A Study of the Challenges in the Training and Education of Library and Information Science Students in Nigeria

A Study of the Challenges in the Training and Education of Library and Information Science Students in Nigeria

CHAPTER ONE

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of the study is to examine the challenges in the training and education of library and information science students in Nigeria.

To determine students’ perception of the curriculum in use.
To determine the students’ satisfaction of the quality of faculty available.
To determine the students’ access and utilization of ICTs in their LIS schools.
To identify challenges encountered in the course of their studies in the LIS schools.
To seek solutions in confronting the challenges of LIS training and education in Nigeria.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Concept of Education

Conceptually, the task of defining “Education” is an extremely difficult one because the term is quite elusive and difficult to pin down to a single definition. Thus, one could see education as the total processes involved in developing human ability and behaviours (Ekpo, 1998). Consequent upon the philosophy of Nigeria’s education, the quality of education at all levels according to the National Policy on Education (2004), has been oriented towards appreciation of the national educational aims and objectives to which the philosophy is linked which include among others:

The inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society.
The training of the mind in the understanding of the world around, and
The acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competencies both mental and physical as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of the society.
The attainment of these laudable educational aims, objectives, and goals can be viewed from a broader perspective in the light of the following expectations that:
Education is a fundamental tool used for inculcating the requisite ethics, values, skills as well as techniques for the practice of any profession.
Education serves as a vehicle for the attainment and recognition of the practitioners at the various levels of their professional strata (Mohammed, 2003).
Education is an on-going process designed to acquire skills, understandings, healthy values and a spiritual balance to individuals so that they can develop themselves and the society in which they lived and operate. (Denga, 1999)
For Nigeria education system to fully utilize available opportunities arising from the use of emerging technologies in instructional delivery, the utilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) must be given top priority.

History of Library and Information Science Education in Nigeria

There are many previous studies (Mohammed, 2008; Abubakar and Hassan, 2010; Ahmed, 2012; Abioye, 2013; Chimah and Nwokocha, 2015 etc) that have dwelt extensively on the historical development or evolution of Library and Information Science (LIS) education in Nigeria. These studies generally, have traced the beginning of LIS education in Nigeria to the UNESCO seminar of 1953 held at the University College Ibadan, which was the catalyst for the establishment of the Institute of Librarianship at the same University College, Ibadan in 1959.

According to Mohammed (2008), the establishment of the first LIS School in Nigeria in 1959 at the University of Ibadan (UI) was a by-product of the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s concern for library development in British West Africa when in 1957, it sent Professor Harold Lancour of Pittsburgh University to study the library needs of the region. The report recommended among other things the establishment of the Institute of Librarianship (now Department of Library, Archival and Information Studies) for training librarians leading to the award of Diploma in Librarianship Certificate at graduate level. The resolutions of the 1953 UNESCO seminar gingered the participants to strongly agitate for a formalized training institute on library and information science education. However, academic activities took off in 1960 as the first set of students was admitted. Prior to this, there had been rudimentary training programmes for Library Assistants coordinated by some libraries.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design

This study used descriptive survey design. The descriptive survey research design is used for its appropriateness in making reality known through collecting detailed factual information that describes existing phenomena at a given moment in time (Vyhmeister, 2001). This research design will sought to solicit information by asking respondents questions related to this study. The responses are given in writing (Vyhmeister, 2001). This design is appropriate in this study because it enables the researcher to collect data from the respondents through the use of questionnaires and observation checklists.

Sources of Data

The data for this study were generated from two main sources; Primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources include questionnaire, interviews and observation. The secondary sources include journals, bulletins, textbooks and the internet.

Population of the study

A study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitute of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description (Prince, 2019). In this study the target population constitute of final year students of the department of library and information science, the Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results

Response rate

A total of one hundred and ten (110) questionnaires were distributed. A total of 73 copies of the questionnaires were duly completed and returned, representing a response rate of 66.4%

Table 4.1 indicates that 50 out of 73 percent of the respondents were female with 68.5% while 19 (26%) were male and 4 of the respondents with 5.5%, did not indicate their gender. This clearly shows that there is a high enrolment of female students into the Library and Information Science profession.

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion

This study was carried out on the challenges in the training and education of Library and Information Science students in Nigeria, using Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa as case study. The study has shown that Library and Information Science Education has been identified as a highly relevant academic discipline in the digital age that can positively transform the society especially in Information and Educational services delivery. There should be room for the employment of more dynamic and passionate minds into the faculty and apart from having respectable academic qualifications; these faculty members should be able to demonstrate the required ICT competencies and skills. Continuous professional development programmes should be re-enforced and organized for existing early career and mid-level faculty members. Courses like Cyber Security, Digital Archiving, should be included in the curriculum while Entrepreneurship in Library and Information Science should be given more emphasis in the departmental curriculum and implemented by the stakeholders of Library and Information Education in Nigeria.

Finally, Stakeholders of Library and Information Science Education in Nigeria should not neglect the integration of new innovations in ICTs with Library Education to train the students in these Library schools. These library schools should also seek for other ways of improving the

Students’ access to and utilization of ICTs in their education in order to help them to become competent information professionals, great innovators, visionary leaders and entrepreneurs in the information profession, thereby becoming transformational agents of the Nigerian society and beyond.

Recommendations

Curriculum Review and effective implementation: Designing a workable, integrated and broad curriculum for the LIS education programme as stipulated by the National Universities Commission ( NUC) policy guideline with the assistance of the professional association like the NLA and other subsidiary bodies interested in the growth and development of LISE will be laudable. In addition, implementation of the reviewed curriculum should be taken seriously so as to ensure the replication of librarians who will be fit for contemporary information challenges. In response to this, accreditation of LISE programme must be regular under strict supervision to ensure that proper learning is taking place using the approved methods and facilities judiciously.
Provision of adequate infrastructure: Information Technology (IT) is an expensive venture. Government must develop its IT infrastructure and fund the necessary subscription so that information communication technology can be utilised for teaching in the education sector especially in LISE. Library schools should also be equipped with relevant infrastructure that will facilitate effective teaching and learning.
Staff and training: Library is an organization that should comprise information professionals. Qualified library educators should be engaged to teach LISE in library schools and there should be in-service training organized for librarians who are unable to use modern information tools and software. This will help to eradicate ICT illiteracy among library educators. Regular workshops and seminars for educators within and outside the shores of Nigeria will help to close the gap, so that through capacity building, new techniques will be adopted to help them adapt to modern trends and developments (Ochogwu (2016); Akintunde, 2004).
Provision of fund: It is a known fact that education is capital driven, therefore, all the financing bodies must cooperate so that researches can be funded. Without adequate funds laudable researches cannot be undertaken in academics. Therefore, Government should support academic institution with adequate funding, so as to facilitate research and dissemination of scientific discoveries and information management.
Finally, Library and Information Science Education and Learning in a World of Difference can be improved, if government adheres to its policy strictly, by providing enabling environment for teaching and learning through the provision of quality infrastructure, adequate funds for capacity building for educators and exchange programmes for exposure. While the university management on the other hand, must encourage collaborative researches, provide soft loans for educators to purchase private laptops. This is trendy is in some Nigeria universities like the Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa, other institutes should adapt this practice as it will promote effective teaching and learning.

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