Management and usage of open access scholarly online resources in university libraries in Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this research is to ascertain from academic librarians in Nigeria their knowledge of open access online resources (OASOR), how their libraries manage these resources and how they are used by their readers. This is an alternative source of resource provision which librarians needed to adopt, in view of dwindling budgets. Design/methodology/approach A survey design was adopted for the study. The study was conducted during an annual general meeting/conference of the Nigerian Library Association in June 2014. Interview and eye witness accounts were also used to complement the questionnaire. Random sampling technique was used to select 312 librarians from the 720 attendees from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Data were analyzed using the weighted mean on a Likert scale. Findings The result of the finding revealed that some of the academic libraries sampled have access to limited open access (OA) resources from AGORA, HINARI, OARE and EBSCOhost databases. The management procedure adopted included downloading of relevant resources for their readers; providing hard copies of some of the downloads; and giving their readers access to the databases via their University websites. Others include offering consultancy services to academic departments and organizing training seminars to their users for direct access to the databases. The OASOR received adequate utility rate by users. Originality/value Dwindling economies and coping with current trends of information management in the contemporary world necessitated the use of information communication technology to avail OA resources to anchor education, research and human capital development in Nigeria. This will enable the country attain the Millennium Development Goal.

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