Availability and use of CDROM products in Nigerian libraries and information centres
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045286 |
| Published date | 01 March 1994 |
| Pages | 155-168 |
| Date | 01 March 1994 |
| Author | Olatunde R. Adeniran,Thomas A. Adigun,Mathew I. Okoh,O.T. Eyitayo |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Article
Availability and use of
CDROM products in
Nigerian libraries and
information centres
Olatunde
R.
Adeniran*,
Thomas
A.
Adigun,
Mathew
I.
Okoh and
O.T. Eyitayo
International
Institute
of Tropical Agriculture,
PMB
5320,
Oyo
Road,
Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract: A study was conducted
to
find
out
the
types
of
CD products in Nigerian libraries and
information
centres,
and
the uses
to which
they
are being put.
The
study also
tried
to
find
out
the
sources of funding of such products,
information
about
users,
hardware
configuration,
and
training facilities available in the country.
Of the 157questionnaires sent
out,
85
usable
returns
(a
54%
response rate)
were received
The
analysis revealed that 44
libraries
had at
least one
PC with only
nine
of such centres
having
at least
one
CDROM
workstation.
There
are 62
copies
of 43 CD titles
in
Nigeria.
Information
on the discs is
classified as bibliographic, full
text,
statistical,
or general
information.
The
subjects they cover
in
descending numeric
order
are
agriculture,
general
reference,
medicine, science
and
technology,
social
sciences,
and
education.
Areas of
applications
include information
retrieval,
bibliographic
compilations,
current awareness services, library
acquisition
work,
and
downloading
and uploading to local
online
databases.
In
general,
CD use
was minimal
in
most
libraries as
opposed to
information centres
where CD
applications
were well used by patrons, especially where
the mass media
was employed
to advertise
them.
Most
libraries funded their CD projects
with
their
local
budgets.
The
most frequently used
computers are
IBM or
compatibles.
Recommendations are
also
outlined.
1.
Introduction
Demand for information is on the increase in Nigeria (Aina
1985) and yet the necessary human and material infrastruc-
ture needed to meet this need
has
not only stagnated but dete-
riorated over the years. Therefore the few well-stocked
information centres are overburdened with requests.
Effective research and decision-making requires compre-
hensive and up-to-date information. Most materials in infor-
mation centres in Nigeria are out of
date.
Also,
access to these
books and journals is mostly via inadequate
(by
today's stand-
ards) card catalogues and optical devices. As if that was not
enough, it
has
been reported (Dike 1992) that there
has
been a
large decrease in expenditure on books and periodicals since
1980.
Since collection development is being hampered by
finance (Okoro 1991) the thought of acquiring the necessary
printed indexes, abstracts and computer technology that can
enable users to have multiple access points to publications is
like a dream.
At the height of the oil boom in Nigeria, between 1973-
1980,
many libraries attempted, often unsuccessfully, to auto-
mate (Adeniran 1992b; Agha 1986; Anafulu 1985) with a
view to providing better services to their users. There is no
doubt that information technology
has
become a must for any
library that is worth its salt. Under the present circumstances
we feel the use of CDROM technology
is
the way forward.
Much has been written about how CDROM can be very
useful in the advanced (William 1990) and developing
(Ritzier 1989; van Hartwelt 1987) world. In 1989, Chijioke
proposed that it be used to publish the National Union Cata-
logue of
Nigeria.
Nwali (1991) also joined others in exploring
the usefulness of the medium
to
Nigerian libraries and went a
step further to highlight some problem areas. Studies on the
use of the CDROM in advanced countries such as Germany
(Podvin 1990), Finland (Ruokonen 1991), the United King-
dom (Foulds & Foulds 1991), Canada (Fox 1991), the USA
(Chen & Raitt 1990) and Taiwan (Shih 1991) have been pub-
lished.
It is well known that in performing literature searches, a
researcher would be satisfied to see well-written abstracts on
80%
of the remotely relevant references. It is also accepted
that such a researcher may not need
to
read more than
10%
of
the text of the relevant literature gathered. The coming of
CDROM seems
to
answer most of the problems facing devel-
oping economies such as that of Nigeria. Many abstracting
services are now on CD and the costs of running them are
within manageable
limits.
This must have prompted the Tech-
nical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)
in The Netherlands to commission the Information and
Documentation Department of
the
Royal Tropical Institute in
Amsterdam to implement a project for the introduction of
*
Please address
all
correspondence
to
O.R.
Adeniran at the
Library,
University of Botswana,
Gaborone,
Botswana.
The Electronic Library, Vol. 12, No. 3, June 1994 155
To continue reading
Request your trial