Adaptive Equipment Technology for Supporting Handicapped Persons in the Library Environment
Chapter One
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of the study is to investigate Adaptive Equipment Technology For Supporting Handicapped Persons In The Library Environment in Southeast Nigeria.
The specific objectives include:
- To identify the types of library resources available to the visually, mobility and hearing challenged polytechnic students in Southeast, Nigeria.
- To identify the types of library services available to the visually, mobility and hearing challenged polytechnic students in Southeast Nigeria.
- To find out the extent of use of library resources by the visually, mobility and hearing challenged polytechnic students in Southeast Nigeria.
- To find out the extent of use of library services by the visually, mobility and hearing challenged students in the polytechnics under study.
- To determine the level of awareness of polytechnic librarians on the library services for these physically challenged students in the polytechnic under study.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Framework
Concept of Physically Challenged Students
Physically challenged students are extremely varied group of people. The disabilities may be below normal, normal or above normal. They may have a single disability or a combination of impairment. Physically challenged students are students who have substantial adverse and long term effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities (Forrest, 2005). Long term is taken to be a year or more. This definition corresponds with the definition of disability as defined by Disability Discrimination Act, (1995) which describes disability in the following terms: “a person has a disability if he has physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. Muya (1996) also defines physically challenged persons as individuals who have any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity considered to be normal for able-bodied persons. This definition was drawn from the World Health Organisation’s viewpoint. World Health Organisation (WHO) (1992) views disability using the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH), as any restriction or lack resulting from an impairment of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being. The World Health Organisation sees impairment as a loss or abnormality of physiological, psychological or anatomical structure or function.
Experts have clearly distinguished the use of the terms impairment, disability, challenged and handicap. According to Panda (1997) and Ladipo (2006), impairment relates to abnormality of body structure, organ or system function resulting from any cause in principle. Impairment represents disturbances at the organ level. Disability reflects the consequence of impairment in terms of functional performance and activity by the individual. “Challenged” on the other hand, refers to disadvantages or handicap experienced by individual as a result of impairment and disabilities; “challenged” thus reflect interaction with an adaptation to the individuals’ surroundings. These terms have functional inter- relationship with impairment leading to disability and disability leading to challenged, handicapped or disadvantaged condition.
This relationship shows that the terms are discrete entities and quite different from each other and one leading to the other. However, Muya (1996), Johnstone and Bonetti (2001) in their independent studies saw the terms differently from the above proposition.
They opined that the terms ‘impairment’, ‘challenge’, ‘disable’ and ‘handicap’ are used interchangeably. Thus, an impaired person is a disabled person and so is also handicapped or disadvantaged or challenged.
The term physically challenged is internationally accepted as referring to those groups of handicapped people who have orthopaedic problems, special health conditions or sensory deficits which sometimes manifest themselves in obvious physical deformities, speech, auditory or visual disorders of varying degree (Aina, 1996). According to him it can include; physical or mobility impairment, visual impairment, hearing impairment, dyslexia, medical conditions and serious mental health difficulties. Ladipo (2006) on the other hand, defines impairment as physical deviation from what is considered “normal” by the general society. For instance, a boy who was born without one arm or a man who lost an arm in an accident has impairment. He also sees ‘disability’ as referring to a loss of, or limitation in physical function or difficulties in learning and social adjustment. The absence of an arm in the boy and the loss of an arm by the man will prevent them from being able to perform certain functions. It can be said, therefore, that disability is a description of what an individual cannot do because of a physical impairment.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHOD
This chapter describes the research procedure and design, area of the study, population of the study, sample and sampling techniques, instruments for data collection, validation of the instruments, reliability of the instruments, instruments’ administration and method of data analyses.
Design of the Study
The design of the study is descriptive survey, which is a type of research design with the aim of collecting information or data to describe existing conditions, characteristics or phenomenon using a sample of the population (Onwumere, 2009). This design is considered appropriate for this work because there is the need to collect data on conditions as they exist and the entire population will not be studied, as the population will be too large to be studied in depth and it involves a study of independent and non-manipulative variables. This also means that results from the sample will be used to generalize to the entire population. The researcher assumes that all the disabled respondents are both users and potential users of the libraries under study.
Population of the Study
The population of study comprised of all the physical and mobility impaired, hearing impaired, and visually impaired students and librarians in the eight polytechnics in the Southeast, Nigeria. The respondents were these physically challenged users and the professional librarians working in the polytechnic libraries. In a preliminary investigation by the researcher, the total number of professional librarians was 94 (Source: Staff Nominal Roll, 2011) (See appendix E, page 171). In the preliminary investigation, the strength of physically challenged students in the polytechnics under study was 1984 comprising 47 visually impaired, 42 hearing impaired and 1895 mobility impaired students (source: 2011 Students Statistics and Records from Students Affairs Units) (See appendix G, page 172).
