TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page .. .. .. .. .. … .. .. .. ..i
Approval Page .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..ii
Certification Page .. .. .. .. .. .. ..iii
Dedication .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..iv
Acknowledgements .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..v
List of Tables .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..vi
Table of Contents . .. .. .. .. .. ..vii
Abstract .. .. .. .. .. ..ix
CHAPTER ONE
Background of the Study .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1
Statement of the Problem .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8
Purpose of the Study .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9
Research Questions . .. .. .. .. 10
Significance of the Study . .. .. .. 10
Scope of the Study .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 12
CHAPTER TWO:
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Framework
The Concept of Training and
Training Needs .. .. .. 13
ICT and Archival Management Systems
.. .. .. .. 22
Appraisal and Acquisition of
Archival Records .. .. .. 26
Organization of Archival Records .. .. .. .. .. 31
The Storage and Retrieval Devices used in the Archives37
Preservation of Information
Materials in Archives of Academic
Libraries .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 41
Review of Empirical studies .. .. .. 50
The summary of literature review .. .. .. 56
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODS
Research Design .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 58
Area of Study .. .. .. .. .. .. 58
Population of the study . .. .. .. .. 59
Sample and Sampling Technique . .. .. .. 59
Instrument for Data Collection .. .. .. .. 59
Validation of the Instrument .. .. .. .. 61
Method of Data Collection .. .. .. .. 61
Method of Data Analysis .. .. .. .. 62
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Research Question 1… .. .. .. .. .. 64
Research Question 2.. .. .. .. .. .. .. 65
Research Question 3.. … .. .. .. .. .. 66
Research Question 4.. .. .. .. .. .. .. 67
Research Question 5.. .. .. .. .. .. 68
Research Question 6.. . .. .. .. .. .. 69
Summary of Major Findings.. .. .. .. .. .. 70
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION,
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
Discussion of Findings .. .. .. .. 72
Implications of Study .. .. .. .. .. 75
Recommendations .. .. .. .. .. 77
Limitations of the study.. .. .. .. .. .. 78
Suggestions for Further Research .. .. .. 78
Conclusion . .. .. .. .. .. .. 79
REFERENCES.. .. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. 81
APPENDICES
Appendix I..
.. .. .. .. .. ..
.. .. 90
Appendix II..
.. .. .. .. .. ..
.. .. 91
Appendix III.. .. .. .. .. .. ..
.. .. 92
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to examine
the training needs of librarians for the management of archives of university
libraries in South East, Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted for
the study. A total of seventy (70) librarians were sampled in the university
libraries of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
Awka, Enugu State University of Science and Technology and Ebonyi State
University. To find out the training needs of librarians for the management of
archives of university libraries in South East, Nigeria, questionnaire and
interview schedule were used in collecting data. Seventy (70) copies of the
questionnaire were distributed to librarians and the data retrieved were
analyzed using means scores. The findings of the study reveal that the librarians
need training in acquisition, organization, dissemination tools and
preservation of archival materials. Also, it discloses the challenges and
strategies involved in training librarians for proper management of archives of
university libraries. These challenges include inadequate training resources
and funds by the host universities, lack of sponsorship, limited resources
persons for training programmes and administrative bottleneck. The strategies
involved in training librarians for effective management of archives of
university libraries were equally revealed by the study. They are on the job
training method, provision of relevant training resources, improved funding for
the training programmes, vestilute e.g. computer assisted programmes,
postgraduates programmes in archives management, motivation of librarians for
training in archives administration, mentoring, programme instruction,
simulation, lecture/classroom method and extension/correspondence. The study
recommended that the librarians need training in archival science, archival
soft wares including ICT facilities and preservative measures. Also, the
university library administrators should assess the training needs of their
staff and initiate strategies of realizing them. Finally, archival science
should be accommodated as a core course in the curricula of library schools in
Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The university libraries are service
oriented and in order to ensure effective service delivery to clients, the
librarians need to be trained. The university libraries render several services
to their host universities. Aguolu and Aguolu (2002) maintain that the
university libraries acquire materials, published and unpublished, print and
non-print in some depth and globally in almost all the fields of knowledge.
