TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE i
APPROVAL PAGE Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â ii
CERTIFICATION iii
DEDICATION                                                                                 iv                   Â
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi
LIST OF FIGURE ix
LIST OF TABLES x
ABSTRACT xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTIONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem                                                                           10
Purpose of the Study                                                                              11
Research Questions                                                                                    12
Significance of the Study                                                                          13
Scope of the Study                                                                                      15
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Conceptual Framework
University Libraries                                                                         18                  Â
Electronic Resources 20
Collection Development 29
Selection of E-resources in Libraries                                                            36
Acquisition of Electronic Resources in Libraries                                             41
Evaluation of Electronic Resources in Libraries                                               45
Challenges of Electronic Resources Collection Development in Libraries 47
Strategies for Enhancing Electronic Resources Collection Development
Practices in Libraries 51
Theoretical Framework
Five Laws of Library Science by Ranganathan (1931)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 54
Selection Theories byThaddeus Mason Harris (1793)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 57
Review of Empirical Studies                                                                 58
Summary of Literature Review                                                                   72
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD
Design of the Study                                                                                  74
Area of the Study                                                                                 74
Population of the Study                                                                                  75
Sample and Sampling Technique                                                               76
Instruments for Data Collection                                                                    77
Validation of the Instruments                                                                          79
Reliability of the Instruments                                                                      79
Method of Data Collection                                                                          80
Method of Data Analysis                                                                               82
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 83
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS
AND CONCLUSION
Discussion of Findings                                                                                    106
Implications of the Study                                                                             115
Recommendations                                                                                         116
Limitations of the study                                                                                  118
Suggestions for Further Research                                                                     118
Conclusion                                                                                                        119
REFERENCES 121
APPENDICES
Appendix A: List of university libraries under study                             132
Appendix B: Distribution of the Population                                          133
Appendix C: Population and Sample Size of the respondents                134
Appendix D: Electronic Resources Collection Development Practices  134
Questionnaires (ERCDPQ)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 135
Appendix E: Electronic Resources Collection Development Policy
Assessment Questionnaires (ERCDPAQ)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 140
Appendix F: Checklist                                                                                143
Appendix G: Interview Guide                                                                                   144
Appendix F: Corrections on Research Instruments                             145
LIST OF FIGURE
- A Schematic Representation of the Conceptual Framework of the Study age by the Researcher                                                               53
LIST OF TABLES
Tables Pages
- Checklist of electronic resources available in university libraries in South East Nigeria                                                                  84
- Responses on types of policies guiding electronic resources collection development in the university libraries under study                   86
- Responses on the criteria libraries consider when selecting electronic resources for their libraries                                                            87
- Responses on whose duty it is to select electronic resources in university libraries in South East Nigeria                                            88
- Responses on tools used to make sound electronic resources selection
- in university libraries under study                                                        89
- Responses on methods of providing electronic resources in university libraries under study                                                                     90
- Responses on what informs decision when evaluating electronic resource for renewal/ cancellation                                                        92
- Mean responses on adequacy in accessing electronic resources through the   university library                                                  94
- Mean responses on extent of the use of these electronic resources in university libraries in South East Nigeria                                    96
- Responses on the challenges faced by your library in electronic resources collection development practices.                                    98
- Responses on difficulties experienced by users in using the library’s electronic resources                                 100
- Responses on strategies that enhance electronic resources collection development practices                                                                101
ABSTRACT
