EDIT 212 NOTE: INTRODUCTION TO LIBRARY STUDIES

WEEK 1: OVERVIEW OF LIBRARIES

What is a library?
The term library can be defined in many ways.

To a lay man, the word library refers to a building on which books (used
and unused) are kept to prevent them from being stolen or destroyed by
insects, rodents, water or fire.

However, the word means more than this. The library is more than just a
building.

Now to go into the deeper meaning of library, let’s look at the origin of
the meaning of the word.

It has been traced to the Latin word ‘liber’ meaning books.

On that basis, early professionals in Library and Infor Science defined

library as a place where important records of human ideas were
organised processed and disseminated to users for the purpose of
posterity and preservation from human and non-human damages.

Aside of this, there are many other definitions of library – Olanipekun

and Ifabiyi (2003) considered library as collection of information
materials such as books, films, magazines, maps, manuscripts,
phonographs, records, etc for use.
It is an organisation of one or more trained people who carefully select
and organise books, periodicals and other familiar materials for the use
of those who require the materials for information and knowledge
acquisition.

This definition emphasises the following:

1. the presence of librarians to select, process, and manage the entire
library collections.
2. library is not just a place where books are dumped on the tables and
shelves
3. library materials have to be organised in a manner that enables their
users to have easy access to the resources.

To play its natural role of knowledge dissemination, the library assumes

the following vital responsibilities:

1. Library as a resource/information centre

2. Library as a store house of information
3. Library as a house of collections.

A library is a collection of materials organised for use. Therefore, the

library must perform a number of functions, including:

Acquisition selecting and ordering or otherwise acquiring materials for

the collection;
Preservation maintenance and processing as well as storage of items in
the collection;
Organisationretrieval of materials in the collection, including the
selection of a relevant loan system and a relevant classification scheme;
Dissemination of information informing users of the potential and scope
of the collection.
Libraries are often referred to as ‘storehouses’ of knowledge. The
economic development of a country is measured by the quality of its
library services, for the library often reflects the information needs of the
people and the ability of the country to supply those needs. The most basic
needs are:
- to preserve governmental and other records
- to support general education
- to support religions and normal instruction
- to cater to the information needs for self-improvement
- to cater to the intellectual and aesthetic needs of man
- to fulfill information needs for development purposes
WEEK 2: BRIEF HISTORY OF LIBRARY

The first libraries were only partly libraries, being composed for the mostpart of
unpublished records, which are usually viewed as archives, not libraries.
Archaeological findings from the ancient city-states of Sumer have revealed temple
rooms full of clay tablets in cuneiform script. These archives were made up almost
completely of the records of commercial transactions or inventories, with only a few
documents touching theological matters, historical records or legends. Things were
much the same in the government and temple records on papyrus of

Ancient Egypt
The earliest discovered private archives were kept at Ugarit; besides correspondence
and inventories, texts of myths may have been standardized practice-texts for teaching
new scribes. Private or personal libraries made up of non-fiction and fiction books (as
opposed to the state or institutional records kept in archives) first appeared in classical
Greece. The first ones appeared some time near the 5th century BC. The celebrated
book collectors of Hellenistic Antiquity were listed in the late second century in
Deipnosophistae:[1]

Polycrates of Samos and Pisistratus who was tyrant of Athens, and Euclideswho was
himself also an Athenian[2] and Nicorrates of Samos and even the kings of Pergamos,
and Euripides the poet and Aristotle the philosopher, and Nelius his librarian; from
whom they say our countryman[3] Ptolemæus, surnamedPhiladelphus, bought them all,
and transported them, with all those which he had collected at Athens and at Rhodes to
his own beautiful Alexandria.[4] All these libraries were Greek; the cultivated
Hellenized diners in Deipnosophistaepass over the libraries of Rome in silence. At the
Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, apparently the villa of Caesar's father-in-law, the
Greek library has been partly preserved in volcanic ash; archaeologists speculate that a
Latin library, kept separate from the Greek one, may await discovery at the site.
Libraries were filled with parchment scrolls as at Pergamum and on papyrusscrolls as
at Alexandria: export of prepared writing materials was a staple of commerce. There
were a few institutional or royal libraries like the Library ofAlexandria which were open
to an educated public, but on the whole collections were private. In those rare cases
where it was possible for a scholar to consult library books there seems to have been no
direct access to the stacks. In all recorded cases the books were kept in a relatively small
room where the staff went to get them for the readers, who had to consult them in an
adjoining hall or covered walkway.
Little is known about early Chinese libraries, save what is written about the imperial
library which began with the Qin Dynasty. One of the curators of the imperial library
in the Han Dynasty is believed to have been the first to establish a library classification
system and the first book notation system. At this time the library catalog was written
on scrolls of fine silk and stored in silk bags. There is also evidence of those libraries at
Nippur of about 1900 B.C. and those at Ninevehof about 700 B.C. as showing a library
classification system.[5]