Aiyegunle and Moneme (2006) gave a clearer definition of university libraries
as they revealed that they are places where collection of materials are
organized to provide physical, bibliographical and intellectual access to a
target group by trained staff who provide services and programme related to the
information needs of such a group.
Therefore, the university libraries
are those libraries that are established in the universities as systematic
information resource bank of recorded knowledge organized by professionals in
order to serve their parent institutions. They also provide the information
needs of researchers such as undergraduates, post graduates and staff. This
type of library is distinct from other libraries such as public libraries,
national libraries, school libraries and others. This is because they provide
information materials in different formats to support teaching learning and
research. The main purpose of university libraries is to support the curriculum
of their host universities and also to promote research in the university
communities where they exist. The university
library has many divisions; these include the following collection development,
technical service, public service and special collections. The archival unit of
the university library is in the special collections division.
Archives are
collections of historical records as well as the place in which they are kept.
They are mainly the primary documents of an institution that accumulate in the
course of running the institution or organization. Bellardo and Bellardo
(1992:4) define archives as “the document created or received and accumulated
by a person or organization in the course of the conduct of affairs and preserved
because of their continued value”. Therefore, archives can be seen as a
collection of records and documents in different formats which are organized
and managed by professionals because of their importance to their parent
institutions or organizations. Archives also consist of records that have been
selected for permanent preservation because of their values. Archival materials
are unique because they can only be found in a single repository unlike library
materials that can be found in the collections of other libraries.
The
information contained in the archives is useful for research. Styne as cited in
Kemoni (2002) insists that archival information contributes immensely to
research, individual enlightenment, provision of solutions to practical problems,
benefits users and advances scholarship. Therefore, archival materials in
university libraries are useful for legal, administrative and research
purposes. These university archives play vital roles such as preserving and
celebrating the history of the academic institutions where they exist. They
also provide keys to unlock and examine the past and present events. The
beneficiaries of archives of university libraries are biographers, documentary
filmmakers, independent writers, local historians, and scholars such as
undergraduates, post graduates and staff.
The study and practice of organizing, preserving and
providing access to information materials in archives is known as archival
science. There are different types of archives and they include academic
archives, business archives, government archives, church archives, non-profit
archives (repositories within non-profit establishments), web archiving and
public archives. Academic archives exist in universities and other higher
institutions. Examples of some of these archival materials are: minutes of
meetings of university council, committees, senate, faculty boards,
congregation, clubs and association. Others are bulletins, conference papers,
research reports, photographs, lectures such as inaugural lectures, legal
documents (agreements, copyrights, deeds, instrument of gift and bequest),
bibliographies, convocation order of proceedings, speeches, financial records,
video and sound tape recordings, students associations and alumni publications
etc. These archival materials are housed within the library and managed by
librarians.
The management of archives of university libraries involves
directing, controlling, appraising, acquiring, accessing, organizing,
preserving information materials with enduring values in archives. Management
as defined by Hornby (2000:717) “is the act of running and controlling a
business or similar organization”. The librarians in archives acquire,
organize, disseminate, and preserve archival resources in order to ensure that
the information needs of all its users are met. Acquisition is a process of
identifying, scrutinizing and procuring records with continuing values. These
materials are usually organized by librarians and organization is grouping and
describing archival materials in accordance with the basic rules of arranging
archives. Moreover, information dissemination is vital in archives of university
libraries using dissemination tools. Dissemination tools are those devices used
to store, retrieve and spread or make information materials easily accessible
to clients. It is also pertinent that archival materials are preserved and preservation
of archival materials is a process of maintenance and restoration of archival
materials in their original form. Other duties of librarians in archives of
university libraries include: appraising records for permanent preservation and
safeguarding, cataloguing and classifying archival resources, arranging records
for easy retrieval, providing access to records and documents, creating current
awareness services about their materials (selective dissemination of
information) and also keeping records accurately. They render these services to
provide support to the entire university community such as undergraduates, post
graduates and researchers.
