Gateway Information Journal

Corporate social responsibility of higher educational institutions in the twenty first century: the support role of academic libraries

Sarah Irherhimena Adegbaye — 2023-11-30

Academic libraries are integral part of their parent institutions. They play the role of providing information materials and rendering services that will meet the information or research needs of the academic environment they are situated. As a managerial ethical obligation universities engage in social responsibility to their various stakeholder groups such as students, faculty, university community, local community or society, parents (or families of students), government, alumni etc. The 21^st century academic libraries as support system to their institutions, provides social roles to the user community and the society at large. The paper therefore addresses topical themes like- corporate social responsibility of academic institutions, areas of corporate social responsibility of academic institutions, academic library social responsibility, academic libraries’ contribution to university social responsibility and challenges to social responsibility functionalities in academic libraries. The paper concluded that academic libraries play a crucial role in social responsibility. Despite this, the literature points out several challenges that hinder their functionality. On the basis of these challenges recommendations were proffered. This paper contributes to the body knowledge by filling the gap in the literature in the area of social responsibility in academic libraries.

AI-driven future: strategies and skills development for Nigerian librarians

Boma Torukwein David-West — 2023-11-30

This article explores strategies and skill development crucial for Nigerian librarians to thrive in an AI-driven future. The Nigerian educational system faces the challenge of outdated curricula and must reconcile with the fast-paced technological environment. The paper explored the competencies in data analysis, programming, and user experience design to harness AI's potential fully. AI basics, ethical considerations, programming, user-centered design, and project management. Application of AI into library services. Strategies for adopting AI include needs assessment, collaboration, data collection, customization, user training, ethical governance, pilot projects, and scalability planning. Collaboration with external partners, such as universities and technology experts, is essential due to the lack of in-house AI specialists. Developing robust data collection and management practices while respecting local cultural norms ensures AI solutions meet users' specific needs. Pilot projects enable libraries to assess AI effectiveness, gather feedback, and iterate on implementations. Ethical governance frameworks are vital to uphold fairness, transparency, and data privacy. Planning for scalability and sustainability ensures long-term success. It. is concluded that the adoption of AI in Nigerian libraries offers significant potential benefits but also requires careful planning, skill development, and ethical considerations. Librarians and educational institutions need to adapt to this changing landscape to ensure libraries remain relevant and effective in the digital era. It was recommended among others that University management to offer training programmes for librarians to build AI-related skills and educate library users on the benefits of AI-driven services.

Collaborative technology for information sharing, knowledge creation and management in libraries

Omobolanle Seri Fasola — 2023-11-30

Technologies play an important role in information dissemination, sharing, use and creation. Libraries are no longer a place encompassed by walls but space that is open to interpretation and use by patrons through the use of various technologies that keep emerging almost on a daily basis. Since no man is an island and disciplines have been proven to be interdisciplinary, there is the need for collaboration among scholars. These collaborations can be done through the use of collaborative technologies as they enhance information sharing that leads to creation of new knowledge and will boost the knowledge management activity of the library. This paper therefore, explores the use of collaborative technology for information sharing, knowledge creation and management. It examines the roles of information sharing as a means to facilitate the generation of new knowledge and how this knowledge is managed and used for organisational benefit. It looks at various collaborative technologies and their implication for enabling knowledge creation and management. These technologies include social media platforms, crowd sourced platforms and artificial intelligence. It also provides an overview of the concept of knowledge management and its relationship to information sharing. It then reviews the different collaborative technologies and their roles in facilitating the sharing, creation and management of new knowledge. Recommendations are then made for the effective use of technologies by academics to foster collaborative information sharing, knowledge creation and management.

Disaster preparedness and security management in two academic libraries in South-West Nigeria

Adeola T. Fatade — 2023-11-30

Collections in academic libraries are threatened not just by disaster, but also by security risks. A survey was conducted to investigate disaster preparedness and security management in two academic libraries in South-West, Nigeria. The population was 169 staff of the Polytechnic Library at The Polytechnic, Ibadan and Kenneth Dike Library, University of Ibadan. Census method was used to include the entire population comprising professional and para professional librarians, and support staff. A self-developed, structured questionnaire with four-points Likert scales was used for data collection. Data was analyzed with descriptive statistics. Findings showed that hacking was a major security threat to the academic libraries, particularly those with e-libraries. Fire disaster was also found to be among the major disaster threatening the academic libraries. The grand mean was 3.1 with a standard deviation of 0.83 suggesting that, overall disaster preparedness and security management in the two academic libraries in south west Nigeria understudied is in the affirmative. Academic libraries should have disaster response teams that would respond to disasters is among the recommendation.

Preservation practices in university libraries in South-West Nigeria

Temitope Oluwabunmi Mabawonku — 2023-11-30

In the dynamic landscape of academic libraries, preserving knowledge and cultural heritage for the future generations is paramount. This study examined preservation practices in South-West Nigeria's public university libraries. A survey was conducted among 536 library personnel drawn from 14 public University libraries in South-West Nigeria. The sample size was determined using Krejcie and Morgan formula/table. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 224 respondents. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire with a return rate of 185 (82.6%). Simple percentages mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that middling preservation practices such as proper shelving (x̅= 3.47), regular cleaning (x̅ = 3.43) etc. and minimal preservation practices which include implementation of disaster control management (x̅= 3.52), regular building maintenance (x̅= 3.40) etc. were adopted by the libraries more than optimal preservation practices. Furthermore, the result also revealed that mass de-acidification (x̅=1.91) grouped under optimal preservation practices was not adopted in most public University libraries in South-West Nigeria. The result also revealed that inadequate skilled preservation administrators (x̅=3.45), absence of effective preservation practices (x̅= 3.39) etc. were the obstacles to effective preservation practices while lack of partnership with other institution (x̅= 2.09) is not part of the obstacles. The study recommended that library management should provide the necessary support to improve preservation practices, aligning with their mission of advancing knowledge through teaching and research in these libraries.

Students’ awareness and use of serial materials in the federal polytechnic library, Ilaro, Ogun State, Nigeria

Oluwatoyin Olusola Omotehinse — 2023-11-30

The study examined students’ awareness and use of serial materials at the Federal Polytecnic Ilaro, Ogun State. The population was 16,639 students. Due to the high population, 10% of the population in each of the six schools in the institution was drawn using proportionate stratified sampling technique. This gave a sample size of 1,663. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The findings revealed low level of awareness of serial among the students as majority of the respondents used serial materials occastionnally. The major constraints to students use of serial materials at the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro Ogun were outdatedness of the materials, lack of indexing and abstarcting of serial materials, unstable Internet, inaccessibility of the serial, unstable power supply, inregular supply of dailies, lack of professional personnel, inadequate facilities, lukewarm attitude of the staff and mutilation of library resources. The study recommended that the library management should make current materials available. Students should be introduced to the different sections of the labrary during library orientation in order to create more awareness of the serial section and the management should increase Internet bandwidth and invest on solar system to ensure accessibility of electronic serial materials.