This study examined electronic resources collection development practices of university libraries in South East, Nigeria. The study answered seven research questions that were derived from the objectives of the study. Related literature were reviewed in order to explore all facets in electronic resources collection development practices. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 2595 respondents consisting of 2509 postgraduate users and 86 librarians and information professionals in collection development, serials and digital library (e-library). A 10% proportionate sampling technique was used to select a sample of 251 user respondents while all the 86 librarians working in collection development, serials and digital library units (e-library) were used. The instruments for data collection were questionnaires, interview and checklists. Two sets of questionnaires were used for this study, namely Electronic Resources Collection Development Practices Questionnaire (ERCDPQ) for the librarians and Electronic Resources Collection Development Practices Assessment Questionnaire (ERCDPAQ) for the postgraduate users were developed for this study. The instruments (questionnaires, interview and checklist) were validated by three experts from University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The questionnaires were trial tested for internal consistency using 10 librarians and 20 postgraduate library users from University of Calabar, in Cross River State. The reliability coefficient of ERCDPQ and ERCDPAQ were 0.86 and 0.94 respectively indicating high degree of internal consistency. They were obtained by using Cronbach Alpha reliability method. The instruments were administered directly to the librarians and postgraduate library users at the research libraries. However, 86 questionnaires for the librarians were returned in usable form while 224 questionnaires for the postgraduate student users were returned in usable form. The data from the ERCDPQ and ERCDPAQ were analyzed using frequency tables, percentages and means. The real limit of numbers (means range) of the nominal value assigned to the scale point was used and decision was taken by comparing results with the real limit of numbers. Major findings of the study include that an aggregate number of twenty electronic resources are available though mainly open access electronic resources, subscription and purchase. The university libraries in South East Nigeria under study adopted traditional and unwritten policy in developing electronic resources collection development, that relevant criteria were considered by the libraries when selecting electronic resources collection development practices. University libraries studied were guided by the appropriate tools such as use of trial testing of the resources in order to make sound e-resources selection practices, and the methods of making e-resources available in their libraries are mainly by purchase, open source and subscription. None of the university libraries under study was into consortium with one another. The result showed the major challenges of electronic resources collection development practices included financial constraint, lack of ICT skill manpower, lack of perpetual access to the e-resources and poor network access. Recommendations made include increase in funding, maintaining a well written electronic resources collection development policy, engaging in consortia purchase and training and retraining of staff on electronic resources collection. Suggestions for further studies were made.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
In contemporary university library system, the information needs of the library users are anchored on electronic resources. As such, it becomes important that the university libraries should build their resources with electronic resources in order to meet with the information needs of the library users. University libraries are established to continuously support the university towards the achievement of its goals and mission in the areas of teaching, learning, research and community service (Olanlokun & Sal isu, 1993, and Aina, 2004). University library is defined by Reitz (2004) as a library or library system established, administered, and funded by a university to meet the information, research, and curriculum needs of its students, faculty, and staff. Some large universities maintain separate undergraduate and graduate libraries. These libraries are the focal point of interest in all institutions of learning across the globe without which the institutions will not stand. University libraries have been widely recognized as indispensable repositories of useful information, and indeed, the ‘heart’ of the university system. Arguably, it is a futile effort to establish a university system without a library, given that the mission and vision of education generally will be a far cry and elusive.
The central aim of university libraries is to collect, preserve and disseminate information to users for teaching, research and learning. In addition to the university’s traditional functions of teaching, research and learning, it has the functions of pursuit, promotion and dissemination of knowledge; provision of intellectual leadership; manpower development; promotion of social and economic modernization; promotion of intra- and inter-continental and international understanding. The university libraries are established to provide information materials to actualize the aforementioned functions of the university. Their central aim and function is to collect, preserve and disseminate vital information resources for teaching, research and learning of staff and students of the university. The university library users include the staff and students of the university-the undergraduate students of both regular, part time and the postgraduate students and other users from outside of the university community who have the permit to access the university library resources. Postgraduate students’ form a significant group of researchers in a university as they rely so much on electronic resources for their research. Hence this research will use the postgraduate students users to evaluate the electronic resources collection development policy of the university libraries under study.
University libraries are built to complement mainstream academic exercise and extra curricula activities of the university which include teaching, research and publications, conservation of knowledge and ideas and extension services. They direct their activities towards the actualization of these objectives. One of such activities is the acquisition of information resources.
University library acquires collections in broad terms of quantity and quality in the form of prints and electronic to support the teaching, learning, research and recreational purposes, (Weber and Flatley 2008). These resources include books, journals, abstracts, audio and video CDs and other electronic resources such as databases, online databases, web resources, e-journal, e-books which have been introduced by the emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). University libraries as service organizations, exist to achieve the objectives of their parent institutions that established them. These objectives can only be achieved through effective provision of information to the right person at the right time especially with the emergence of information and communication technology.
With the emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), electronic resources that can be accesses by university libraries are of different types and formats. The electronic resources come in the form of digital which can only be accessed with the use of internet aided by computer and made available to the library. The rapid growth of (ICT) has given rise to the evolution of several new terms like paperless society, e-resources, digital library. Words like digital content, electronic library containing e-journals, e-books, journal consortiums, open access, digital library, Digital Rights Management (DRM) all have become simply buzzwords along with the traditional analog or print resources in the present library system (Chaudhuri, 2012). This implies that traditional university libraries now lack the wherewithal to meet present-day information needs of patrons. The increasing digital environment or global community, which is characterized by wide application of electronic resources in information storage and retrieval, has resulted in a total overhauling of the traditional library system in various universities. Mansur (2012) posits that the introduction of ICT, the Internet and particularly the World Wide Web has brought a dramatic improvement in virtually every human endeavour, including collection development practices. For instance, an activity or a task that used to take some hours to do is now just a mouse click away. He further stated that the publishers of these e-formats do not remain behind; they take advantage of these applications to a large extent by exploring and exploiting (tapping) the treasure house of electronic resources.
