Chidi D. Segun-Adeniran

Examination of the Nexus Between Academic Libraries and Accreditation: Lessons from Nigeria

The article investigated the nexus between academic libraries and accreditation in the higher institutions with special focus on the Nigerian experience. It showed that all accreditation agencies place a high premium on library provisions as a major component of requisite benchmarks in determining the status of the program or institutions being assessed. Academic libraries help to enrich formal classroom curricular and act as a broadening influence on lecturers and students as well as nurture in them the virtue of independent inquiry. State-of-the-art academic libraries confer prestige on the institutions and have tremendous impact on student retention, rankings, and high profiling of parent institution during accreditation. The article noted that there exists strong intrinsic and sometimes imperceptible relationship between academic libraries and higher education. It recommended institutionalization of global and regional ranking of academic libraries, among others.

Imperatives and Challenges of Resource Description and Access (RDA) Implementation in Libraries in a Developing Country

ABSTRACT In recent times, information products are becoming more often packaged and repackaged in electronic formats. Cataloguing these resources is a core responsibility of libraries and librarians. A major emerging standardization tool for cataloguing electronic resources is the “resource description and access” (RDA). This article examined the imperatives of RDA implementation among libraries in a developing country—Nigeria. It reviewed global trends and observed the poor RDA implementation level among libraries in Nigeria. It also identified challenges of RDA implementation peculiar to a developing country like Nigeria. The article further outlined strategies that would help to deal with the identified challenges. It concluded that the implementation of RDA is not optional, but mandatory for Nigerian libraries if they must be and remain relevant in the competitive world of librarianship.

Disaster Management in Digital Libraries: Issues and Strategies in Developing Countries

The role of digital libraries in information generation,organization, dissemination and storage cannot be overemphasized. This article articulates the importance of digital libraries and the need to preserve them from disasters. It highlights the causes and effects of disasters in digital libraries. Prevention and management of disasters were also discussed. Issues and challenges around information and communication technology ICT, that has direct bearings on digital libraries and disaster management in developing countries were raised. In addition, recommendations were made on how to improve on disaster prevention and control.