In Persia, many libraries were established by the Zoroastrian elite and the Persian Kings.
Among the first ones was a royal library in Isfahan. One of the most important public
libraries established around 667 AD in south-western Iran was the Library of
Gundishapur. It was a part of a bigger scientific complex located at the Academy of
Gundishapur. In the West, the first public libraries were established under the Roman
Empire as each succeeding emperor strove to open one or many which outshone that of
his predecessor.

Unlike the Greek libraries, readers had direct access to the scrolls, which were kept on
shelves built into the walls of a large room. Reading or copying was normally done in
the room itself. The surviving records give only a few instances of lending features. As
a rule Roman public libraries were bilingual: they had a Latin room and a Greek room.
Most of the large Roman baths were also cultural centers, built from the start with a
library, with the usual two room arrangement for Greek and Latin texts.

In the sixth century, at the very close of the Classical period, the great libraries of the
Mediterranean world remained those of Constantinople and Alexandria. Cassiodorus,
minister to Theodoric, established a monastery at Vivarium in the heel of Italy with a
library where he attempted to bring Greek learning to Latin readers and preserve texts
both sacred and secular for future generations. As its unofficial librarian, Cassiodorus
not only collected as many manuscripts as he could, he also wrote treatises aimed at
instructing his monks in the proper uses of reading and methods for copying texts
accurately. In the end, however, the library at Vivarium was dispersed and lost within
a century.

Elsewhere in the Early Middle Ages, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire and
before the rise of the large Western Christian monastery librariesbeginning at
Montecassino, libraries were found in scattered places in the ChristianMiddle East.
Upon the rise of Islam, libraries in newly Islamic lands knew a briefperiod of expansion
in the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and Spain. Like theChristian libraries, they
mostly contained books which were made of paper, andtook a codex or modern form
instead of scrolls; they could be found in mosques, private homes, and universities.
Some mosques sponsored public libraries. Ibn al-Nadim's bibliography
Fihristdemonstrates the devotion of medieval Muslim scholars to books and reliable
sources; it contains a description of thousands of books circulating in the Islamic world
circa 1000, including an entire section for books about the doctrines of other religions.
Unfortunately, modern Islamic libraries for the most part do not hold these antique
books; many were lost, destroyed by Mongols, or removed to European libraries and
museums during the colonial period.[6]

By the 8th century first Iranians and then Arabs had imported the craft of paper making
from China, with a mill already at work in Baghdad in 794. By the 9th century
completely public libraries started to appear in many Islamic cities. They were called
"halls of Science" or dar al-'ilm. They were each endowed by Islamic sects with the
purpose of representing their tenets as well as promoting the dissemination of secular
knowledge. The libraries often employed translators and copyists in large numbers, in
order to render into Arabic the bulk of the available Persian, Greek and Roman non-
fiction and the classics of literature.

This flowering of Islamic learning ceased after a few centuries as the Islamic world
began to turn against experimentation and learning. After a few centuries many of these
libraries were destroyed by Mongolian invasion. Others were victim of wars and
religious strife in the Islamic world. However, a few examples of these medieval
libraries, such as the libraries of ChinguettiinWest Africa, remain intact and relatively
unchanged even today. Another ancient library from this period which is still
operational and expanding is the Central Library of AstanQudsRazaviin the Iranian city
of Mashhad, which has been operating for more than six centuries.

The contents of these Islamic libraries were copied by Christian monks in

Muslim/Christian border areas, particularly Spain and Sicily. From there they
eventually made their way into other parts of Christian Europe. These copies joined
works that had been preserved directly by Christian monks from Greek and Roman
originals, as well as copies Western Christian monks made of Byzantineworks. The
resulting conglomerate libraries are the basis of every modern library today.

