The Procedures and Techniques in Assessing Printed Materials in a University Library In

RESEARCH WRITING

ON

THE PROCEDURES AND TECHNIQUES IN ASSESSING PRINTED MATERIALS IN A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN NIGERIA.

BY

ADEWOLE, HENRY ADEYEMI

ARC/03/1893

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF AN AWARD OF

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY (M.Tech)

DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE TO THE

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, FUTA.

MARCH, 2008

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

1.0INTRODUCTION

1.1STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

1.2JUSTIFICATION

1.3AIM AND OBJECTIVES

1.4SCOPE OF THE WORK

1.5LIMITATIONS

CHARPTER TWO

2.0LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1TYPES OF LIBRARY

2.2THE LIBRARY SECTIONS

2.3NATURE AND TYPES OF PRINTED MATERIALS

2.4ARRANGEMENT OF LIBRARY MATERIALS

CHAPTER THREE

3.0USING THE LIBRARY

3.1CIRCULATION

3.2REGISTRATION OF USERS

3.3LENDING OF BOOKS

3.4BORROWING METHOD

3.5SHORT LOAN SERVICES

3.6RESERVATION

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

4.1SUMMARY

4.2CONCLUSION

REFERENCE

1

CHAPTER ONE

1.0INTRODUCTION

Library, collectionofbooks and other informational materials made available to people for reading, study, or reference. The word library comes from liber, the Latin word for “book.” However, library collections have almost always contained a variety of materials. Contemporary libraries maintain collections that include not only printed materials such as manuscripts, books, newspapers, and magazines, but also art reproductions, films, sound and video recordings, maps, photographs, microfiches, CD-ROMs, computer software, online databases, and other media.

Thecentralmissionof a library is to collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to knowledge and information. In fulfilling this mission, libraries preserve a valuable record of culture that can be passed down to succeeding generations. Libraries are an essential link in this communication between the past, present, and future. Whether the cultural record is contained in books or in electronic formats, libraries ensure that the record is preserved and made available for later use. Libraries provide people with access to the information they need to work, play, learn, and govern.

Peopleinmanyprofessions use library resources to assist them in their work. People also use library resources to gain information about personal interests or to obtain recreational materials such as films and novels. Students use libraries to supplement and enhance their classroom experiences, to learn skills in locating sources of information, and to develop good reading and study habits.

1.1STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

In this research work,academics library are the common library in any university, there is need to know the procedure and techniques in assessing printed materials in a university library in Nigeria

1.2JUSTIFICATION

The procedure and techniques in assessing printed materials in a university library has been from the circulation to the reading room which has made it difficult for the users in other to assess printed materials in the library.

Thus there is a need for this procedure to be addressed with the aim of analyzing the techniques

1.3AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this research work is to discuss in detail, the procedure and techniques in assessing printed materials in a university library in Nigeria.

In order to know the procedure and techniques in assessing printed materials in university library, the following has to be done

• To examine the types of library.
• To examine the sources and nature of printed materials for the library.
• To examine the library sections
• To examine how the library users assess printed materials in the library.
• SCOPE OF THE WORK

This research work is limited to academics library which is the university library.It addresses itself ultimately on the procedure and techniques in assessing printed materials in such library.

1.5LIMITATIONS

In the course of this research work, there are a number of limiting factors which are:

• Financial constraints: - The research work involved a lot of money. This includes money used for transportation areas where data are gotten on this research work.
• Absence of books; -The school library does not have many books on the research topic. As a result of this, much information could not be gathered from the library.
• Due to the vandalization of power holding corporation of Nigeria gas line, there was poor supply of electricity, I had to use a generator for typing and printing during the course of this research.

CHARPTER TWO

2.0LITERATURE REVIEW

The origin and development of libraries have been traced to the early civilizations in which Egypt, Greece, Rome and a few others featured prominently. The contribution of these civilizations formed the bedrock on which modern library systems evolved.

The Egyptian and Babylonian civilization led to their contribution to different types of writings e.g. “cuneiform writing ‘’ and “hieroglyphic writing “. This led them to preserve their records. The Greek civilization also resulted into the use of papyrus and parchment to produce substantial literatures.

During the medieval period the barbarians attacked Romeand this led to the collapse of the roman civilization. The library collection which had grown substantially through the effort of the roman emperors and individuals who were lovers of libraries were in danger of destruction. The barbarians who governed Rome during that time did not appreciate the value and importance of libraries. Though efforts were made to save some of the collection in the libraries but natural forces also affected the fate of the libraries.

