statistics and was found non significant
(P> 0.05). The study found that periodical resources were inadequate against
existing library standards but books and non print resources were sufficient in
the libraries of these institutes; access to relevant resources like e-books,
manuals, patent documents, handbooks and indexes were limited. The institutes
met the required productivity benchmark at each rank of the researchers as
required by their conditions of service. It was also found in the study that
funds, lack of acquisition policies, poor management and high cost of resources
were the major problems affecting the provision of information resources in
these institutes. The work recommended library reforms in terms of
strengthening the capabilities of the library and use of acquisition policies.
Also, that the government should institute a separate library budget, grant
tax- free importation of library materials and encourage continuous training of
all cadres of staff of the research institutes amongst many others. It was
concluded that since research is very essential, the findings if adopted is expected
to encourage good provision and access to information and information materials
that will in turn enhance productivity of medical science researchers towards
production of interventions that would be used to address the health problems
affecting Nigeria and her people. The work highlighted some limitations like
general apathy on filling of questionnaires shown by respondents. Areas of further studies suggested include
study of the impact of user services on development of interventions in
Nigerian medical-based research institutes and study on the pattern of resource
sharing amongst Nigerian medical-based research institutes.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
The
goal of health for all by the year 2000 had become a mirage by the end of the
last century. This was a set objective for global health equity that was
endorsed by the World Community at the Alma-Ata
conference (Russia)
on Primary Health Care in 1978. Twelve years after the set date, the objective
still proved difficult to achieve due mainly to world health disparities. The
present global health disparities are the result of uneven progress in health
and development. An aspect of this disparity was shown in the World Health
Organization report (WHO, 2004) that people in the developed world are seen to
enjoy an average life expectancy of 87 and 91 years for males and females respectively.
But that about 1.6 billion people of the world’s 6.8 billion population living
in the least developed countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America die
prematurely at 47 and 57 years for males and females respectively. The short
life cycle in these areas is due to the burden of avoidable illness and
diseases and this condition calls for immediate intervention and planning.
With regards to the development of
interventions to deal with a wide range of diseases and illnesses, science has
made significant contributions. From the time of Hippocrates, humanity has
struggled to grasp the fundamental principles of science and apply them to
human health. Thus, from Leonardo da Vinci’s groundbreaking sketches of the
human body to James Lind’s studies of scurvy, from John Snow’s broad street
pump to Joseph Lister’s discovery of antiseptics and from Wilhelm Roentgen’s
x-rays to Frederic Banting’s discovery of insulin, science, and medical science
in particular, has an impressive history of identifying and analyzing problems,
making diagnoses, articulating prescriptions and mounting effective responses.
The
history of medical science has revolutionalized people’s approach to public
health. The World Health Organization (2004) report accepted the fact that
medical science has led to dramatic improvements in health worldwide but also
assumed that all is not yet well. It showed that disparities and inequities in
health remained major development challenges in the present time. This is because Human Immuno Virus / Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), Malaria and Dengue fever have continued
to wreak havoc, new foes like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and
Avian Flu Viruses appear, yet old scourges like Leprosy and Tuberculosis have
remained. As a way of bridging the health gap between the developed and the
developing countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) ministerial arm
identified the need and the importance of medical science research as a channel
for providing tools for improved health and development by marking out the
problems, developing new and effective interventions, empowering individuals
and communities and informing policy and action in public health. Indisputably
therefore, there is need for research in the health systems of all nations in
order to save humanity, poor and rich, from the present day scourges that are
quietly ravaging world communities.
Research
has no one definition because there is more than one kind of research. Howard
and Sharp (1983) defined research as seeking through methodical processes to
add to bodies of knowledge by the discovery or elucidation of non-trivial
facts, insights and improved understanding of situations, processes and
mechanisms. Mouly (1978) stated that research is best conceived as the process
of arriving at dependable solutions to problems through the planned and
systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data. The National Health
Research Ethics Committee, Nigeria
(http://www.nhrec.net) provides that
research is a systematic investigation including, development, testing and
evaluation of methods designed to establish or contribute to a generalizable
knowledge. This definition went further to classify research into therapeutic
and non-therapeutic procedures. In this study, research is seen as a systematic
step or provable conduct taken to find answer or solution to an envisaged
problem.
These
general definitions suggest that there are at least two major types of
research. One of these is basic research while the second one is applied
research (Powell and Connaway, 2004). Basic research is primarily interested in
deriving new knowledge and is at most only indirectly involved with how that
knowledge will be utilized in a specific, practical or real problem. Applied
research on the other hand encompasses a variety of specific research
techniques such as systems analysis and operations research. It emphasizes the
solving of specific problems in real situations. The library has a central role
to play in both of these two types of research. This central role is the
provision of research information resources, which are the ingredients needed
to conduct research.
Research,
whether basic or applied in nature, has relevance in human society. One of the major
reasons for research is the advancement of knowledge. Scientific research is
designed to lead one from the known to the unknown. This requires that such
research goes beyond experience and common sense, thereby promoting knowledge
advancement and the progress of mankind. Research is also useful in enabling
man to relate more effectively to his environment, accomplish his purposes and
resolve conflicts facing him. As for Powell and Connaway (2004), research
provides the field to test the various myths, assumptions, rules-of-thumb and
conventions in all professions; it links concepts which have been proven
through testing to be valid and thereby establish principles and theories on
which services can be based. They also posited that research builds a foundation
for evidence-based practice. It helps to solve professional problems, develop
tools and methods for analysis of organizations, services and behaviour.
Research helps to determine costs and benefits of services as well.
