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A bibliometric analysis of Nigerian publications indexed in Scopus database over a 115-year period, 1901 to 2016 was carried out. The study elucidated Nigerian research performance, publication trends, publications patterns and collaboration patterns at national and international levels. A total of 95,304 publications were analysed with underlying bibliometric indicators and statistics. Results show a steady increase in Nigerian publications after independence; predominant article publications compared to conference papers and reviews as well as frequent collaboration within the country when compared to outside the country; and that most research publications in Nigeria emanate from universities. It is therefore suggested that there is need for more research activities and collaboration within and especially outside the country to enhance effective research productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-first century academic libraries worldwide have fundamentally transformed in the past two decades. Most traditional library services have been transformed to e-library services. Some of the notable major developments in the academic libraries include online scholarly communication, mobile technologies, social mediation application, digital curation and preservation. To fit into this new information landscape, academic librarians have assumed new roles. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the recent trends in academic libraries, changing roles and skills of academic librarians and discuss the challenges faced by librarians in academic libraries in Africa. The paper also offers recommendations to overcome some of the challenges. This paper is based on desktop review of relevant literature and the authors' views. The findings reveal the major challenges in academic libraries in Africa as: chronic financial constraints and inadequate basic infrastructure, insufficient ICT infrastructure, poor library and information science curricula, slow acceptance of open access resources, resistance to change, and difficulty in the importation of books and journals. It is hoped that the findings of this study would help policy makers, administrators and other key stakeholders to develop effective strategies to address them. In addition, the findings are significant to academic libraries and librarians that are planning to transform to modem academic libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to examine the status of Africa in the open access environment as well as the challenges of providing global visibility to African research outputs. A descriptive bibliometric approach was adopted for the study. Data was extracted from two world repository directories (Registry of Open Access Repositories - ROAR and Directory of Open Access Repositories - DOAR) and Directory of Open Access Journals - DOAJ to determine the presence of Africa and size of repositories and records found in the directories. Findings reveal that only 20 African countries have presence in ROAR and DOAJ, but 22 countries have presence in DOAR. South Afiica has more repositories in ROAR and DOAR while Egypt has over 70% of African contributions to DOAJ. The subject coverage of the repositories indicates that there are more publications in the sciences than there are in the social sciences and humanities; the preferred languages of publication in the directories are English, German and French. Though there is slow adoption of publishing in open access journals in Africa, there has been an increase in the number of open access journal articles from 2,019 in 2005 to 24,997 in 2014. The paper calls on African governments, researchers and librarians to deploy sustainable mechanisms to increase global visibility of African research findings using open access platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in the number of people diagnosed with life-threatening diseases and affected by palliative care, as well as an increase in studies on information behaviour including information seeking, can be noted. With this in mind, the paper briefly reviews reports on research on information behaviour in palliative care in terms of: target groups and participants, settings, research methods and methods of data collection, components of information behaviour, and the factors influencing information behaviour. For each, some research gaps are noted. A few key findings on information behaviour in palliative care are highlighted. The intention is not to offer a comprehensive review; it is merely an overview to stimulate research in information behaviour in palliative care and to offer a point of reference. There are numerous research opportunities preferred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]