TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Certification ii
Approval page iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
Background of the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 10
Purpose of the Study 12
Research Questions 12
Significance of the Study 13
Scope of the Study 14
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 15
Conceptual Framework 15
Collection Development in university libraries 15
Concept
of Electronic Collection Development in University Libraries 16
Electronic
Collection Development Practices in University Libraries 21
Methods
Employed in Electronic Collection Development in University Libraries 25
Resources
Employed in Electronic Collection Development in Libraries 28
Problems/Impediments
in Electronic Collection Development in Libraries 31
Strategies
for Enhancing Electronic Collection Development in Libraries 33
Review of Related Empirical Studies 37
Summary of the Literature Review 49
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD 50
Design of the Study 50
Area of the Study 50
Population of the Study 50
Sample Size and Sampling Techniques 51
Instruments for Data Collection 51
Validation of the Instruments 52
Method of Data Collection 53
Method of Data Analysis 53
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULT 54
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
Discussion of the findings 67
Implications of the Study 77
Recommendations 78
Limitations of the Study 79
Suggestions for further Research 80
Conclusion 80
REFERENCES
Appendix 1 95
Appendix 2 96
Appendix 3 105
Appendix 4 107
LIST
OF TABLES
Table 1:
Distribution and percentage return rate of questionnaire in respect of the
three studied university libraries. 54
Table 2: Mean
responses of respondents in the libraries on the state of ECD 56
Table 3: Mean
responses of respondents in the libraries on methods that have been put in
place for effective ECD 57
Table 4: Mean
responses of respondents in the libraries on the appropriate methods that will
facilitate ECD 58
Table 5: Mean
responses of respondents in the libraries on resources required for enhancing
ECD 59
Table 6: Mean
responses of respondents in the libraries on factors that militate against ECD 61
Table 7a: Mean
responses of respondents in the libraries on strategies for enhancing ECD 62
Table 7b: Mean
responses of respondents in the libraries on the participatory role of library
staff for effective ECD 63
ABSTRACT
This
study investigated the strategies for enhancing Electronic Collection
Development (ECD) in selected university libraries in Southeast Nigeria. Seven
research questions were raised to guide the study. The study design was
descriptive survey. The study population comprised of all professional
librarians and paraprofessionals in the three studied university libraries. The
total population size of the professionals and paraprofessionals in the three
university libraries stood at two hundred and eight (208). The instruments used
for data collection were questionnaire, observation check list and interview
schedule. Data collected for the study were analyzed based on each research
question, using frequency count, percentage, and mean. The result of the study revealed
that the professional and paraprofessional respondents from the three studied
university libraries identified various methods that their respective libraries
have been able to put in place for effective ECD including use of Internet,
World Wide Web (WWW), provision of good Internet facilities etc. Among the
appropriate methods that will help in facilitating ECD in Nigerian university
libraries as identified by the professional and paraprofessional respondents
(library staff) from the three studied university libraries include provision of good Internet
facilities, World Wide Web (WWW), use of Internet and subscribing to electronic
resources. Important resources for
enhancing ECD in Nigerian university libraries were also identified by the
professionals and paraprofessionals from the three studied university libraries
to include: Internet, 24 hours Internet access, electronic books, Online Public
Access Catalogue (OPAC), electronic journals, indexing and abstracting database
and stand alone computers. The result
showed major militating factors of ECD in the three university libraries
including inadequate funding, automation at infancy level, epileptic power
supply, lack of technical knowhow, lack of higher bandwidth in Internet
connectivity and lack of sound administrative policies and guidelines. The
major strategic measures that the library managements should employ to enhance
ECD include computerization/full automation of the university libraries,
provision of improved funds, constant evaluation of automation facilities,
adequate systems upgrade, constant electricity power supply, provision of skill
manpower and training of librarians and paraprofessionals in the use of modern
ICT facilities.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
of the Study
University
libraries are libraries that are owned and funded by universities to take care
of the information needs of the university community. These libraries strive to
provide quality services to support education, learning, and research needs of
different levels of the academic community. University library is considered to
be an organ around which all academic activities revolve (Kavitha, 2009).
University libraries are positioning themselves to be the learning and research
centres of universities. They are sometimes known as the “learning building”
and are constantly asked to examine what value they add to student learning
outcome (Chaudhry, 2002). University libraries provide quality information
service and knowledge products (print and electronic) to resident community of
scholars. Important activities of university libraries include the following:
Collection Development, Reference Service, Circulation, Document Delivery, User
Education, and Access to Electronic Resources etc. Obviously, university
libraries are expected to provide cost effective and reliable access to
information, using the state-of-the art information technology tools.
