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
2 comments:
good work.
I want to accept some of assessments, but It will be worth of note that Virtual library technologies does not create a slow connection to libraries as stated in the first line o your critique.
a good work done
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