Medieval library design reflected the fact that these manuscripts--created via the labor-
intensive process of hand copying--were valuable possessions. Library architecture
developed in response to the need for security. Librarians often chained books to
lecterns, armaria(wooden chests), or shelves, in well-lit rooms. Despite this
protectiveness, many libraries were willing to lend their books if provided with security
deposits (usually money or a book of equal value). Monastic libraries lent and borrowed
books from each other frequently and lendingpolicy was often theologically grounded.
For example, the Franciscan monasteries loaned books to each other without a security
deposit since according to their vow of poverty only the entire order could own
property. In 1212 the council of Paris condemned those monasteries that still forbade
loaning books, reminding them that lending is "one of the chief works of mercy." [7]

The earliest example in England of a library to be endowed for the benefit of users who
were not members of an institution such as a cathedral or college was the Francis Trigge
Chained Library in Grantham, Lincolnshire, established in 1598. The library still exists
and can justifiably claim to be the forerunner of later public library systems. The early
libraries located in monastic cloisters and associated with scriptoria were collections of
lecterns with books chained to them. Shelves built above and between back-to-back
lecterns were the beginning of book-presses.

The chain was attached at the fore-edge of a book rather than to its spine. Book presses
came to be arranged in carrels (perpendicular to the walls and therefore to the windows)
in order to maximize lighting, with low bookcases in front of the windows. This stall
system (fixed bookcases perpendicular to exterior walls pierced by closely spaced
windows) was characteristic of Englishinstitutional libraries. In Continental libraries,
bookcases were arranged parallel to and against the walls. This wall system was first
introduced on a large scale in Spain's El Escorial.

As books became more common, the need for chaining them lessened. But as the
number of books in libraries increased, so did the need for compact storage and access
with adequate lighting, giving birth to the stack system, which involved keeping a
library's collection of books in a space separate from the reading room, an arrangement
which arose in the 19th century. Book stacks quickly evolved into a fairly standard form
in which the cast iron and steel frameworks supporting the bookshelves also supported
the floors, which often were built of translucent blocks to permit the passage of light
(but were not transparent, for reasons of modesty). With the introduction of electrical
lighting, it had a huge impact on how the library operated.

Also, the use of glass floors was largely discontinued, though floors were still often
composed of metal grating to allow air to circulate in multi-story stacks. Ultimately,
even more space was needed, and a method of moving shelves on tracks (compact
shelving) was introduced to cut down on otherwise wasted aisle space. Also, the
governments of most major countries support national libraries. Three noteworthy
examples are the U.S. Library of Congress, Canada's Libraryand Archives Canada, and
the British Library. A typically broad sample of libraries in one state in the U.S. can be
explored at Every Library in Illinois. Libraries almost invariably contain long aisles
with rows and rows and rowsof books. Libraries have materials arranged in aspecified
order according to a library classification system, so that items may be located quickly
and collections may be browsed efficiently. Some libraries have additional galleries
beyond the public ones, where reference materials are stored. These reference stacks
may be open to selected members of the public. Others require patrons to submit a
"stack request," which is a request for an assistant to retrieve the material from the
closed stacks.

LIBRARIES DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

The foundation of modern libraries in Nigeria was laid in the 19 th century
by Europeans during the era of colonisation.

The earliest types of libraries were special libraries that the colonial
master established to support activities in government departments and
research institutes.

Examples
➢ the law library which was established in 1900 to conserve legal
documents.
➢ -Lagos medical Research Institute Library was established in 1909
to support research in tropical diseases.

Today, there different types of library– special, school, research libraries,

polytechnic, college of education and university libraries. These are
located in every nook and cranny of Nigeria.

WEEK 3-4: Contributions of Individuals, Professional Bodies,

International, Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations
to the Growth of Libraries in Nigeria
Contribution of the colonialists and home government-

Notable foreign and indigenous individuals also facilitate the spread of

libraries in Nigeria (e.g.) Henry Carr established the largest library
personal library and this was later formed part of the university college
library Ibadan in 1948.

Most of the writing of Herbert Macaulay, the father of Nigeria nationalism

formed part of the collection of university college library.

William John Harris from New- Zealand was the first librarian at the
University of Ibadan when academic activities started in 1948

In 1959, He founded the first library school in Nigeria which is now

Department of Library, Archival and Information Studies, University of
Ibadan.

The contributions of some national and international corporate

organisations can also me mentioned. Examples:

The Carnegie Corporation, UNESCO, Ford Foundation, etc all play

prominent role the rise and development of library in Nigeria.