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
This chapter presents the results of data analysis based on the data obtained from the administration of the research instruments.
Hypothesis One
There is no significant difference in the mean response, on the extent of utilization of library resources by mobility challenged students in the eight (8) polytechnic libraries under study.
Table 5: Analysis of Variance on Utilization of Library Resources by Mobility Challenged Students in the Eight Polytechnic Libraries under Study
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATION AND SUMMARY
This chapter discusses the results of the study as presented in the previous chapter. The discussion and interpretation of the findings are based on the research objectives, which the research questions sought to answer.
Discussion of Results
Types of library resources available to the mobility, hearing and visually challenged students
The findings indicate that general library materials are highly available in the polytechnic libraries. However the specialized resources for mobility, hearing and visually impaired students are scarcely available in the libraries. Similarly, there are some support resources and facilities for the physically challenged students that are available in the libraries but many others are not or are poorly available. The worst is acute shortage of disability officers who are skilled personnel responsible for taking care of the reading needs of persons with disabilities in the libraries. Findings from the focus group discussions revealed all these and a lot more including near absence of ramps with hand railings as it available only in few of the libraries and even where available it is either too steep or terminates at the entrance. Making available library resources is a key variable in library services, to persons with disabilities as it makes for equality of access and effective utilization of information for self-development and equal participation in national development. Libraries and librarians working in polytechnic should imbibe the basic tenet of inclusion in resource provision without prejudice to persons with disabilities. All these are in agreement with the opinions of Aina (1996), Ismaila and Ajobiewe (1998) and Atinmo (2000) that librarians should effectively provide information resources to serve the various categories of disable and handicapped students in Nigeria. They opined that provision of library and information resources to all is the key to door of information service, which is an essential ingredient of individual’s basic needs. Atinmo (2000) also noted that information and literature are important in the lives of every one. Information resources are vital for education, employment and enjoyment of all Nigerians.
Echezona, Osadebe and Asogwa-Eze (2009) also agreed to all these and a lot more when they said that library building should be modernized with the needs of the disabled people in mind. Emerging buildings should include ramps and lifts for easy movement, good lighting within the library building and special car parking facilities and construction of special toilet facility for the disabled, moderate furniture size, acquisition policy that takes into consideration materials for the handicapped and information repackaging to provide alternative format books. Materials in alternate format include putting print materials on audio CDS, or Braille types and providing special softwares like test-to-voice equipment etc. Imam and Maduagwu(2000), Agbaje(2000), Ajobiewe and Fatokun (2000) also recommended among others; staff orientation, library guides on audio CD, provision of disability officers and resource-sharing as means of ensuring availability and utilization of library resources for the handicapped population. They encouraged libraries and organizations that produce information materials for the different persons with disabilities to feel free to lend, sell, exchange and in some cases donate such materials to libraries and organizations taking care of the disabled persons outside their borders. Resource sharing is important because no one library can hope to meet all the needs of varied interests at different levels. All these recommendations are in line with the findings of this research.
Conclusion
The responses and observations show how some polytechnic libraries are making genuine efforts to serve persons with disabilities while many appear to be neglecting the issue. The physically challenged students are not adequately taken care of in the institutions of higher learning. It is evident that specialized information resources and other support facilities that will enhance availability and utilization of the library facilities by the physically challenged students are not provided in most of the libraries. Their interests are hardly taken into consideration, even in the architectural designs of the libraries. It must be noted that the disabled persons would like to be appreciated for whom they are and given all the necessary information they require to compete favorably in the wider society. A library can be a friend of all for life, when library policies are inclusive and meaningful strategies to serve patrons are developed thereby ensuring that all users, regardless of disability have equal chances of participation and contribution to societal development. Such a person would have improved quality of life for self-reliance and overall national development. In short, a person is disabled if the world at large, including libraries fails to take into account needs arising from his physical or mental differences. Restructuring the polytechnic library resources and services along inclusive lines is a reflection of the social model theory and the Ranganathan’s second law of librarianship, which this work is anchored on. Polytechnic libraries need to design program and special services geared towards readers who are physically challenged in order not to be discriminatory and disabling.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the researcher makes the following recommendations that will help enhance the availability and utilization of library resources and services by physical challenged students.
- More current (up-to-date) general materials such as journals, microforms, magazines, government document, reference sources and student project reports should be made available in polytechnic libraries.
- Specialized resources for the mobility impaired including computers with adaptive keyboards, close circuit television among others should be provided.
- Specialized resources for the hearing impaired including sign language video, induction loop, audiological devices, amplified telephone among others should be provided.
- There is need to provide other support resources and facilities like ramps, handrails, special toilet facilities etc that could help in ensuring availability and utilization of library resources and services.
- There is need for the provision of skill personnel in charge of persons with disabilities in the library. To save further damage, there is immediate need to designate a library staff as disability officer pending the employment of skilled staff.
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