The
objectives of a university library include
- Conservation of
knowledge amassed from times immemorial.
- Dissemination of such
knowledge through teaching and publication.
- Extension of the bounds
of knowledge through research work by teachers and other research workers.
- Helping the teachers
and the students to achieve the highest academic honours and a lifetime of good
reading.
A university
library is no longer a part of an ivory tower; it is a potential service
oriented institution, accountable for every aspect of its performances (Ameen
and Haider, 2007). The fundamental role of the university library is education.
University libraries should not be operated as mere storehouse of books
attached to reading room, but as dynamic instruments of education.
Every university
library in any academic community aims to provide the teaming population with a
variety of information services, especially in this age of Information and
Communication Technology. The popularity of any university library will always
depend on the extent to which satisfactory of optimum library services are
being provided to the readers or library clientele. University library services
can be grouped into two-technical services and reader services (Vohra, 2003).
Technical
services are also known as work behind the scene. In order words, technical
services are the preparation for providing better reader services, which
include acquisition of materials, cataloguing, classifications, binding,
weeding out of reading materials etc. On the other hand, reader services
include circulation work, reference services, bibliographic services,
information services, etc where the Staff is in direct contact with the reader
in providing library and information services. A university library also
provides the following minimum services: lending services, bibliography
instruction and library orientation, provision of general and specific
information assistance in the location, searching of documents or bibliographies,
preparation of abstracting and indexing services, reservation of documents,
interlibrary loan, holding or library exhibition, including display of new
additions, current awareness service, reprographic services, and translation
services.
The university
library also offers various services required by its researchers, right from
concepts and analysis of the topic stage of research to the report writing
stage. Examples include the following:
- Bibliographical
services (compilation of subject bibliographies relevant to the research
topic).
- Literature search
service (either manual or on-line service from various data bases depending on
the availability of the facilities.
- Current awareness
services aimed to keep researchers up to date with current advances in the
subject field of the researchers, by providing monthly list of articles or
contents pages of journals recently received, new accessions lists, in house
abstracting and indexing services.
- Document delivery
services (involve the delivering of the physical document to the user, either
from the library collection or from other sources).
- Reference and
information services (Provision of specific pieces of information and also
long-range reference services by searching for current and retrospective
literature).
- Translation services
(aims at obtaining the required translation copies of the foreign language
documents from the translation pools or translation banks).
- Referral services (a
method of service to the scholars/students by directing them to the most likely
institutions, universities, libraries, or individuals who possess the
information/documents when they are not in stock of one’s institution library
and cannot be obtained by interlibrary loan (ILL).
University
libraries are established to take care of the information needs of students,
lecturers, researchers, and other scholars. These libraries strive to provide
quality information service and knowledge products (print and electronic) to
resident community of scholars (Yacob Haliso, 2011). For timely and faster
information provision to library users, librarians in university libraries have
resorted to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Collection
building is a vital process in creating and building of a library collection to
serve study, teaching, research, recreational, and other needs of library users
(Sanchez et al., 2006). Collection development is the process of evaluating
what is published and making purchasing recommendations based on these
evaluations (Carrie, 2012). Librarians try to identify the best resources or
materials for their libraries, based on the mission of their university
libraries and the needs of their users (Carrie). Originally based on printed
items, this process has evolved to include audio and printed digital items.
Library collection development as one of the library services, is the process
of meeting the information needs of the people (a service population) in a
timely and economical manner using information resources locally held, as well
as from other organizations (Evans, 2000).
Librarians/library
staff develop collections by buying or otherwise acquiring materials over a
period, based on assessment of the information needs of the library’s users. In
addition to ongoing materials acquisition, library collection development,
according to Evans, includes the following:
- The creation of
policies to guide material selection.
- Replacement of worn or
lost materials.
- Removal (weeding) of
materials no longer needed in the collection.
- Planning for new collections
or collection areas.
- Cooperative
decision-making with other libraries or within library consortia-group of
libraries that have common interest to work together.
Collection
and dissemination of information is the most important function of a university
library. The importance and success of library collection lies in the
satisfaction of user’s information needs. It is very important to note that
educational reading in a formal sense is the concern of academic, special and
technical libraries. Such libraries should have a varied collection so that
they are able to fulfil these needs (Kivitha, 2009). In universities and other
institutions of higher learning, provision of syllabi study and research
material is another reason for library collection development. Provision of
information material for cultural and recreation reading is an important aspect
of library collection development (Parekh, 2003). Above all, library collection
development is the pool of achievements of the past preserved for the benefit
of the present and future generations.