CARNEGIE
Andrew Carnegie established more than 20 organizations in the U.S. and abroad
dedicated to philanthropy, promoting international peace, rewarding selfless
heroism and pursuing other goals aimed at improving people’s lives across the globe.
To many however, his name is still synonymous with creating libraries. Beginning
in 1886, Carnegie, and later Carnegie Corporation, in its early years, collectively
spent $56 million to create 1,681 public libraries in nearly all U.S. communities and
828 libraries in other parts of the world.

Carnegie Corporation of New York, as it was later known, inherited its interest in
libraries from its founder and president from its establishment in 1911 until 1919,
the year of his death, and who initiated a library program at the foundation. During
the early years, the program emphasized the construction of new library buildings
across the country; between 1918 and 1925. Although the Corporation continued to
make some grants for library development, its efforts were primarily devoted to
appraisal and evaluation of its library program until then.

Beginning in 1926, the Corporation embarked on a large-scale expansion of its

library-related efforts, aimed mainly at strengthening the library profession, but also
at the enhancement of central services. For these programs, the Corporation spent an
average of about $830,000 a year until 1941. Rural library services were greatly
enhanced under Corporation grants in the 1920s and 1930s, especially in the South.
As to academic libraries, between 1930 and 1943, the Corporation appropriated
nearly $2.5 million to more than 200 liberal arts colleges in a series of grants for
library development and services and for the purchase of books for undergraduate
reading.

Although the Corporation’s charter permitted it to make grants in the countries that
are now known as the former British Commonwealth, it did not extend its library
interests, except for public library buildings, beyond the Western Hemisphere until
1928, when, coinciding with the Corporation’s initiation of grants to countries in
Africa, it began promoting the concept of free library services in sub-Saharan Africa.
The majority of Corporation funds went to the Central State Library of South Africa,
which stimulated the development of free library services throughout the four
provinces that made up the South Africa Union at that time. Substantial grants also
went for the development of libraries and the purchase of books and training in
Gambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ugandaand other Commonwealth countries.

After World War II, grants for library purposes received a decreasing share of the
Corporation’s funds, except in Africa. More emphasis was placed on grants for
central services provided by the American Library Association, the Association of
Research Libraries, the Library of Congress and other organizations and for new
technologies and equipment aimed at facilitating library use. In the past 25 years,
the Corporation has not had a program of support for domestic libraries, with the
exception of a few grants for specific purposes. With the reassessment of
Corporation strategies under its current president, Vartan Gregorian, who was
previously president of the New York Public Library in the 1990s, the Corporation
decided to reform its International Development Program and support the
revitalization of universities and libraries in Africa.

The foundation’s most recent library-related efforts have focused on sub- Saharan
Africa with the goal of developing national libraries, revitalizing selected public
libraries and consolidating the development of university libraries in countries and
institutions that have strategic intervention programs funded by the Corporation.
“The public library revitalization program supports the development of selected
public libraries in order to create ‘model centers of excellence’ that help their system
lobby for greater resources and public support of library services”. Based on criteria
such as relevance to the country and community, types of library services provided
and strength of leadership, the Corporation, to date, has provided support to public
library systems in Kenya, Botswana and South Africa.

In addition to its library program in Africa, the Corporation-while not maintaining a

program of support for U.S. libraries-has continued to make special initiative grants
to domestic public libraries in recent years. Some highlights include: in 1999, the
Corporation awarded $15 million to promote literacy services to children and
adolescents, preservation and special collections at The New York Public Library,
Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Borough Public Library and libraries in 22 other
cities serving large, culturally diverse populations. The grants commemorated the
centennial period of Andrew Carnegie’s gifts to establish public libraries in New
York City and more than 1,350 other communities across America. Almost all of the
grant recipients were originally funded by Andrew Carnegie between 1899 and
1906. All were chosen according to the size and diversity of population served,
geographic spread and/or historical relationship to Andrew Carnegie, according to
Corporation president Vartan Gregorian.

In May 2003, the Corporation made a $4.5 million grant to support the book
collection at The New York Public Library and at the Brooklyn and Queens libraries
in memory of those who lost their lives on September 11th. It was thesecond award
made as part of the Corporation’s $10 million pledge to support the unmet needs of
the communities in New York and Washington, D.C. following the terrorist attacks.
Each book purchased through this challenge fund will have a bookplate
commemorating those who died in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on
September 11th, so that years from now, new readers will not forget the sacrifice
made by so many in the name of America’s freedom, values and way of life. These
grants were also made as a challenge to other funders with the hope that they will
contribute to libraries and other New York City institutions and serve as a catalyst
for other public-private partnerships.