Seemingly, most librarians do not have adequate training in
acquisition, organization, dissemination and preservation of archival materials
since administration and management of archives and records is an elective
course and not a core course in library schools in Nigeria. Moreover, in this
era of information and communication technology, archival services can be
upgraded using ICT facilities such as archival soft wares.
Information and communication technology is defined by Ajayi
(1999) as cited in Akor (2010) as a new way of storing, processing and
transmitting information through electronics and telecommunication. Nsude(2010)
defines Information and communication technology as the mechanism to process,
store, preserve, transmit and retrieve information. Archival soft wares are
those ICT facilities such as internet soft wares that can facilitate the work
flow in the archives of university libraries. It is against this background
that training of librarians for archival management system becomes crucial.
Training aims at improving one’s capability, capacity and
performance. It will help the librarians in the university libraries to
appraise records efficiently for permanent preservation because some records
have historical and long-term values. Also, training is very vital to these
librarians because the archival services are specialized services to clients.
Most of their materials are highly confidential for example, examination
results of past students such as undergraduates and postgraduates, appraisal
records, etc. At times the archivist needs to interview a client before
offering service to the client. Also, archives are not lending library but
reference library only. The archivist provides access to delicate information
materials which requires special and careful handling for examples:
manuscripts, photographs, maps, microforms etc.
The acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies which
results from the teaching of vocational skills and knowledge that relate to
specific useful competencies is known as training. Hawkins (1986:872) defines
training as “the process by which one is trained for a sport, contest or an
occupation”. The Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English
language (1994:1503) also defines training as “the education, instruction or
discipline of a person who trains or that which also trains”. Therefore,
training is the process of imparting knowledge, basic skills, instructions, and
also practical skills on individuals in order to prepare them to carry out expected
responsibilities in an organization or institution.
It is not only initial training that is useful but also
continual training in order to ensure, maintain, upgrade and update one’s
skills as the job progresses. Training of librarians for proper management of
archives of university libraries will boost confidence in the entire system. It
will also ensure efficiency and competency in discharging duties in archival
sections of the university libraries. Training can place or move librarians to
the peak of their working career and the librarians are expected to keep
archives under physical and intellectual control. They are information
professionals who are highly trained in library and information science which
is the organization and management of information services or materials for
those who have information needs. Librarianship means the art and science of
selecting, acquiring, organizing, describing, classifying, administering,
preserving, conserving, utilizing books, journals, non book materials including
the dissemination of information and knowledge. Librarianship as a profession
has been associated with collection of books but in this 21st
century, librarianship has advanced from collection of books to provision of
information in different formats such as audio recordings, video recordings,
graphic materials, microforms, bibliographic databases, web searching, and
digital resources.
If the librarians in archives of university libraries fail to
manage archives well, the implication is that information materials will be
inaccessible. Hence in-house cataloguing schemes are invented and used
differently in various archives of university libraries while most archival
documents are labeled and kept in boxes. In archives of university libraries,
proper preservation of information materials is vital and remains a challenge.
The archival materials are likely to deteriorate if not preserved for future
generations. Ibegwam (2010) opines that archiving and digitizing of valuable
library materials prolong their life span. Also, Popola as cited in Zaid and
Abioye (2009) maintains that in the developing countries like Nigeria, the
information professionals such as archivists cannot fail to admit that much
valuable heritage materials are lost due to ever increasing deterioration, lack
of coordination in handling records and absence of legal policies. As a result
of that proper training of librarians in ICT, acquisition, organization,
dissemination and preservation of archival materials is inevitable.
TRAINING NEEDS OF LIBRARIANS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVES OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA
