Baro E M M A N U E L Ebikabowei (PhD) - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Baro E M M A N U E L Ebikabowei (PhD)

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Jun 29, 2023

Digitization projects in university libraries in Nigeria: the journey so far

Library Hi Tech News, 2013

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate digitization activities in university libra... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate digitization activities in university libraries in Nigeria and to identify the challenges encountered in their various digitization projects. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection for the study was in two phase. First, a telephone conversation with university librarians is to investigate whether they have adopted digitization of materials. Second, e-mail questionnaire was sent to the various university libraries into digitization projects. Findings – The study revealed that only few university libraries have adopted digitization of their information resources in Nigeria. The main aim of the digitization projects is to have greater access to local contents globally. However, the digitization projects are faced with challenges such as unstable internet connectivity, lack of fund, irregular power supply, collecting materials for digitization, lack of IT personnel, absence of digitization policy, and copyright issues. Ways to...

Reference inquiries received through different channels

Reference Services Review, 2014

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the different channels reference librarians receive refe... more Purpose – This study aims to investigate the different channels reference librarians receive reference inquiries from patrons in university libraries in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was used to collect data on the various channels through which reference librarians received reference inquiries in Nigerian university libraries. The questionnaire was administered using an online method. Findings – It emerged that the face-to-face traditional reference desk was rated as the highest channel through which librarians receive reference inquiries in Nigeria, followed by library Facebook page and phone/short message service (SMS). Instant messaging (IM) and e-mail were identified as the least used channels by the patrons. The challenges mentioned include the absence of policy statements concerning virtual reference services; the lack of information and communications technology (ICT) skills on the part of librarians; slow Internet connectivity; power failures; manag...

Information Literacy (IL) is recognized around the world as an essential skill for the informatio... more Information Literacy (IL) is recognized around the world as an essential skill for the information society. The aim of the paper is to examine the various information literacy practices in university libraries in Africa, to identify the barriers facing IL programmes in Africa, and to provide suggestions on how best to improve IL practices. A survey of five leading university libraries in Africa showed them mainly practicing IL training by means such as library tours/orientation sessions, introductory information skills classes, and teaching advanced information skills (e.g. database searching). There are, however, many barriers: a lack of interest by students, professors, and library management; inadequate human resources to teach IL; lack of facilities; low use of distance education for teaching IL, and an absence of IL policies. This column argues that university authorities in Africa and other developing countries must see the need to provide the necessary facilities such as: computers with Internet connectivity in university libraries, regular power supply, training for librarians on IT, and most of all, librarians should collaborate with other stakeholders in their institutions to ensure IL policy formulation and implementation in their institutions.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the development of institutional repositories in univers... more The purpose of this study is to evaluate the development of institutional repositories in university libraries in Africa. An online questionnaire and institutional repository site investigation methods were used to collect data from 134 university libraries in English-speaking countries in Africa. The study finds that there is an increasing wave of development of institutional repositories in English-speaking countries in Africa. The majority of the institutional repositories contain high numbers of theses and dissertations, followed by journal articles and conference and workshop papers. The challenges that are identified include inadequate facilities, unstable Internet connectivity, a lack of funds, an irregular power supply, collecting material for institutional repositories, a lack of skilled information and communications technology personnel, copyright issues and an absence of institutional repository policies. The results from the study provide important data and insight into the development of institutional repositories in university libraries in the context of developing countries, and offer suggestions for university librarians and management teams.

The study investigated the awareness and willingness of faculty staff in University of Nigeria, N... more The study investigated the awareness and willingness of faculty staff in University of Nigeria, Nsukka to deposit their research works in their university institutional repository. An online questionnaire was designed to collect data from 185 faculty members in seven departments in the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The study found that the faculty members are aware of the benefits of depositing in IR. They are willing to submit content to the IR. They believe that the repository is a necessity for the university and their own research visibility. The faculty members agreed that factors such as poor internet connectivity, lack of technical know-how, lack of motivation from management, time-consuming, fear of plagiarism, copyright issues might hinder them from depositing documents to the IR of the university. The study recommends that university management should provide incentives for academic staff to motivate them to deposit or self-archive their locally produced contents in the IR, and that universities should provide regular training sessions to members of academic staff on how to upload local contents in IRs.