Library
collection development being the collection of different types of library
materials, keeping in view the changing requirements of the users, has three
methods of execution.
- Making collection
development policy decisions. Usually the policy decisions are made at the
highest level of the university library (senate library committee or library
management committee).
- Selection of library
resources and acquisition of materials. Here, Division and Departmental heads
are involved in decision making.
- The process, by which
the library acquires various materials, makes or implements selection decisions
and collection development plan. Here, the librarian is fully involved.
Collection
development within a university library environment demonstrates a wide variety
of development patterns (Madeleine and Stephen, 2003). University libraries
exist to support teaching, research, and public service programmes of the
university. In any university library, a written collection development policy
is an important tool for guiding all activities related to planning, building,
selecting and acquiring library materials (Magrill and Hickey, 1984). It is one
of the first pieces of evidence in determining whether a library is engaged in
true collection development. University libraries are becoming increasingly
aware of the benefits of having a strong and constantly updated written
collection development policy (Bostic, 1988). Collection development policies
provide guidelines in the selection of materials and the allocation of funds. A
written policy provides the rationale for the selection of individual items and
ensures consistency and balance in the growth of collections.
Ordinarily, the term “collection” denotes the
holdings of materials. From library perspective, collection means the holding
of several types of documents in a library (Vohra, 2003). There are various
forms of library collections. Such
collections include
- Serial collections
(Periodicals, journals, magazines, newspapers etc).
- Reference collections
(annual reviews, conference proceedings, pamphlets, standards, specifications,
patents, trade literature, maps, atlases, globes etc.).
- Special collections
(Africana books, United Nations Organization books-UNO books, Government
documents, theses, dissertations, research reports etc.).
- Audiovisual
(AV) collections (Photographs, illustrations, paintings, microfilms,
microfiches, slides, audio cassettes etc.).
- Electronic collections
(E-collections) (electronic books, electronic journals, Online Public Access
Catalogue-OPAC etc.).
- Grey literature
(informally published written material, such as reports). Examples of grey
literature include: patents, technical reports from government agencies or
scientific research groups, working papers from research groups or committees,
white papers, and preprints.
Professionals
(librarians) who work in the modern day libraries need continuous grooming or
training in other to acquire core competencies and new skills that will make
them not to be obsolete in this fast changing environment (Singh and Pinki,
2004). As a result of this, they (librarians) need to shift their attention
from traditional library activities of collecting, processing, storing and
accessing information, to offer or deliver customer-centred automated
information services; generated by using online/offline databases, e-resources,
e-journals, networks, consortia, etc. In
electronic or digital library collection development, librarians tend to make
digitization recommendations rather than purchasing recommendations. They
(librarians) do not evaluate what has been published, but rather evaluate what
is within their collection that is most valuable and unique to users. To
achieve this goal, librarians must be aware of the digital resources provided
by other libraries or organizations. With the advantage of the Open Archival
Initiative’s Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), resources in digital
libraries are easily shared between libraries and or organizations. Librarians
should ensure that their proposed collection will contribute not only to their
own library’s needs but to the collective resources available (Carrie, 2012).
Application of
digital technology in libraries has led to high-level efficiency in
transmission, communication, and storage of information. The acquisition,
processing, storage, and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual, graphic,
and numeric information by microelectronic based combination of computing and
telecommunication is referred to as information Technology (IT) (Parekh, 2003).
Libraries have been significantly transformed with the advent of Internet and
the ability to provide resources to the people who may never visit a physical
building, but use resources intensively in their own homes or work places
(Manish, 2003). Academic libraries are changing dramatically by adopting new
means of technology in all activities of print to electronic environment
(e-environment).
Electronic
collection development cannot be separated from knowledge production and
dissemination in university libraries. The university libraries as well as
faculties and departments are involved in research (which deals with how
knowledge is generated), teaching, and learning (the arts of imparting and
disseminating knowledge to the larger society (Nkoyo et al., 2011). The
principal asset of university libraries/public libraries is knowledge. Every
university authority invests so much in knowledge management. All over the
world, knowledge management has been recognized as a key factor in
organizational (library) success (Sarrafzadeh et al., 2010). The ultimate aim
of knowledge management (KM) is to increase the effectiveness, and sustainability
of growth of a library or an organization. Shanhong (2000), clearly showed that
knowledge management will always help in sharing of knowledge within and
outside the university library, which will ultimately lead the university in
not only realizing but achieving its goal in the end. Based on the conventional
functions of a library (university library)-collection, processing, storage,
and retrieval, and dissemination of information; the library (university
library) has become a treasure house of human knowledge in the emerging
information age.
