Critique of the implementation a Natinal Virtual library for Higher Institution in Nigeria

The writer (Gbaje,E.S) has a good knowledge of what a virtual library is and what makes up a virtual library.The fact that we are in the information age and creating an environment for accessing these information is a good idea ,does not mean we (Nigerians and the Government) should rush into creating a virtual library without enabling necessary policy and providing enabling infrastructure to support its successful implementation. The paper highlighted the limitation of implementing a virtual library , steps and issues that has to be corrected for proper implementation of virtual libraries in Nigerian Higher Institutions.

CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING VIRTUAL LIBRARY IN NIGERIA

The virtual library concept which was conceptualized to ease the access of learning and teaching of digitalized databases, encyclopedia, historical and current events has been a success in many countries. But in Nigeria where the National Universities Commission (NUC) has been championing the course the initiative still remains a mirage and this is due to:
1. Funds
2. Lack of planning
3. Government attitude to education

But before we go further let us look at the various means/technologies that will be needed to implement this virtual library concept.
The technology to get a virtual library going is already here available (i.e. languages like HTML, XML) databases that include Oracle, My SQL. Networking protocols like IP (versions 4 & 6), UDP. The challenge here is getting these technologies together, which is not a problem in developed countries, but in developing countries like Nigeria this posses quite a challenge.
which brings us back to the problems and why the virtual library project may take time before it comes on board or may never take off at all even with the efforts of the National Universities Commission (NUC)/ Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in organizing workshops, sensitization and implementation of new technologies.
Funds: over the year Government has refused to implement the United Nations recommendation that Education has take at least 20% of the nation’s annual budget. These funds are needed to put in place the infrastructure and train personnel.
Lack of Planning: even the little funds that the government budgets for education yearly is poorly planned for, for instance there is no need to start building new physical structures when the ones in place have not even been renovated or buying furniture when there are no classroom to put them in.
Government attitude to education: over the years strikes in the academia has been a common phenomenon because the government has shown time and time again that it cannot be trusted to fulfill agreements signed by its representatives, this is added to the fact that even when the government budgets monies for the education sector not all of the funds are realized to the sector. so this causes the sector to only pay personnel costs only and not being able to undertake any research work, physical development, training & re-training etc.

The way forward is simply; government in Nigerian must show more serious in the virtual library project, commit resources, train the right personnel, put in place the infrastructure and give the National Universities Commission the necessary legal backing in order for it to carry out its functions



Shehu Mohammed
MIM/EDUC/03844/2008-09

inplementing a national library for higher institutions in nigeria

NAME: - SUZANAH DOUGLAS ZAKI
NO: - MIM/EDUC/05890/2008-09
COURSE: - LIBS 883/ONLINE INFORMATION INDUSTRIES

IMPLEMENTATING A NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR HIGHER INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA
A virtual library is defined as a library that provides access to tools such as databases, electronic journals, alerting services, electronic references and quality- vetted e- resources. It is considered as a library that consists of both digital and electronic library, it cannot function as a digital library.
The inability of Nigerian government to stock libraries in the academic institutions with relevant information resources has great implications for learning, teaching, research and development. Realising this, the Nigerian government has been making efforts through the National Universities Commission to implement the National Virtual Library Initiatives, which will enhance access to locally – available resources and international library collections for sharing with university libraries all over Nigeria using digital technology. However, six years after the project was initiated, the virtual library is yet to be functional.
To facilitate the development and implementation of the national virtual library, the NUC convened a stakeholder work in Abuja in July 2001 where the blue print for the project was developed and subsequently approved by the federal executives’ council in January 2002. Eleven universities were selected as pilot centers for the first phase of the project unfortunately, six years after the national virtual library was initiated and despite all the achievements enumerated by the NUC and series of training workshops, none of the eleven universities pilot centers has began operations and National Virtual Library which is now funded by Educational Trust Fund (ETF) is yet to be fully functional. The Nigerian government approved a national information technology policy in March 2001.
Numerous recommendations were made far away forward to actualizing the National Virtual Library project in Nigeria.

