ISSUES IN SETTING-UP E-LIBRARY IN NIGERIA

James O. Daniel, FNLA, CLN, PhD, MALS (Mich.USA) BLS (ABU, Nig.)

Former Librarian @ the National Mathematical Centre, Abuja, Nigeria

President, West African Library Associations, WALA

Pioneer Chairman, Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria,

Former President of NLA

Former, Secretary, IFLA Africa Section

ISSUES IN SETTING UP E- LIBRARY

Being a paper presented at the TETFUND e-library Training Workshop for Colleges of Education in Nigeria September, 2014

ABSTRACT

What is digital library? What are the issues and challenges in setting –up e library ?

This paper provides an overview of digital libraries and sums up some IFLA research outcome on issues from the e-library settings world wide

Resolutions of these issues are attempted as way forward

WHAT IS E-LIBRARY ?

lots of confusion surround the phrase ‘electronic library’ and ‘digital library’

because the library community has used several different phrases over the years to denote the electronic library concept

virtual library, library without walls-and it was never quite clear what each of these different phrases meant

"Digital library" is simply the most widely accepted term used almost exclusively at conferences, online, and in the literature, contemporarily e-library- is gaining ground.

E-library from Varied Perspectives

Factors adding to the confusion is that digital libraries are at the focal point of many different areas of research

what constitutes a digital library differs depending upon the research community that is describing it.

from an information retrieval point of view, it is a large database for people who work on hypertext technology, it is one

particular application of hypertext methods for those working in wide-area information delivery, it is an

application of the Web and for library science, it is another step in the continuing

automation of libraries that began over 25 years ago

IS THE WEB AN E-LIBRARY

A fairly spectacular example of what many people consider to be a digital library today is the World Wide Web –www-

the Web is a gathering of millions and millions of documents

To many, this huge collection is a digital library because they can find information, just as they can do banking in a "digital bank”

is the Web a digital library? NO! (Lynch 2002)

THE WORLD WIDE WEB IS NOT A LIBRARY

Sometimes the Internet characterized as the world's library for the digital age. This description cannot stand even under a casual examination. The Internet collection of multimedia resources known as the World Wide Web was not designed to support the organized publication and retrieval of information as libraries are. It has evolved into a chaotic repository for the collective output of the world's digital "printing presses."..In short, the Net is not a digital library.

LIBRARARIAN’S DEFINITION OF E-LIBRARY

So what is a working definition of “e-library" that makes sense to librarians?

the American Digital Library Federation came up with a similar notion of “e library with emphasis on the traditional underpinnings of libraries-selection, access, and preservation-as well as the fact that e libraries will necessarily be set-up to serve particular communities

The E-Library

Electronic libraries are organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of communities.

What are the Issues & Challenges in Creating e-library

The integration of digital media into traditional collections is not straightforward like video and audio tapes because of the unique nature of e-information

It is less fixed, easily copied, remotely accessible by multiple users simultaneously.

TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE ISSUES

Enhancement and upgrading of current technical architectures to accommodate e- materials.

The architecture components includes: high-speed local networks and fast connections

to the Internet relational databases that support a variety of e-

formats

Technical Architecture Cont’

full text search engines to index and provide access to resources

a variety of servers, such as Web servers and FTP servers

bibliographic databases that point to both paper and digital materials

indexes and finding tools collections of pointers to Internet resources

The Issue of Staff: The Right Staff

getting the right staff is a major issue in e library in Nigeria just as it was in the developed world when they stepped into electronic

library system.• Information professionals take on a wider variety of roles requiring a

broader range of skills than ever before and • far more than their exposures at the Library Schools.• A number of e-Lib projects have successfully highlighted these issues

Pinfield (2009). issues include how e library staff are obtained, trained and retained in order to carry out this work.

• E-library projects in Nigeria are most likely to have problems recruiting and retaining staff with the right skills across the sector because the Library Schools do not offer relevant courses at the moment.

• staffing structures which are currently biased in favour of traditional library roles.

The Issue of e-Librarian’s New and Required Roles

Issues of the e-librarian definitive and specialised roles (Daniel, 2013) :

Innovator –looking at improved ways to procure access Fund-raiser – working for greater income from within the

institution and beyond Metadata producer – creating records of information sources in

a variety of schemas Communicator – formally and informally liaising with users Team player – working with colleagues in e library, IT services

and academics , technologist s Advocacy

New and Required Roles

Multi-media user – comfortable with a wide range of formats Intermediary – with a good knowledge of sources and user

requirements Enabler – proactively connecting users with information they

require Trainer / educator – taking on a formal role to teach information

skills and information literacy Evaluator – sifting free and paid for resources on behalf of

users Negotiator – dealing with publishers and suppliers Project manager – leading on development projects to enhance

the service

New Required Skills

Technical and IT skills Ability to learn quickly Analytical and evaluative skills

Subject skills in-depth Project management skills Vision & Mission formulation and implementation Communication skills Negotiating skills and Bargaining Ability to work under pressure

The Issue of e resources development Policies

Creating an integrated collection e-development policy covering all media is

an important issue in e-library. e- acquisitions have to fit into the overall

provision. issue of balance between print and e-

services. clear criteria for e-selection, digitisation group to make e-acquisition decisions

The Issue of Collection development PoliciesCreating an integrated collection development policy which covers all media is an important issue in e-library. Electronic acquisitions have to fit into the overall provision. One major issue here is the balance between print and electronic services. There needs to be clear criteria for selection and there must be a group to make acquisition decisions.

Professional skills

Flexibility People centred skills Presentation skills Teaching skills Team working skills Customer service skillsHardware skills- technical knowledge software skills - vision.

Acquisition Issue The selection and acquisition process far

more complex for e-materials liaising with suppliers, organising trials and demonstrations, formal evaluation acquisition of e-resources can often take

longer than the print It can however sometimes frustrate the

expectations of users.

Licensing

The relationship between publishers and libraries is changing because of the e-resources.

movement from the use of resources determined by public law (copyright and fair dealing) to private agreement (licenses).

License agreements are private arrangements between two parties.

They place the provider in a much stronger position to specify how the information is used and who uses what

The Issue of Pricing

The e-library pricing models and the variation e-journals is a typical example. Should price be based on use? If so, how is

use determined? Should it be based on size of user

community? If so, how is size calculated? there is need for caution here by e-librarians

in creating alternative formulae.

e-library is More Expensive than Paper

e-library is expensive lessons of e-lib may not necessarily save

money but space e-journal may cost more on top of existing

paper subscriptions added issue of VAT which may be

chargeable for e-resources while prints may be exempt.

OTHER ISSUES & ISSUES

Institutional funding Issues Issue of Priorities Systems & technical issues of Integration Cross searching and linking Issue of Authentication, Authorisation &

Personalisation Issue of Management –everything management Issue of Content creation The Issue of Digital Preservation and Changes in format User issues: Marketing, Training and Liaison Organisational issues

Concluding Thoughts

Nigeria has the potential to harvest the enormous change in library and information services across the world, especially the initiatives from e-library which can facilitate leapfrogging national development. In the Changes expected to set in the next decade, libraries are going to be more relevant than ever as, innovative organisations for stable services and unfathomable access to information . Achieving this will involve energetic technical and content development and also involve developing libraries with the right staff, with the right skills, working in the right structures. It is in this way that we will be better able to support the transformation agenda and vision 20:20:20. as a sector. Library Schools must surely diversify and do more in the

area of e-curricula and re-tooling

THANK YOU

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING GOD BLESS ANY QUESTIONS?

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