Library

The purpose of this paper is to review the trends in electronic journal publication in Africa in relation to geographical representation, subject spread and language of publication and number of open access journals. The approach adopted for this study was to download the list of journals from the African Journal Online (AJOL) database. These journals were analyzed using tables and charts in relationship to the objectives of the study. This study shows that medical journals are more represented in the database than any other discipline and equally have more open access journals. More than ninety percent of the journals are published in English language while very few journals are published in African languages. Findings from the study reveal that there are very few African countries represented in the AJOL database. Only twenty-six African countries have their journals in the database with so many of them having not more than two journals. Nigeria and South Africa dominate the list of journals in the database. When African sub-region is considered West Africa contributes slightly more than half of all the other regions put together. Medical journals are more represented. In the present electronic environment, it is critical that African journal publishers respond to the need of publishing their scholarly outputs electronically to improve access and impact of their authors. The paper recommends that in order to enhance the visibility of African research outputs more journals publishers should be encouraged to join AJOL.

Purpose: To explore potentials of open access institutional repositories in enhancing the global visibility and impact of Nigerian scholarly publication.
Design/methodology/approach This is a literature based opinion paper which examines the problem of open access institutional repositories in Nigeria providing pragmatic suggestions that would address the challenges of making Nigerian scholarly publication accessible internationally.
Findings While the paper acknowledge several problems that impedes the building of open access institutional repositories it equally highlights some necessary requirement for the building of institutional repositories with a road map for the development of functional institutional repositories in Nigeria.
Practical Implications: The proliferation of universities and other higher institutions that are in one way or the other engaged in research activities suggests that Nigeria would have generated a lot of research to facilitate speedy development.
Available evidences show that in the recent years scholarly publications in Nigeria lack viable means of global dissemination which has reduced the global visibility of many publications from the country. This paper focuses on the current situation in scholarly publications in Nigeria and examines the need for building of institutional open access repositories and its influence in the dissemination of scholarly research from the country to the international scholarly community
Originality and value: The originality of the paper is purely the proposal for the building of institutional repositories in Nigeria which include creation of awareness on institutional repositories, government sponsorship of IR, development of ICT infrastructure, use of effective advocacy, submission of electronic theses and dissertations and self archiving mandate. The paper concludes that open access institutional repositories are the most viable means of ensuring the global visibility and impact of Nigerian scholarship.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current status of electronic theses and
dissertations (ETD) projects in Nigerian university libraries.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey research methodology was applied. A total of 125
questionnaires were distributed to librarians in eight government-funded universities in South Eastern
Nigeria.
Findings – Only three out of the eight universities surveyed have started ETD projects in their
libraries. Other universities have the intention of adopting ETD but very little has been done towards
this. The study also revealed that university libraries in Nigeria stand to benefit immensely from ETD
projects. Some of these benefits as revealed from the findings include enhancing scholarly
communication in Nigeria, promoting the global visibility of Nigerian universities, and enhancing
research dissemination. The results of the study also revealed some challenges of ETD in Nigeria.
Strategies to mitigate these challenges were also identified from the findings.
Practical implications – The paper establishes that the adoption of ETD in Nigerian university
libraries is very low. Nigerian universities must therefore adopt a pragmatic approach to develop an
ETD program that will facilitate the dissemination of research documented in theses and dissertations.
Originality/value – The originality of the work lies in the empirical evidence obtained from the
eight university libraries surveyed.

Globalisation has brought a lot of changes which are impacting dramatically on
the entire world. Political, cultural and socio-economic integrations are
becoming much easier and faster than before. This paper argues that the digital
divide existing between developing and developed countries places Africa in
disadvantaged position in the globalisation process leading to cultural
imperialism. It challenges library and information professionals to try and bridge
this digital divide through sustained professional development, national and
institutional framework, curriculum redesign and regional and international cooperation.

This study was conducted to examine skills requirements of librarians for the emerging digital library system in University of Nigeria Nsukka.A case study research design
was adopted for this study. A total of 50 librarians from Nnamdi Azikiwe Library University of Nigeria were used for the study. The paper identified interpersonal, leadership & management and information technology skills required by librarians for the emerging digital library environment. Findings also show that the librarians’ skills in interpersonal, leadership and management are higher than in information technology. The study found out that none ofthe personal attributes are major inhibitors to up-dating of the librarians’ skills. Findings also identified funding as the greatest challenge in up-dating librarians’ skills. Similarly, internally organized training programmes and sponsorship to workshops and conferences are identified as most critical in the strategies for up-dating the skills of the librarians. This study will be useful to the management of University of Nigeria libraries and other universities administrators and librarians who are interested in improving the digital skills of their librarians for the development of digital libraries. It will also be of great value to project managers who are engaged in the digitization of their libraries. The originality of the paper is anchored on the identification of skills required by librarians and in relation to the skills they already have. The findings of the study are reliable guide for university libraries that intend to upgrade the digital skills of their staff.