In June 2003, along with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Corporation made a onetime contribution to
the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries for its administration costs. The
mission of the Laura Bush Foundation is to support the education of the nation’s
children by providing funds to update, extend and diversify the book and print
collections of America’s school libraries.

WEEK 5-6: Types and Functions of Library

As there are different types of library users, so also there are different
types of library to serve the diverse users.

Types of library include:

Academic Library
School Library
Public Library
Research Library
Special Library

Academic Library
An academic library is the one found in tertiary institutions of learning:
the university, polytechnic, college of education, college of agriculture,
etc.

Academic libraries usually acquire materials and design services to meet

the curriculum of their respective parent institutions.

Academic libraries differ from one institution to the other in terms of

users, materials and sundry considerations.

However, all academic libraries irrespective of their type of institution

perform similar functions.

Functions of Academic Libraries

1. Select and acquires books and materials through purchases, gifts,
exchanges, and legal deposits.
2. Prepares material for the use of students, lecturers, faculties, and
others who require them e.g. cataloguing, classification, filling,
stamping, pasting and lettering, etc.

3. Makes the materials easily accessible physically through the provision

of catalogues, indexes, bibliographies lists, etc.

4. Allow materials from the general collection and the reserve

collections to circulate among the users.
5. It offers reference services to the users.
6. It conducts user education and orientation activities for its users.

School Library

This is the library in the primary, secondary and equivalent school

environment.

The school library usually stocks collection of books and other materials
(e.g. globe, wall, charts, maps, atlases, and organises them in a spacious
rooms for the use of both teachers and students.

The school library provides relevant materials to enable students and

pupils improve on their academic standard.

It makes material available to compliment the teaching activities of

teachers and also to enhance the achievement of the general goals and
objectives of the school.
Put in place activities and resources capable of developing and
sustaining the habit and enjoyment of reading and learning
independently in the students/pupils.

Public Library
A public library is library that is established by govt to serve every
category of people in the society.

It can be established by the federal govt (e.g. the national library of

Nigeria), the state govt (e.g. Kwara State library) or local govt.

The library established by the federal govt is usually cited in the federal
capital and in the state capitals.

The state and local govt own libraries are located at the state headquarters
and local govt headquarters respectively.

Functions

The library stocks books and other resources on diverse human

knowledge for the use of members of the community where the library is
located.

The library often has a section meant for the children and another part for
the adult users.

Public utilities such as conference facilities restaurant, cafe, viewing

rooms and media section can be found in large public library.
Part of the function of the public library is to promote mobile library
services for the people in the rural communities using mobile vehicles to
move library material to the people.

Preserves cultural monument and artefact, stocking people’s indigenous

literature and audio-visual material

Research Library

This is a type library that is found in the research institutes such as

ARMTI, FIIRO Lagos, IITA Ibadan and MILLS Ilorin, etc.

A research library is usually set up by the parent institute. It acquires the

resources that are meant to reflect the peculiar programme of the institute.
The primary users of such a library are patron of such institute.

Researchers who have particular interest in the subject field covered by

programme of the institute can also use the research library.

The library renders selective dissemination of information services to its

users.

It prepares readers profile and listing of specific subject that are of interest
to the users as new material comes into the library.

Special Library

This kind of library can be found in the school for the physically
challenged organisations, govt agencies and individuals.
It can be set up by business professionals and religious organisations, with
the purpose of serving the company or groups that established it.

The library keeps books in specialised disciplines.

The library keeps extensive file of unpublished research report, journals,

manuscripts, newspapers, and govt or cooperate reports.

Special libraries have staff with specialised training to be able to serve

specialised body of Users.

National Libraries
The main aim of a country’s national library is to preserve and safeguard
the national culture and heritage and fulfill the informational needs of its
society. National libraries perform the following functions:
• serve as a cultural storehouse by acquiring, preserving and
organising the literature produced by or about a nation in any form
(i.e. books, filmstrips, tapes, videocassettes, paintings, etc).
• accept legal deposits
• prepare and publish the national bibliography
• publish essential catalogues and indexes (including a national union
catalogue, or a list showing the location of materials housed in all
other libraries in the country)
• acquire selected foreign literature of special interest to the nation’s
citizens
• collect oral history, folklore, etc.
• establish and maintain branch libraries and bookmobile or ‘boat
mobile’ services to these branches, as necessary
• provide interlibrary loans and international exchange services
• provide exhibitions and display collections to cater to the
information, social and cultural needs throughout the country
• provide materials and facilities for the blind, physically challenged
and other interest groups.
WEEK 7-8: Library Resources
Library Resources
Library resources or materials are also referred to as the library stock. They are
information containing items which are acquired, described and classified i.e.
organised, preserved, and made available for dissemination of their information
contents.