The
ultimate benefit of research lies not only in the generation of new knowledge
but in the translation of knowledge into technologies, interventions and
strategies effectively and appropriately delivered to the poor. Presently medical science research processes
are being pursued within the context of contemporary knowledge, good ethics,
effective policy, adequate resources and international cooperation. Thus far, advances in medical science
research and scientific knowledge have brought about development and have also
led to the discovery of medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and medical devices
that have improved health worldwide (Lansang and Dennis, 2004).
The
World Health Organization (2006) expressed the view that a substantial share of
the unnecessary illness and early deaths in the developing world can now be
prevented, treated, or alleviated by sound policies and action using strategies
and technologies that exist as a result of age long research activities. The organization presumes that medical
science research (a systematic step or provable conduct taken to find solution,
with regards to use of natural or synthetic plants and animals properties to an
envisaged health problem), is needed to guide and accelerate the application of
the existing knowledge and technologies in diverse settings around the world.
The presumption is that with genomics (study of gene sequences in living
organisms) and proteomics (application of evolving technologies to analyze gene
products) revolutions underway, more impressive research-driven innovations may
be on, since there is need for interventions to fight communicable and
non-communicable diseases; a vaccine for AIDS or pandemic influenza; a new
treatment for tuberculosis; cures for cancer, heart disease and diabetes;
better methods to prevent and diagnose sexually transmitted infections. Medical
science research is also needed in order to discover fresh strategies and new
tools required to tackle difficult problems for which current knowledge is
inadequate.
The
dynamic shifts taking place in the patterns of disease require a capability to
monitor change and target interventions for the highest priority problems. This implies that just as oral rehydration
therapy for watery diarrheas came from research undertaken in South Asia about
twenty years ago (WHO, 2006), research is urgently needed on a worldwide basis
to find better and lower-cost means of dealing with many health problems for
which existing knowledge does not provide effective solutions. Research in the medical sciences is needed to
develop approaches that will sustain health progress and overcome health
disparities. In the view of Kabir and
Holmgren (2005), the development and implementation of evidence-based health
care policy and practice depends on research that addresses the needs of the
local population. They maintained that
all countries, including the least developed need some capacity for analysis
and research. Areas where such current
researches are needed in medical science include a sustainable health financing
system; achieving universal access to safe, effective and affordable
interventions and developing a reliable health information system.
In
spite of the fact that billions of dollars have been used before and are being
presently earmarked for global research in medical science, there is still
great need for more research effort since it provides a partial answer to human
health problems. This may have informed the call by Obasanjo (2005), that all
African leaders should accept the challenge of improving the health sector by
supporting medical science research in the continent. Perhaps the call may have
achieved something in the West Coast of the continent as a body called
Programme Regional Sante en Afrique de l’Ouest (PRSAO) meaning West African
Regional Programme for Health was initiated almost immediately by the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with support from the European Union
(EU). The body is charged with the coordination and harmonization of health
policies in the region, building of capacities to fight against cross border
epidemics, developing regional functions for health research/training and
strengthening cooperation and exchange of information and experience on the
aspects of health et cetera (www.prsao.org).
Since research programmes seem not to solve human problems on their own, there
is need for human commitment in the provision of all types of resources
relevant to research, and managerial skills to ensure success of research
results in medical research institutes.
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2006) reported that efforts are
being advanced by ECOWAS towards closing the huge knowledge gap in the health
issues of the rich and the poor countries of Africa.
Institutes
devoted to research activities began as a result of the industrial revolution
of the late 18th through the 19th century in Europe and
America. In Nigeria, historical records
have it that the first set of research institutes in the country was
established during the colonial period (Aluko-Olokun, 1999; Barrow, 2002). The
essence of establishing these institutes was to make in-depth enquiries and
discoveries into the unknown areas in the field and perhaps to ensure
sustainable provision of adequate raw materials for industries. The growth of
these institutes in the country was as a result of the realization and
acceptance of the need for information in specific subject fields like
Medicine, Agriculture and Engineering.
Thus most of the early research
institutes reflected the colonial government’s interest in the investigation of
tropical medicine, agriculture and geology. One of the early medical science
research institutes established by the colonial government in the country was
the National Department of Veterinary Research, Vom, in today’s Plateau State
which was set up in 1924. This institute is known today as the National
Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI). The Nigerian Institute for
Trypanosomiasis Research (NITR) was set up in 1947 as West African Institute
for Trypanosomiasis Research (WAITR) with its headquarters located in Kaduna (Aguolu, 1977). The
institute has research interest in two diseases of economic importance; the African
Trypanosomiasis and Onchocerciasis. Both
diseases still remain obstacles to good public health, poverty alleviation and
agricultural development. The
establishment of the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos was
possible because of the presence at Yaba- Lagos, of the Yellow Fever Commission
of the International Health Division of Rockefeller Foundation of New York
(Obaka, 1985).
Other
similar health-based research institutes came in later and these include the National
Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Abuja. The institute
was established in 1989 as a result of an agreement between the Federal
Government of Nigeria and the Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers’ Group of the
Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN). The institute has interest in
drugs’ development and formulary. The latest of the research institutes is the Nigeria
Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), Lagos. It was established in the late 1990s
to actualize the critical and strategic mandate of researching, developing,
documenting, preserving and promoting Nigerian’s natural medicines, defined as traditional
(indigenous) health care systems, medications and non-medication healing arts
with a view to integrating these into the nation’s national health care
delivery systems.
The
research institutes in the country have major functions of initiation and
coordination of research programmes, provision of research requirements and
management of human and material resources. According to Kibua and Oyugi
(2005), the research institutes generally support research by:
- Formulating policy guidelines on research
expectations of their specialized area.
- Managing human and financial
resources available for research programmes.
- Capacity
building (in terms of conferences, seminars, workshops and training).
- Serving as a link between the government
and stakeholders.
- Creating an enabling channel for
intellectual inventions/growth.
- Documenting research