mim class

The Inefficient Information Industry
Because information-based businesses are becoming increasingly crucial to our commercial and social lives, inefficiencies in the information marketplace are becoming less tolerable. For example, today's information industry is characterized by the following:

IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL VIRTUAL LIBRARY FOR HIGHER INSTITUTION IN NIGERIA
The importance of virtual library in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized due to the fact that there is a massive advancement in technology leading to a change in the way the information profession is carried out.
A virtual library can be defined as a library that provides remote access to tools such as databases, electronic journals, alerting services, online reference tools, and quality selected web resources, that improves the quality of teaching, learning and researches. It is an interactive environment where people can access and share information in a remote way.
The emergence of a virtual library in Nigeria came up, due to the inability of the Nigerian government to stock the academic libraries with relevant information resources, which perhaps has a great implications for learning, teaching, and researches for overall development.
Therefore in order to solve this problem, the Nigeria government decided to implement the National virtual library through the National Universities Commission (NUC), to provide all the necessary information both locally and internationally which is required for teaching, learning, and researches in all the Nigerian universities.
However, six years after the virtual library was initiated, it has only been able to achieve little in some areas like, the recruitment of technical staff and consultants, carried out rapid NEEDS assessment in eleven Universities, developed and host virtual library websites, digitization and uploading journals published in Nigerian universities and among others.
The virtual library project is yet to be functional due to some reasons which includes lack of funds, competent personnel with know how, computer phobia, and lack of local resources for digitization.
The virtual library can be successful if the government can provide the necessary funds, necessary technology, training for librarians, and also develop national information infrastructures and among others.

 CRITICISM FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL VIRTUAL LIBRARY IN NIGERIA
Though the virtual library is very important in the academic environment, the technology attached to it creates a limitation to the network bandwith and slow speed in transmission thereby leading to instances of either no network or slow network thereby hindering the ability to make access to the information resources.
Unlike in the traditional library’s settings the users can only get access to the resources in the virtual library through the use of a password before the proxy server can attend to him. This to some extent hinders the ability to get information resources in the library.
The national library team should try and understand what constitute a virtual library and how to build it, for it to come in to reality.
Workshops, and training will have to be organized for institutions and individuals concerned with particular specification to key areas like web technology, content management, access management, database administration, network administration and security.
In conclusion, there should be a proper information technology policy for virtual libraries to be successful.

MURJANATU ABDULKARIM

MIM/EDUC/00051/2008-09

SUMMARY OF THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF INFORMATION BY DAVID BELIN

The article seeks to measure the economic value of information. Informational values may vary relative to one’s profession but it is said to be an expression of impacts or how it is need. 

The value of information were examined under three themes and these themes are:

1. INFORMATION VALUE AS “USE’: 
Here the value of information denotes an expression of how useful a piece of information is to the recipient. Informational value is frequently expressed as a derivation from communicational utility which also takes into consideration availability of data within an organization, its flow to members of that organization as well as impact of those data to the structural organization of the firm.

2. INFORMATION AS “TRAFFIC”: 
This tries evaluate the material or monetary worth of information as in traffic or sales. Porat (Porat 1977) in his study in 1977 discovered that the portion of U.S. National Economy involved with information was large and rapidly growing taking up 49% of Gross National Product (GNP) and earning 53% of labour income. A recent survey shows increase in revenue recorded with the online database industry as well as increased rate of electronic dissemination of information. 

3. INFORMATION VALUE AS “COMMODITY”: 
Information here is seen as a unique commodity the is not consumed in its use but could be exchange as well as used many times. Exchange value and use value of a commodity (information) were distinguished with commodity acting as the unifying factor between the two.

Pricing was deduced as an acceptable measure of value and a reliable indicator of exchange when taken over time. 

In conclusion, the article won given preference to valuing information in its commodity form since market price serves as a good indicator or measure for value. 

NAME: AJAYI OLUGBENGA S.