Library materials may be in print i.e. book form or non-print i.e. non-book form.
The non-book materials are generally known as audio-visual materials.

The book Materials include: Monograph – consist of books, pamphlets, printed

sheets which are published at specific date once and for all unless edited for a new
version, and thesis and dissertation which may remain unpublished.

The non-book materials otherwise known as Audio-visual items are items that are
not in print but can exist in various forms. The various types of library materials
are discussed briefly below.

Materials in Print
Monographs – containing detail written knowledge on a single subject usually in
the form of a short book.

Non- fiction books -- This type of materials constitute the single largest group of
books in a library. They complement what is taught or learnt in the class. IN
OTHER WORDS, They are reading materials.

Fiction – Contain work of creative imagination and deal with man as a social
entity in his world. They are mostly story books in form of novels, short stories,
essays etc, and they are useful for relaxation.

Reference Books – Materials that contain definite pieces of factual information.

They are broad in scope and not meant to be studied or read from cover to cover.
Examples – ency, dict, biogr, manual hand bk, yrbk, almanacs, guides, atlases,
gazetteers, indexes and abstracts etc.
Serials – Publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or
chronological designations. They are divided into periodicals or non-periodicals.
Periodicals include journals and newspapers while non-periodicals include
conference proceedings, and monograph series. Periodical is intended to appear
regularly and more than once bi-annually, quarterly, termly, etc.

Non-periodical series are usually numbered or dated, they can also be published
either regularly or irregularly.

Ephemeral – these are materials such as brochures and programmes of events

during special occasions. Such materials are of historical, sociological or cultural
importance.

Government Publication – These are otherwise known as government documents,

official documents or official publications. The contain information on
development, civic responsibilities of state or individuals. May be divided into three
based on the three arms of government. These are Legislative /congressional
publications – by the legislative arm, Judicial publication by the judiciary arm and
the executive publication by the executive arm.

Rare books – this type of materials refers to any out of print books that is more
difficult to obtain than a work which is in print.

Dissertation/Thesis – these are reports of research findings of candidates for a

research degree. They show evidence of original work and could make a substantial
contribution to the primary literature. The main purpose of this material is to allow
the candidate to demonstrate his grasp on his or her subject and research methods.
The report of research findings submitted for a master’s degree is dissertation while
the one for a PhD is thesis.

Others are
Newspaper and Magazines, Pamphlets, photocopies, maps and atlases etc.
Non- print Materials

Audio-visual material -- there are various types such as still visuals which are
graphic materials like chart, radiographs, photographs, slides, filmstrips, posters,
artefacts, and real objects including models, games, Braille, cassettes, globes and
cartographic materials.

Microforms -- they are media that involve words and seen as a format which is
complementary to the printed words. The materials include films, filmstrips, film
loop, and microfilm, tapes, records, transparencies, pictures, overlap and kit
materials.

Computer Files – these are the files that are encoded for manipulation by the
computer comprises of data and programmes. The data and programmes may be
stored or contained in carriers available for direct access or by remote access.

Graphics – They are materials that contain information and ideas through a
combination of drawings, words, symbols, symbols, and pictures. Examples include
graphs, charts, diagrams and sketches

Others are non-print materials are:

Films, Filmstrips and slides, overhead transparencies, television and video-tape
recordings, audio recordings, realia, cartographic materials, toys and games, film
cards and flannel graphs, artefacts, etc.
Week 9: Types of information Resources
Most Information is generally divided into three main categories. These are primary,
secondary and tertiary information.

Primary Information Resources

Original material that has not been interpreted, analysed, or condensed. Examples
are: technical report, dissertations, theses, Statistics, Research articles, Blogs,
Websites.

Secondary Information Resources

These are information created from primary material. Secondary information
modify, interpret, condense and rearrange primary information in order to satisfy the
information needs of the users. Examples are: Textbooks’, Reviews, abstract,
indexes, bibliographies, etc.