2.1TYPES OF LIBRARY

Becausenosinglelibrary can contain the information sought by every potential user, different types of libraries exist to serve different needs. Libraries fall into six basic categories:

• National libraries, which serve as part of government legislature.
• Public libraries, which serve all members of the general public;
• School libraries, which serve students and faculty through the high school level;
• Special libraries, which serve various organizations, industries, and governmental agencies;
• Academics libraries, which serve students and faculty in higher education;
• NATIONAL LIBRARY

Generally, national library is supposed to be the apex of the library system of any country because a national library is the principal and most comprehensive library which servers a particular country’s citizens. It is owned by a sovereign nation or state to cater for the information needs of the whole country.

In some cases, the library is in the executives department of the government e.g the national library of Nigeria, in some countries it servers as part of the legislature e.g the library of congress, united state of Nigeria. Sometimes, the library of a university serves as the national library, which was the case in Nigeria prior to the establishment of national library of Nigeria in 1970.

2.1.2THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Whilst other types of libraries are meant for a specific group of users, public libraries are not restricted to any group of people in the community. They are more or less a universal library. This is established and maintained from public fund. They are primarily intended to serve the educational needs of its environment. They provide free services to their users. Their users are adults, literates/illiterates, prisoners, young children etc. their collection always focuses on local interest, culture and history. Members (users) are not always registered. They are mostly people in the community. They serve as an intellectual as well as a recreational centre, thus as much as possible a public libraries aim to serve everybody within their vicinity.

2.1.3SCHOOL LIBRARY

The school library is an integral part of the education process. This library is attached to a school and it supplement in the teaching of school children. It caters for children who are eager to read and also for backward children who read with difficulty and who require visual aids and all kinds of incentives to study, thus this type of library contains more materials such as pictures, cuttings than other types of libraries.

2.1.4SPECIAL LIBRARY

These are libraries established to meet the highly specialized requirement of professional business groups. These types of libraries cover a specific, particular and definable subject field. Their main purpose is to further the interest of their parent bodies and they are maintained by these parent bodies. Their users who are usually members of the organization or researchers must be registered.

Their collections are restricted to their subject areas and specialized documents mainly in the areas of periodicals, reports and abstracts.

2.1.5- ACADEMIC LIBRARY

The academics libraries are as varied and distinctive as institution which they serve, hence in Nigeria all libraries attaché to university, polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of technology, college of education and other post secondary institution are academics libraries.

The main objective of an academics library is to support the academics objectives which are in the areas of leaning, teaching and research. They are libraries of higher institutions. These libraries are maintained by the parent institution, thus the library is meant to serve the undergraduates, postgraduate lecturers and other members of the academics community. The library is regarded in the academic community as the heart of the intellectual system, to this end, the quality of an academic institution is measured by the services rendered by its library of its unique position to the system.

For an academics library to perform its myriad functions, its collections must not only include books but other materials such as generalized and specialized reference collections, journals newspapers, manuscripts, government publication, thesis, dissertation, clippings audio- visual materials etc.

Plate 1: - academic library (futa library)

Plate 2: - front view futa library.

2.2THE LIBRARY SECTIONS

Each of the section mentioned and treated below is headed by a qualified librarian who is responsible to the university librarian in the university who is responsible for day to day running of the library.

2.2.1ACQUISITION SECTION

The selection of library materials of kinds (printed materials especially) is done in this section by the acquisition librarian. The lecturers and even the library patrons are encouraged to make suggestions of materials they find useful for their use to be acquired. The acquisition librarian will check the stock list and the bibliographic data to avoid unnecessary duplication of orders. He will compile the recommended titles for acquisition of the materials. When the materials (books) get to the library they are received in acquisition section of the library. The staff in this section will check the details of the materials against the details on the order slip. The materials would be recorded down there before passing them over to the cataloguing section for processing.

Functions of the acquisition section are: -

• To acquire printed and non-printed materials for the library.
• To keep records of the booksellers and book agents who supply books to the library.
• To keep the records of all items added to the library stock.
• To display the publishers’ catalogues and announcement of their new arrivals to keep them informed of the position of their order.
• To prepare the materials acquired and send them to the catalogue section for processing.
• To be sure of a balanced collection, so that no discipline developed at the expense of the others.
• CATALOGUING SECTION

Library materials (printed materials i.e books) on receipt from the acquisition section are classified and catalogued here. It is technically said that the cataloguing section of the academic library is behind the scene. That is, the section is not within the sight of the library users. The books are then classified according to the subject areas with the use of the library of congress classification scheme.

The excellence of the catalogue is the excellence of the library because once a material is wrongly classified and shelved, it does not stay with members of its class and in some cases, and it is like lost material. The books are catalogued and three types of catalogue cards to be prepared on each of the newly acquired books are: -

• The author entry card.
• The title entry card.
• The subject entry card.

After that, the books would be taken out to the shelves in the reserve section and circulation section.