Rapid
developments in the field of Information and Communication Technology have
brought about the concepts of hybrid library and digital library (Omer, 2004).
Hybrid library is a term used by librarians to describe libraries containing a
mixture of traditional print library resources and the growing number of
electronic resources (Chris Rusbridge, 1998). The traditional print materials
range from books, pamphlets, magazines etc while electronic resources in hybrid
library include downloadable audio books, electronic journals, electronic books
etc. A digital library is an assemblage of digital computing, storage, and
communication machinery, together with the content and software needed to
reproduce, emulate and extend the services provided by conventional libraries
based on paper and other material means of collecting, cataloguing, finding,
and disseminating information (Manish Kumar, 2004). A full service digital
library must accomplish all essential services of traditional libraries and
also exploit the well-known advantage of digital storage, searching, and
communication (Chowdhury and Chowdhury, 2003). It provides access to part of or
all its collections, such as plain texts, images, graphs, audio/video materials
and other library items that have been electronically converted, via the
Internet and World Wide Web (www).
With the
emergence of ICT, media such as computerized databases, floppies, CD- ROM
(Compact Disc Read-Only Memory), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), electronic
journals, electronic books, electronic theses, Internet etc are part of library
collections. Every library strives to build its collection to satisfy the needs
of its users.
Today, the word
digital is synonymous with computers. Libraries (academic libraries) are no
exception to the fast changing digital environment. Academic libraries in
digital environment basically is a computer based system for acquiring,
storing, organizing, searching, and distributing digital or electronic materials
for user access. Electronic resources are the primary attraction of readers in
today’s digital environment. It is difficult to know what information exists,
what format it is available and where to look or search for it. Academic
libraries as well as other libraries in digital environment are concerned with
digitization of existing library materials, connectivity to the users in the
world online and offline, integration with networking and availability with the
World Wide Web.
Electronic
resources represent an increasingly important component of the
collection-building activities of libraries (academic libraries) (Sharon et
al., 2012). “Electronic resources” refer to those materials that require
computer access, whether through a personal computer, mainframe, or handheld
mobile device. They may either be accessed remotely via Internet or locally.
Some of the most frequently encountered types of electronic resources are as
follows:
- Electronic journals
- Electronic books
- Full-text (aggregated)
databases
- Indexing and
abstracting databases
- Reference databases
(biographies, dictionaries, directories, encyclopaedias, etc)
- Numeric and statistical
databases
- Electronic images
- Electronic audio/visual
resources
Compact
Disk-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) is an electronic format for storing information
on a small laser disk. CD-ROM requires the interfacing of a CD-ROM player and a
micro-computer. The CD-ROMs generally contain huge volume of numeric,
bibliographic or textual information. By using keywords, descriptions or formulating
search strategy one can quickly locate the required information in the library.
Obviously, the CD-ROM technology helps in relieving academic libraries from the
problem of storage space (Anita, 1997). The Online Public Access Catalogue
(OPAC) is an integrated library service system, which supports the cataloguing,
acquisitions, online public access, serials management and circulation modules
in any digitized academic library. Any fully digitized academic library can
provide the university’s examination questions via online. Such libraries with
full Internet connection are bound to have access to various other online
databases worldwide.
The widespread
adoption of computers and Internet as communication tools requires academic
libraries to adapt to new demands from their users to make the collection
accessible from outside the physical library buildings. As Zhou (1994)
stressed, the current trends of advances in computer network connection have
compelled academic libraries to move into a new technological environment. All
library procedures or services, including collection development, have changed
through technology. Collection development practices have changed because of
the impact of new electronic formats being used for delivery of information
(Gerhard, 2000). The rapid advances in computer storage capabilities,
information storage and retrieval techniques and audiovisual technology have
provided the force or stimulus for the transformation of collection development
in digitized academic libraries. Information
Technology (IT) and the Internet have brought about a proliferation of formal
and informal electronic resources (Zhou, 1994).
In most
university libraries in Europe and America, librarians employ ICTs to perform
numerous functions, such as collection management and budgeting, in order to
improve information services to library users. A report prepared by the
Canadian Association of Research Librarians (CARL) revealed that in the y