Tertiary Information Resources

The information which have been produced after the filtration from primary and
secondary. Tertiary information acts as a tool in understanding and locating
information. Most information from the library fall under this category.Examples
are: Databases, Subject Gateways, Dictionaries, Bibliographies, Encyclopaedias,
yearbooks, handbooks, fact books, almanacs, etc.

Value and Importance of Information

Concept of Information
The word information is derived from Latin word ‘informare’ which means "give
form to". Information is a term that is difficult to define because it has several
dimensions. Information means different things to different people. To some people,
information is news, while others refer to it as facts and yet to others, it is essentially
data. Librarians associate information with recorded knowledge while the
telecommunication engineers associate information with bits and data.

InterPARES 2 Project (2008) defined information as an assemblage of data intended

for communication over time or space. Bucland (1991) defined information as a
process, knowledge, and thing.
Rubin (1998) provided a relationship between data, information, knowledge and
wisdom as follows:

Data are raw and unprocessed

Information is process data from which meaning arises and it is communicated

Knowledge is further processed information that is organised and interrelated and

more broadly understood and applied
Wisdom is knowledge applied to the benefit of humanity.
From the above:

Data Information Knowledge Wisdom

Using information is considered very important. However, information that is

collected and stored, but not used has no value since no decisions will be based upon
it. It therefore should never have been collected in the first place.

The values and Importance of Information

Usefulness - Information has value if it has a use. Information will not be collected
if it does not have a use and its therefore not seen to be valuable. Potential use could
be interpreted in many ways (selling the information, providing a means of
improving a service, etc.) are the theoretical ideas of what information could be
useful for.

There is need to understand that information is a commodity and as such, can have
a monetary value, the level of which depends on its accuracy, its potential use and
its particular intended use. For these reasons it is seen as a commodity and is often
bought and sold. Good information helps individuals, organisations, companies in
the following ways:

Decision Making: Decision-making is based on information that is available, and if

this is either out-of-date or incomplete then; it can have a bad effect on the individual
organisation or company. Good quality information that leads to effective decision-
making can make an individual, organisation or company more successful.
Using Resources Effectively: Individuals, organisations and companies have limited
resources. Efficient use is therefore essential. Availability of information enables
individual /organisation to effectively use the limited available resources.

Monitoring Progress: Information can help an individual, organisation or company

stay informed about how well it is doing. That is by way of assisting in the
monitoring of the progress of such organisation.

Solving Problems: Information is regarded as being valuable if its provide solution

to a particular problems or used to fill an indentified gaps. For example, with
information we can identify gaps on a particular issue. This can then, on the basis of
sound information be filled.

Serves as an asset – Information is an asset to individual or organisation that has it.

It is a product that can be offer for sale or in exchange for money. The different
between success and failure is information. One person has it while the other lacks
it. An organisation that has information is likely to be successful than the one that
lacks it.

Week 10: Evaluating Information Sources

The world is now full of information due to information explosion however, not all
the information is valid, useful, or accurate. Evaluating sources of information that
you are considering using in your write-up is an important step in any research
activity.

The books, journal articles and web sites recommended for your course might have
been evaluated for their quality by your lecturers. However, when you are asked to
find your own information, you will have to judge its quality. For example, there is
a lot of difference between an article on "diets which may prevent cancer" published
in a popular magazine like ‘Hello’ and one that is published in the ‘Nutrition
Research journal’.

To critically evaluate the information that you use for your assignments and
academic work, the following criteria can help you to evaluate any information you
find:

• Relevance
 • Currency
• Reliability
• Accuracy
• Scope

Relevance: what to look for in books and periodicals

Before you start evaluating your resources, make sure that you know exactly what
is required from you. Some points to consider in determining whether or not book
or periodical (e.g. a journal) is relevant:

• Title - Does the title indicate that the item is too specific or not specific
enough? Is there a subtitle with more information?
• Author(s) - What are their credentials and reputation, are they associated with
any institution or organisation?
• Date of publication - Is it recent enough for your work? Does it need to be
recent at all?
• Edition (books only) - Multiple editions indicate the item is well regarded
enough to have been through revisions, and has been updated
• Publisher - Is it published by a recognised body?
• Level - Scholarly or popular? What audience is it directed towards?