Electronic resources are described by International Federation of Library Association (IFLA) (2012) as those materials that require computer access, whether through a personal computer, mainframe, or handheld mobile devices. They may be accessed remotely via the internet or locally. The concept of electronic resources encompasses the following: e-zine, e-text or e-book, abstracting and indexing databases such as MEDLINE, e-journal, locally loaded databases, e-library, CD-ROMs, websites, among others. According to Sadeh and Ellingsen (2005), an e-resource is a package of e-journals or a database of abstracts and indexes that include the full text of some or all articles referenced by the indexes. Electronic resources also include products that aid in resource access for users, namely, A-Z lists, Open URL, servers, federated search engines, resources that provide full-text content such as publishers’ electronic journal content, journal content platforms like Project Muse or JSTER and content aggregators such as EBSCOHOST’s Academic Search Premier and proxy servers or other authentication tools (Bothmann & Holmberg, 2008). With electronic resources, users can have multi access to the resource at a given time. Information resource can be browsed, extracted and integrated into other material and references can be cross referred between various publications. .
In considering the advantages of electronic resources, Mansur (2012) reiterated that electronic resources are pertinent because of their easy usability, readability, budgetary aspects, speedy accessibility and easy back file access. Furthermore, electronic resources have become very important these days as they are up-to-date, multi- dimensional and directional in nature and also can be accessed as well as used anywhere, crossing all geographical boundaries. Such resources add value to all spheres of human activities. Sharma (2009) submits that the importance of electronic resources have convinced many libraries to move towards digital electronic resources, which are found to be less expensive and more useful for easy access. Electronic resources have been contributing greatly to research activities and many researchers have commended the advantages of electronic resources over other formats of information. These aforementioned advantages have called for electronic collection development.
Collection development is defined by Mansur (2012), as the selection, acquisition and processing of library materials in varied formats, meant for users’ current needs and their future requirements. The author went further to define electronic resources collection development as the process of planning, selecting, acquiring a balanced collection of library materials in a variety of electronic formats such as e-books, e journals, media and online resources.Itinvolves the act of building the library collection with electronic resources in great depth to meet the demands of the patrons-actual and potential and satisfy their curiosities and aspirations. According to Mansur (2012) these processes involve a lot of steps which include selection and deselection of current and retrospective e-resources based on user needs; planning strategies for continuing acquisition of electronic resources looking into financial constraints and their usage; evaluation of e-resources collections to determine how it serves users need.
Collection development within a university library environment demonstrates a wide variety of development patterns, (Madeleine and Stephen, 2003). To actualize this, university libraries, need a forward-looking planning document(s) such as collection development policy which spells out the mission and vision of the electronic resources in their institutional repositories, as well as the rules and regulations guiding patrons and service providers. Retiz (2004) defines collection development policy as a formal written statement of the principles guiding a library’s selection of materials, including the criteria used in making selection and deselection decisions and policies concerning gifts and exchange. In any university library, a written collection development is an important tool for guiding all activities related to planning, building, selecting and acquiring library materials (Magrill and Hickey, 1984) According to Kumar, Hassan and Singh (2008), a collection development policy is essential for a balanced and robust collection. It specifies the scope of the collection, authority for selection, criteria for the allocation of funds and for selection of various types of materials, priorities in selection, and criteria for cancellation of subscription of database or e-resource after thorough evaluation. It is the policy that guides the practices of e-resources collection development.
The process of developing electronic resources starts with selection decisions which begin with considerations of the user community and long term mission, goals and priorities of the library and its parent body (Johnson 2009). There are two ideas about the best foundation for good collection development; know the collection and know the community. Reitz (2004) defined selection as the process of deciding which materials should be added to a library collection. The selection process can be thought of as a four step process which include; identification of the relevant resources, evaluation (is the item worthy of selection and assessment?) (is the item appropriate for the collection?), decision to purchase, and order preparations and sometimes placement (Johnson 2009). Selection decisions are usually made on the basis of reviews and standard collection development tools by librarians designed as selectors in specific subject areas, based on their interests and fields of specialization. It is the core of collection development function, and the primary objective of the selection decision for any format is fundamentally the same: satisfying users’ needs. With the advent of electronic resources, job responsibilities of selectors have changed drastically. Selection of electronic resources outside the guidance of a collection development policy leads to haphazard, unfocused groupings of resources that may not support the mission of the library. In the past, selectors recommended new titles on an individual basis using traditional selection criteria such as quality, relevance, use and cost, observed, (Welch 2002).