MIM/EDUC/07812/2008-09  

SUMMARY AND CRITQUE OF THE CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING A NATIONAL VIRTUAL LIBRARY

 

SUMMARY 
The idea behind the establishment of the national virtual library is to establish an online network among Nigeria universities where access to tools such as database, electronic journals, alerting services, online reference and quality selected web resources that improves the quality of teaching and research can be obtain. Unfortunately this initiate has become a mirage.
The virtual library is expected to provide value-added solution for all higher education institution and facilitate online access to an enormous current volume of academic information.
Amongst other things, the virtual library is expected to 
(i) Improve the quality of teaching and research in institution of higher leaning in Nigeria through the provision of current books, journals and other library resources.
(ii) Enhance scholarship, research and lifelong learning through the establishment of permanent access to shared digital archival collections etc 
Digitization, acquisition and collection development and enabling technology all form the bedrock of a successful virtual library. Unavailability of basic information infrastructure, poor policy implementation, lack of web technologies skilled digital system librarians, information technology policy and technological challenges are the hindrance to the implementation of a National virtual Library in the institution of our higher learning. Aside from these, there is need for a librarian with web technology skill who will be able to facilitate skilled information retrieval and to intervene between user and the information, to help user evaluate what they retrieved.
It is not totally a lost hope for the actualization of the virtual Library if only the following steps can be taken:
(i) An improvement in the basic national infrastructure
(ii) Librarian and information professionals to be trained in information and web technology skills.
(iii) The virtual library should provide access to electronic resources free web based resources, heavily digitized resources and open access resources.
(iv) They should seek more grants and other source of funding to upgrade, etc.

In conclusion, since the aim of the virtual library is to provide networking amongst universities for the purpose of sharing resources online, the government should try as much as possible to make available every necessary materials that will make this a reality.

CRITIQUE  
This work cannot be condemned as the write has help in identifying the challenges the implementation of the National virtual library is presently facing and the way out of it.
A very good work I must say.

NAME: OLUGBENGA S. AJAYI
REG NO: MIM/EDUC/07812/2008-2009
 

PROVISION OF ONLINE INFORMATION SERVICES IN NIGERIAN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

According to some publications, increasing number of people are turning to the internet as their preferred source of information. Transporting library services to the online environment is therefore essentially necessary as it assists online library patrons/researchers to obtain reliable information on the internet.

This study therefore seeks to determine the extent to which academic libraries in Nigeria provide online services to its patrons, highlighting the need for online information services and identifying the factors hindering provision of effective online services.

Sample data were consequently obtained from the library websites of ten Nigerian Universities through an online questionnaire designed using ‘survey monkey” – an intelligent survey software.

Having eulogized Nigeria’s improvement in the telecommunications industry within the past few years, the study however revealed that online information literacy instructions, online reference services, remote access to online catalogue, webblog and online document delivery were never provided by the sampling academic libraries.

Similarly, lack of web technological skilled librarian, lack of funds and lack of basic information infrastructure were identified as some of the factors militating against provision of online information services by these academic libraries

In conclusion, solutions such as retraining of library staff through workshops and conferences, the use of open source, open access databases and journals and free web based resources were suggested as ways to address some of the challenges enumerated above.

NAME: UKAH TOCHI .U
REG NO: MIM/EDUC/09791/2008-09

IMPLEMENTING A NATIONAL VIRTUAL LIBRARY FOR HIGHER INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

A virtual library facilities access to tools such as databases, electronic journals, alerting services, electronic reference and quality vetted e-resources. Building a virtual library entails processes such as digitalization, acquisition of resources and proper implementation of defined collection development policies. Virtual library services and digital resources are delivered over the internet. Therefore the enabling technologies deployed are web-based technologies.

However, various initiatives to setup a virtual library in Nigeria have suffered setbacks owing to some challenges as:

• Unavailability of the basic information infrastructure.
• Unstable/ Erratic power supply within the country.
• Lack of funds and high cot of deployment of VSATs especially to higher institutions.
• Poor information technology policy implementation.
• Lack of competent personal and
• Lack of understanding of what constitutes a virtual library.