Investigation into citation and authorship patterns in language and linguistics research is of serious interest to librarians and researchers. The purpose of this paper is to examine scholarly communication behaviour in languages using theses and dissertations to enhance collection development policy in linguistics research. Bibliometric and informetrics indicators were used to examine a total of 87 theses and dissertations submitted to the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages from 2005 to 2014. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted using bibliometric indicators such as types of cited sources, timeliness of cited sources, authorship pattern, rank list of frequently cited books and degree of research collaboration. A total of 5084 bibliographic references were extracted from the theses with an average of 58.4 citations per theses. Books and monographs dominated the entire citations with 63.6% while journal citations were 17.9%. Electronic resources accounted for 15.4% of the citations. This study provides useful evidence to librarians who would be interested in developing the language library collections. Monographs have been found to be more useful for language researchers and collection development librarians will be guided in policy formulation particularly academic libraries where language research needs to be supported. There has been paucity of citation studies in the humanities generally and linguistics in particular. This study is an original research adopting bibliometric approach to examine scholarly communication in language and linguistics using University of Nigeria, Nsukka as a case study.

The purpose of this paper is to develop core books in Nigerian languages using citation analysis.
A total of 449 theses and dissertations submitted to the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian
Languages in six Nigerian universities from 1996 to 2007 constituted the population. The
universities are University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), University of Ife (OAU), University of
Lagos (UNILAG), University of Ibadan (UI), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABU) and
University of Benin (UNIBEN). A bibliometric study was conducted using indicators such as
types of cited sources, most frequently cited books and the most frequently cited authors. A total
of 27,686 bibliographic references were harvested from the theses with an average of 58.4
citations per theses. Books and monographs dominated the entire citations with 63.6%. Thirtyseven
(37) most frequently cited books were identified. Top among these books are Chomsky’s
Aspect of theory of syntax with 6.6% while the least was Sociolinguistics by P. Trudgill with
(1.7%). Seventy-four (74) authors were identified as the most frequently cited. Noam Chomsky
ranked first with 5.1% and the least was Okebalama, C.N with 0.7%. This study would be useful
for language researchers and collection development of libraries particularly academic libraries
where language research needs to be supported.

This article presents a study of the reproductive health information needs and access practices of rural women in Nsukka Cultural Zone, Enugu State, South East Nigeria. Three hundred and fifty women from 14 rural Nsukka communities were surveyed and 335 responses analysed. It was found that the main reproductive health information needs of the women were related to infertility; use of contraception; abortion; prevention of sexually transmitted diseases; antenatal care; and postnatal care. The main existing sources of reproductive health information were found to be: friends and relations; hospitals and health centres; churches; women's organisations; and radio and television. Fewer than half (46%) of the women participants were found to be accessing reproductive health information using their mobile phones. The author recommends enhanced rural development approaches that include: information provision through mobile communications; opening of rural libraries and information centres with Internet hubs; and sustainable adult literacy campaigns focused on reproductive health information. Recommended citation Ezema, I. J. (2016). Reproductive health information needs and access among rural women in Nigeria: A study of Nsukka Zone in Enugu State.

Background. Many youths have adopted social networking media for communication with friends, family members and the general public. Objective. This study examined the participation of youths in government programmes and policies in Nigeria using social networking media. Method. A total of 200 Nigerian youths were sampled from four Nigerian universities. A structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents and 190 (95%) were properly completed. Results. The major social networking media used by Nigerian youths are Facebook, Google+, 2go, Skype and Twitter. They are mainly used for " social

Purpose - Since Sweden passed the first law on right to information in 1776, more than 90 countries have since adopted freedom of access to government records in various parts of the world including Africa. In Africa, it is becoming an emerging issue since 2000 when South Africa passed the first freedom of information (FoI) law in continent. This paper discusses the extent of passage of FoI in the sub Saharan Africa and the reality or restrictions to free access to government documents in the region. Approach – The authors review some literature on the concepts, principles and practice of FoI around the world and many revelations were gathered on its practice and access in different regions and Africa in particular. Findings – It was gathered that only eight out of the forty-eight countries in the Sub-Saharan African region have signed the freedom of information laws and many others are still contemplating adoption. Though the few that signed the law are still battling with implemen...