Furthermore, in the traditional selection, Davis (1997) observed that the most fundamental criteria are designed to evaluate the reputation of the authors and publishers, ascertain the level and depth of the content, and consider any special format or features that add value to the title. For electronic resources, these criteria quickly evolve into evaluation of other parties participating in the creation of the product, assurance that the correct content is available, and confirmation that the product performs as expected. Edgar (2003) stressed that intellectual content has characteristics, and that these characteristics can be used to guide selection. Due to the technicality of the electronic resources, their selection is not in isolation. Many libraries today are utilizing a team approach in order to achieve a qualitative selection for acquisition.
Acquisition according to Johnson (2009) is the process of obtaining and receiving physical library materials or access to online resources. Acquisition of electronic resources is a prime activity for collection development of electronically generated resources. It is the process of obtaining and receiving access right to resources in electronic form. The acquisition process for an electronic resource resembles the process for a print resource, but with slight difference from the traditional acquisition of prints. Electronic resources acquisition refers to the purchasing of access rights as no single resource is owned by or housed at the library rather these are accessed through remote database. Other electronic resources can be accessed free as an open source and web resources. Once the individual selector or selection committee has chosen a resource for the library’s collection, the standard acquisition process of locating and acquiring the resource takes place. Yu and Breivold (2008) identified four-step process that begins after the selector discovers a new product. It includes verifying the bibliographic information for the product, identifying various pricing options, reviewing the license and business agreements and finally, ordering and acquiring the product for the library collection.
With the completion of the four steps above, the access right has been provided, the acquisition departments have to notify other library departments such as cataloguing, systems department and public services. This is essential because the cataloguing department has the responsibility of maintaining the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC). The acquisitions department also informs the technology or the systems department in order to maintain the technical access and local tracking of the database. The core electronic resources are most of the time automatically renewed unless there is a significant increase in the price or change in the licensing terms. However, noncore electronic subscriptions are reviewed by selectors based on various evaluation criteria observed (Yu and Breivold 2008).
Evaluation according to Ifidon (1997) is the assessment of the extent to which a resource meets the library objectives. It is concerned with how good an electronic resource is in terms of the kinds of materials in it and value of each item in relation to the community being served. The author further observed that the aim of the exercise is to determine the scope of depth and usefulness of the collection, test the effectiveness, utility and practical applicability of the written collection development policy, assess the adequacy of the collection and thereby highlights the inadequacies and suggest ways of rectifying them. It also reallocates resources or that the areas that really need them can receive greater attention, convince the library’s authorities that the allocated resources are not only being judiciously utilized, but also inadequate and to identify areas where weeding is required or cancellation as relates to electronic resources. In collection development of electronic resources, the assessment/evaluation is done through various means which include; statistical report from the vendor on series of downloads which are captured electronically, access criteria based on the technical reliability of the content provider, cost effectiveness; satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the users with the resource; relevance of the resources to the curriculum of the library users. A satisfactory report of the usage will encourage the renewal of the subscription or eventual cancellation of the resource. A satisfactory report can be evaluated through the extent of usage of the resources by the users. This has been considered a factor in evaluation of electronic resources for continuity of subscription or cancellation.
The effective collection development of electronic resources has some challenges which have not been experienced in the developed countries. Libraries in the developing countries are challenged by a lot of factors which range from poor funding, poor communication system, lack of Information and Communication Technology and qualified librarians. Yacob in Obidike (2015) revealed that inadequate computerization, inadequate infrastructure and inadequate human capacity were some of the major challenges towards use of ICT in educational institution in Botswana.
Admittedly, the transition from print-based libraries to electronic collections or electronic resources acquisition paved way for easy and faster access to information resources and, more importantly, informed a decisive decision regarding electronic resources. Parker (2007) observes that library has been a collection of informative materials for ages and print media have been the bulk of the library resources. With the emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) libraries have moved with the development of electronic resources and acquired electronic resources to augment the prints. Libraries in Nigeria are not left out in this development of building their library resources with electronic resources especially government owned university libraries in South East Nigeria whose interest is on teaching (curriculum support) and research (publication) acquire both prints and electronic resources for better information service delivery to their user. It is against the above background that the study sets out to examine the ways and manners in which government owned university libraries in South East Nigeria carry out electronic resources collection development practices.
There are nine government owned universities used for the study from five states in South East Nigeria. They are as follows: Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike Umuahia, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Federal University of Technology Owerri, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Abia State University Uturu, Anambra State University of Technology Uli, (Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu University) Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, Enugu State University of Technology Enugu and Imo State University, Owerri (Evan Enwerem University). One was not used (Federal university Ndufu Alike in Ebonyi State). These libraries are not left out of the race to build their collections with electronic resources in order to meet the information needs of their library users, especially now that libraries all over the world are embracing electronic resources to supplement print resources. Therefore, the present study attempts to examine the practices that are involved in developing these electronic resources in university libraries in South East Nigeria.