The study thereafter suggested the way forward towards a successful implementation of a national virtual library in Nigeria. The ways are but not exclusive to provision of stable poor supply, provision of the basic information infrastructure and recruitment/engagement of high skilled professionals.

It is therefore expected that the National Virtual Library will soon be a reality especially with the February 2007 mandate transferring the project to the Nigeria National Library.

NAME: UKAH TOCHI .U
REG NO: MIM/EDUC/09791/2008-09

THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF INFORMATION (SUMMARY)

The article seeks to measure the economic value of information. Informational values may vary relative to one’s profession but it is said to be an expression of impacts or how it used.
Scholarly attempts to measure the value of information were examined under three themes using the three primary meanings of the word ‘Value’ as given by American College Dictionary (1968). These themes are:

1. INFORMATION VALUE AS “USE”: Here the value of information denotes solely an expression of how useful a piece of information is to the recipient. Informational value is frequently expressed as a derivation from communicational utility which also takes into consideration availability of data within an organisation, its flow to members of that organisation as well as impacts of those data to the structural organisation of the firm.

However, the article flawed this theme considering inaccurate findings of informational use using mathematical formulas.

2. INFORMATION AS “TRAFFIC”: This theme tries to evaluate the material or monetary worth of information as in traffic or sales. Porat (Porat 1977) in his study in 1977 discovered that the portion of U.S national economy involved with information was large and rapidly growing taking up 46% of Gross National Product (GNP) and earning 53% of labour income. A recent survey also shows a constant increase of revenue recorded with the online database industry as well as increased rate of electronic dissemination of information.

3. INFORMATION VALUE AS “COMMODITY”: Here information is seen as a unique commodity that is not consumed in its use but could be exchanged as well as used many times. Exchange value and use value of a commodity (information) were distinguished with commodity acting as the unifying factor between the two.

Pricing was deduced as an acceptable measure of value and a reliable indicator of exchange value when taken over time.

The article was concluded by given preference to valuing information in its commodity form since market price serves as a good indicator or measure for value.

NAME: UKAH TOCHI. U
REG NOS: MIM/EDUC/09791/2008-2009

QUESTION: SUMARIZE ARTICLE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF VIRTUAL LIBRARY FOR HIGH INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA.

NAME: IDRIS ISAH GULU REG. NO. MIM/EDUC/11370/2008-09

LIBS 883: ONLINE INFORMATION INDUSTRIES

The paper highlights on how virtual library facilitates access to information resources as database, electronics, journals, alerting services, online references tools, and quality selected web resources that improve of teaching and research.

The paper differentiated between electronic libraries, digital library and virtual library as electronic library consist of electronic materials and services like video tapes and CD-ROM. While digital library consist f digital services and materials are stored, process and transferred via digital devices and network. The virtual
Library consists of both digital and electronic libraries existing virtually. And stress the important of virtual library in high institutions in Nigeria, which among them is improving quality of teaching and research through the provision of current e-book, journals and other resources, also enhance scholarship, research and lifelong learning through the establishment of access to shared global virtual archival collections.

The article in addition examines the process of building virtual libraries as the thus digitalization, acquisitions, and collection development

Digitalization involve the process of making non-digital materials in digital format and acquisition and collection development involves acquiring and securing ownership of electronic resources such as databases, e-books, and journal trough license. Subscribed electronic resources are stored on a remote server hosted by the vendor and made accessible to a target user, while digital collections of information resources involve selection and organization based on an explicit collection development policy that address need of particular community.

The paper finally, identifies the challenges of its implementation which includes misconceptions of what constitute virtual libraries, unavailability of he basic information infrastructures, poor policy implementation and lack of web technologies skill digital/systems librarians have been identifies.

And the way-forward was suggested in form of recommendation as thus; Improvement of infrastructures, web technological skills, access to resources and availability of fund was emphasized.