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Institutional repositories (IRs) are gaining popularity globally. This paper examined the trend in a developing country—Nigeria. It reviewed and outlined the historical development of IRs and noted...

Institutional repositories (IRs) are emerging trends in scholarly discourse among members of the academic community in Nigeria. Global practice shows that many IRs are administered by librarians in the academia. This article examines the nexus between libraries and IRs. It observed that though the emergence of IRs holds great advantage for academic institutions, many Nigerian institutions, especially universities, do not have functional IRs because of the inability of their libraries to run them. The article further identifies the digital divide, inadequate financing, the lack of ICT skills and awareness as well as copyright issues as challenges inhibiting the establishment and management of IRs in Nigeria. Recommendations are made for dealing with the identified challenges.

The paper examines innovative strategies academic libraries can adopt to address the 21st century learning challenges in Africa. The objective of the study is to identify some innovative strategies academic library can adopt to personalize library services and make library a more motivating learning environment for all category of patrons (students, teachers and researchers). The research questions include: What are the trends in technological innovations in academic libraries? What is the role of leadership in promoting academic library innovative strategies? What strategies can academic library adopt to make the library a more motivating and interesting learning environment for students? How can academic libraries strategize library services to support and encourage effective teaching and research? The paper reveals that library management or leadership is the driver of any meaningful change in an academic library. The changes include technological innovations, that is introduction of new ICT technologies in library will involve organizing training for the library personnel. That academic libraries in Africa can be better repackaged aesthetically using furniture arrangement and colours to demarcate the different section/unit with the sole aim of making the library more interesting and motivating for learning. The paper recommendations include organizing ICT and communication, interpersonal relationship skills for all library among others.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have revolutionized every sphere of human endeavor including education. However, the use of ICTs in Education is not without challenges. One of the major challenges of ICTs in education is examination malpractice. Educational assessment and evaluation are the means through which the attainment of educational objectives is validated. Examination malpractice is considered as a huge challenge to these processes. This paper focuses on the trends and threats of hi-tech examination malpractice in the Nigerian educational system. It discusses the factors that precipitate examination malpractices and implications on the attainment of educational objectives. The paper identified proliferation of mobile phones and other private digital assistants (PDAs) as a major driving factor for e-cheating. It further outlined corruption, poor funding, legal and moral issues as challenges militating against efforts to end the ugly trend. It concludes that the co-operation of Government, parents, school administrators, examination bodies and security agencies is required to chart a way forward.

Social media use has become the norm in information services delivery. It holds the unique advantage of delivering service to users through social interaction. This chapter discussed social media use in academic libraries in a developing country: Nigeria. It examined the concept and definition of social media; it also discussed trends in social media usage in libraries. The chapter further outlined the types of social media tools used in libraries. It discussed the peculiar challenges of social media use in Nigeria and proffered solutions.

The purpose of this paper was to discuss new paradigms in cataloguing in 21 st century and its implications and challenges for libraries in developing countries like Nigeria. The authors recommended the adoption of new strategies. The paper adopted four dimensional approaches in the discussion of issues. In the first part, the paper introduces the concept of 21 st century library. The second approach focused on the role of information and communication technology in cataloguing and recent cataloguing practices. In the third approach, the paper compared cataloguing practices in developed countries with Nigeria. The fourth and final approach discussed implications, challenges and strategies for Nigerian libraries to adopt. The paper listed some challenges and strategies that Nigerian libraries and other developing countries should adopt, such as funding, training of staff, provision and maintenance of infrastructure, eradication of corruption, and so on. While there is numerous literatures on the challenges of application of ICT to library operations in Nigeria, very few recommend practical and workable strategies to solving the problems. This paper proposes the adoption of new and workable strategies to efficient and effective application of ICT to cataloguing operations.

The paper examined the role of academic libraries in the evolving paradigm shift in teaching methodologies in Nigerian universities as a result of the outbreak of Covid-19. It x-rayed the current global trends in online education and significant roles libraries can play. Responsive library website design and adoption, adoption of blended librarianship model and use of social networks among others were identified as best practices to adopt in order to secure a place for libraries in Nigeria in the face of the eminent change in teaching methodologies post Covid-19. Furthermore, the study considered perceived challenges libraries may be confronted with in deploying relevant ICT infrastructures geared towards transitioning from traditional to online provision of services in support of teaching and learning. The paper recommended dynamism in library service delivery, urgency in the acquisition of new skill sets by academic librarians in Nigeria, while also calling on relevant stakeholders to provide adequate funding for libraries in order to be able to deploy relevant ICT infrastructures needed to adequately support teaching and learning in a virtual environment.

Disaster management has been a subject of interest to libraries and librarians, because of its implications for disaster preparedness and control. This paper is a review of literature on disasters experienced by libraries in some developing nations, with a view to discovering workable solutions that would help to either prevent or manage future occurrences. It examined library disasters in Egypt, Philippines, Nepal, Jamaica, Nigeria and Malawi among others. The paper observed that the initial response of the affected libraries to these disasters was poor. It therefore advocated for the need for disaster plan and preparedness among libraries and librarians in developing countries. It further suggested the following as the way forward – conduct of risk assessment, formulation of disaster plan and policies, mitigation, quick response to disaster and workable recovery plan among others. As a result of this research, it was concluded that disasters would be prevented and better managed in libraries if these precautions and recommendations are implemented.

This article examines the importance of newspapers to research, education, and economic development for Nigeria and advocates the need to preserve newspapers. The authors discuss critical preservation issues related to newspapers and emphasize the urgent need to address their deteriorating state in Nigerian academic libraries. The article also examines the binding preservation method practiced among academic libraries and observes that the method is not adequate. It recommends that academic libraries in Nigeria should adopt the digitization model for newspaper preservation. The article identifies the digital divide, poor technological infrastructure, inadequate funding, lack of expertise, and copyright prohibitions as challenges of digitization and makes recommendations.

Graduating students of higher institutions in Nigeria usually write and submit theses, as a requirement for the award of diplomas, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. This paper examines the importance of students' theses to research, industrial and economic development of the nation and therefore advocates the need to preserve them. It discusses the intricate dimensions of the preservation of theses in academic libraries and notes the urgent need to address the worsening deteriorating state of students' theses in academic libraries in Nigeria. The paper also discusses the current traditional preservation methods practiced among academic libraries and observed that these methods are not adequate. It recommends that academic libraries in Nigeria should digitize theses and adopt the cloud computing preservation model through the operations of institutional repositories. The paper further identified digital divide and poor technological infrastructure, inadequate funding, data security breaches and issues revolving around copyright as challenges of digitization and cloud computing, and made recommendations.