Implementing a National and Virtual Library for Higher Institutions in Nigeria

ASSIGNMENT
NAME: Julius A. Ogar
REG. NO: MIM/EDUC/10079/2008-09
COURSE: LIBS 883
SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE: Implementing a National and Virtual Library for Higher Institutions in Nigeria.
The Virtual Library Project is meant to guarantee access to databases, electronic journals, alerting services, online reference tools, etc, in order to improve the quality of teaching and research. Its implementation in Nigeria has been hampered by poor policy implementation, lack of basic information technology infrastructure and the lack of skilled personnel. This is despite the effort by the Federal Government to enact relevant information and communication technology policies to facilitate easy access to learning, teaching and research.
A virtual library can address the shortage of research and learning materials in Nigerian universities through facilitating an easy interchange between Nigerian scholars and their foreign counterparts via e-books, journals and other sources. The benefits lie in the enhancement of scholarship and access to ‘shared global virtual archival collections.
But since January 2002 when the Nigeria National Virtual Library Project was initiated, it is yet to fully commence in any of the universities earmarked for the pilot phase. Also, the establishment of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) which would have made possible the take off of the virtual library project has not had any appreciable impact. This, coupled with variables such as political and economic instability, political apathy and lack of policy implementation have slowed down the growth of the national information and communications policy and with it, the virtual library project.
To reverse this, the government must:
a. Improve basic information and communications infrastructure such as electricity and telecommunications;
b. Equip librarians and information professionals with the requisite skills to build the virtual library;
c. Address the cost of information resources and ease access to them;
d. Furnish universities with enabling technologies and provide grants to libraries;
e. Shift emphasis on technological resources from ownership to access.
It is obvious that virtual libraries are the future of academic libraries. But lack of infrastructure and poor funding are curtailing access and this negatively impacts on research and development as well as on the advancement of society generally.


CRTIQUE
This work basically highlights the implications on learning, research and development of the inability of government to stock libraries in academic institutions with relevant information resources. The author approaches the issue of virtual libraries with informed analysis and experience, arguing that they are critical to the growth and efficiency of research and development. He however notes that the Nigeria National Virtual Library Project approved in January 2002 with the National Universities Commission as its hub, has been in existence.
The article also avails the reader of the distinctions between virtual, digital and electronic libraries all of which tend to be confused—one with the other. This clarification is useful for researchers and students alike.
However, in highlighting the challenges facing virtual libraries, the author does not spell out a defined role for the private sector. This is against the reality that in Nigeria, the emerging information industry is substantially private sector driven even though there are dominant public sector players besides the fact that the sector is government regulated.
It is also a fact that most Nigerian universities are public-owned, making it obligatory for the government to fund and equip them. But the role of private-public partnership (PPP), in this instance, cannot be overlooked. The author could therefore make a case for institutions like banks and oil companies to invest in the development of virtual libraries.
It is the candid opinion of this reviewer that the article is rich in intellectual content and pioneering. It is pioneering because in the typical Nigerian academic environment, researches on online and virtual libraries are relatively few and quite a lot are shallow in content.