2.2.3CIRCULATION SECTION

The circulation section of any academic library is simply referred to as the readers’ services section of the library. The section is the most sensitive and most exposed to criticisms. The performance of this section can either mar or promote the image of the library. That is, the circulation section is the tone of the library. The circulation section is where the materials that go on loan are charged to the patrons/ library users and also discharged on return to the loans desk in the library. Information about a material (books) that is not found where it belongs on the shelf could be sought from the staff at the circulation section of the library.

Functions of the circulation section are: -

• The staff at the circulation section of the library has the duty to interpret the rules and regulation of the library to the library users.
• The staffs there guide readers in their efforts to locate or retrieve the material(s) they need.
• The library in the circulation is responsible for the physical arrangement of the books on the shelves.
• They do the selection and training of the newly employed personnel’s who are posted to the section to work with them there.
• They handle the registration of new students who want to be library users.
• They organize and direct the works in the section of the library.
• They do shelving and shelf – reading.
• They also perform the duty of charging and discharging of books.
• They always take the statistics of how users use the library at the end of the day.
• The staff in the circulation withdraws torn books from the shelves, list them and forward them for binding in the binding unit of the library.

Plate 3: - circulation section (futa library)

2.2.4RESERVED BOOK SECTION

The reserve section of the library is one of the sections where the activities of the library staff are glaringly seen. This kind of service area is usually available in university libraries where the study or research materials in short supply but in constant and extensive demand are kept for in – house use only.

2.2.5REFERENCE SECTION

Thos section also, is an area where the activities of the library staff are glaringly seen. The section is readers’ services area of any academic library. The reference materials stocked in this section of the library are encyclopedia, dictionaries, biography, directories, bibliographic materials, atlases, and who’s who in African and in Nigeria, diary e.t.c. these reference materials are for in – house use only in the library. They are not to be borrowed out of the library except for photocopying within a limited time.

Plate 4: - reference section (futa library)

2.2.6SERIAL SECTION

This section of the library houses the journal titles, the magazine, governments’ publications, inaugural lecture series, dailies, students’ long essays, publishers’ catalogues etc.

The various journals subscribed to by the library are selected, procured locally, or ordered, received, processed and shelved by the serial section. The serials collection is checked constantly to determine if there are missing issues already due but have not been received when claims are made.

Recommendations for additional journal subscriptions are also received from library users.

2.2.7NON – PRINTED MEDIA RESOURCES UNIT

This unit of the library has been placed in different departments or sections in different libraries. Materials that are not printed such as the photo – copiers, television, tape recorder, recorded cassettes, over – head projector, computer, camera, film, micro – film, slide etc are organized, preserved and used for the provision of information needs of the library patrons.

2.2.8BINDING UNIT

The binding unit of the library is responsible for binding torn books, journals, magazines, government publications, college publication, and other works brought there by the lecturer, and non – academic staff of the university. The binding unit always charge fees for the services. Outsiders also come to the binding unit to bind their important documents. The binding unit is operating commercially.

2.3NATURE AND TYPES OF PRINTED MATERIALS

Printed materials (books) are the fundamental collection of any library, since they form the bulk of the collection, it is necessary to what printed materials are.

According to Harold’s librarians’ glossary, printed materials (books) can be defined as a set of blank sheets of paper bound along one edge and enclose within protective covers to form a volume, especially a written or printed literary composition presented in this way.

It can also be defined as a division of a literary work, which is separately published and has an independent physical existence, although its pagination may be continuous with other volumes. Below are the types of printed materials in a university library.

2.3.1MANUSCIPT

Manuscript, any document containing characters transcribed by hand with a brush, pen, pencil, or stylus, as distinguished from one that is printed mechanically from a slate. Today the term manuscript is applied also to typewritten material,

2.3.2MONOGRAPHS

Monograph, is any document containing a scholarly piece of writing, it can be in form of a scholarly article, paper, or book on a single topic.

2.3.3GOVERNMENT PUBLICATION

These are publications issued at public expense, by the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, intergovernmental organizations like the united nation, the organization of Africa, UNION etc. for distribution to government officials or to the public.

Government publications provides excellent source of materials for researchers. Government publications range from government gazettes. Laws, report of commission of inquiry, investigation panel etc.

2.3.4PERIODICALS

Periodicals,publicationsreleased on a regular basis that may include news, feature articles, poems, fictional stories, or other types of writing. Many periodicals also include photographs and drawings. Periodicals that are aimed at a general audience, such as weekly news roundups or monthly special-interest publications, are also called magazines. Those with a more narrow audience, such as publications of scholarly organizations, can be termed journals. While newspapers are periodicals, the term generally has come to refer to publications other than dailies.