This is a case study on information literacy (IL) practices in university libraries in Nigeria, t... more This is a case study on information literacy (IL) practices in university libraries in Nigeria, the UK and the US. An online questionnaire was used for data collection. University libraries in the UK and US provide IL training in all the areas mentioned compared to university libraries in Nigeria. There are differences between university libraries in UK, US and Nigeria in IL training delivery methods. However, barriers such as lack of facilities, lack of understanding of IL, students' nonchalant attitude towards attending IL sessions, and low acceptance of the online approach were identified as factors militating against librarians' efforts when advocating and providing IL training in the university libraries in Nigeria, while barriers such as lack of time allotted for teaching IL skills, students tendency to be apathetic and bored, and a lack of understanding of what IL is were mentioned by the libraries studied in the UK and US. To have effective IL training programmes, university authorities in developing countries should see the need to provide the necessary facilities such as computers with stable Internet access in university libraries, regular power supplies, and training of librarians on IT. Most of all, librarians should collaborate with other stakeholders in their institutions to ensure an IL policy formulation and implementation in their institutions.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the extent tertiary institution (University, Colleges ... more The purpose of the study is to investigate the extent tertiary institution (University, Colleges of Education and Polytechnic) libraries in Nigeria are providing information literacy (IL)programmes.Librarians from 29 academic libraries participated in the survey which adopted an online method. The study revealed that librarians in tertiary institutions in Nigeria have different understandings of the term 'information literacy'. The study also revealed that information literacy training in the tertiary institution libraries are mainly catalogue/OPAC instruction, how to evaluate information, how to use database, how to define information task, and advance searching skills. The study further revealed that academic libraries in Nigeria mainly deliver information literacy training through face-to-face in the library training room and face-to-face in a venue external to library. Factors such as lack of interest on the part of students, teachers, and management, lack of personnel, lack of facilities, and policy concerning IL programmes were mentioned by the respondents as challenges militating against provision of IL training in academic libraries in Nigeria. The findings will inform information literacy instructors, or library directors to redesign their information literacy programmes in their libraries in order to equip the students with the needed skills.

The extent of building and managing local contents in institutional repositories: a survey of tertiary institution libraries in Nigeria

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, 2022

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the development of institutional repositories... more Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the development of institutional repositories (IR) in tertiary institution libraries in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a survey research method. Online questionnaire and IR site investigation methods were used to collect data from 25 university libraries in Nigeria. Findings The study revealed that only 25 (14.7%) universities out of the 170 universities in Nigeria have successfully developed IRs and registered their presence in OpenDOAR. Other tertiary institutions such as Polytechnics and Colleges of Education investigated in Nigeria are yet to develop IRs. Contents such as theses and dissertations, conference proceedings and journal articles ranked highest being the most popular contents in the various IRs. The results showed that the development of IR saves space in the library, increases readership, increases access to local contents, minimizes damage to the original material, facilitates the disseminat...

Research funding opportunities and challenges

The Bottom Line, 2017

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which academic staff members in... more Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which academic staff members in tertiary institutions in Nigeria access research grants, and to bring to light the factors that hinder their effort to accessing research grants. Design/methodology/approach An online questionnaire was designed using the SurveyMonkey software to collect the qualitative data from academic staff in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Findings The study revealed that only a few number of academic staff members in the tertiary institutions in Nigeria have received research grants. The study also revealed that a large number of research works carried out by academic staff are funded by themselves from the meager salary they receive. It also emerged that Tertiary Education Trust Fund is the highest funding body that academic staff have received research grants from. Different research funding agencies/organizations both local and international that support studies in Nigeria were also mentioned...

Perceptions, preferences of scholarly publishing in Open Access journals

Digital Library Perspectives, 2017

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to know the various factors librarians consider while selectin... more PurposeThe purpose of the study is to know the various factors librarians consider while selecting Open Access (OA) journal for publication and to identify the challenges librarians face with OA journal publishing. Design/methodology/approachOnline questionnaire was designed to collect data from 402 academic librarians in 87 universities in Africa using SurveyMonkey software. FindingsThe study found that academic librarians are aware of the “green” and “gold” routes but not familiar with the “diamond” route. The study revealed that a large number of the academic librarians have published only one paper in OA journals, followed by those who have not published any paper in OA journals. The study also revealed that reputation of journal and impact factor of journal were seen as very important among the factors that inform them of choosing OA. The majority of the respondents agreed that author fees, and lack of stable internet connectivity are the major barriers to publishing in OA jour...