Relevance: what to look for in websites

Some points to consider in helping to decide if a website is relevant:

• Title - Does the title indicate that the item is too specific or not specific
enough? Is there a description with more information?
• Author(s) - What are their credentials and reputation, are they associated with
any institution or organisation?
• Date of revision - Is it recent enough for your topic? Does it need to be recent
at all? Updates imply that changes have been made.
• Ownership of the site - Is it a government body (.gov in address), an academic
institution (.edu or .ac) or a commercial body (.com)? Is it UK based (.uk)?
• Description - Search engines obtain the description from the headings
assigned by the pages, author, or from the beginning of the page: does it look
relevant?
• Type of resource - Have you been asked to find a particular type of resource
(e.g. newspapers, websites, journal articles)?
Currency: what to look for in books and periodicals

Knowing when your material was published is very important when evaluating it.
Topics in rapidly changing areas such as medicine, computing and technology often
demand very current information which you find in recently published books,
journal articles or on the Internet. In some subject areas such as art, history, or
literature, information published 5 or 10 years ago is often just as valuable. To decide
how current your material is, look at:

• the publication date of the book or journal article

• the dates of the references listed in the book or article's bibliography
• the date that the web page was last updated

If you cannot find these dates, you will have to use other ways to evaluate the
information.

Publication dates

Be aware that dates can be misleading:

• Books - It can take up to two years for a book to be published, so the

information in a 1999 book may already be out of date. Some dates represent
the year a book was republished (as a paperback, or after being out of print
for some years).
• Journals - Journal articles are usually printed more quickly than books, but
there can still be delayed for over a year (depending on the journal) before
you see it.
• Web pages - Many are updated constantly, but there is no guarantee that the
date given (if given at all) is accurate.

Reliability

Quality publications will give you the author or the organisation that is responsible
for the information. Beware of any publications that do not give this information. To
decide whether your source is reliable, look for the following:

• Author's details - What is/are the author's qualifications or the organisation

where he/she works?
• Details of the publisher
 • Whether the journal is peer reviewed or refereed, meaning that the articles are
selected by experts in the same field.
• Other works on the subject written by the same author
• Name of the organisation that supplied the information on the website - Is it
an educational institution (i.e., .ac extension)? A government agency (i.e.
.gov.)? A commercial supplier (i.e., .com)? A non-profit organisation (i.e.,
.org)?

Accuracy

It may be difficult to tell whether the information you are reading is correct if you
are not familiar with the subject area. Here are some things to look for:

• Details of the author or the organisation. Some organisations such as

Greenpeace will have their own point of view on political, economic or moral
issues. Therefore, they may only give facts or statistics that support their
point of view.
• Are the sources of the facts given? Do the statistics come from reliable sources
such as the National Statistics web site?
• Does the information have a particular bias? Does it promote the ideas of a
particular group - religious, political, etc? Emotive or vague language often
indicates only opinion, propaganda or marketing attempts rather than
researched facts.
• With web documents, look at the domain in the URL. This tells you whether
the organisation is a college or university (.ac, .edu), a government body
(.gov), or commercial (.com). Government, university, or professional
organisations may be more objective than a business wanting to sell products.

Why do you need to evaluate?

• Not all information sources are equally useful because a source that may be
appropriate in one case may not be suitable in another. For your work to meet
assessment criteria at university level you need to be able to substantiate your
information/research with acceptable sources.
• Evaluating saves time – There is no need to look for, or read through, sources
that aren't going to be of any use to you.
• The growth of the Internet- This necessitate critical evaluation of
information. This is because much of the information on the web may be
highly biased and unreliable.
When do you need to evaluate?

You should evaluate:

a. When you begin to look for information in a catalogue or search engine:

Evaluation begins when you look for information and you are deciding
whether it is worth walking upstairs to get the book off the shelf, or following
a particular link on a web page. Doing this efficiently can save you a lot of
time and effort.
b. When you have the information in your hand, or on the screen, and you are
deciding whether it is usable: Once you have a piece of information, you need
to decide whether it can be used in your work, and whether the information is
reliable.

WEEK11: GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

Government publications are documents and information produced by government
departments and central government organisations. They include parliamentary
publications, legislation, policy documents, discussion documents, statistics and
reports.

Government publications include all those issued under authority of any legislative
body, executive or judicial department, ministry, bureau, agency, independent
office, court, commission, or officer of any government.

Government publications are documents and information produced by government

departments and central government organisations. They include parliamentary
publications, legislation, policy documents, discussion documents, statistics and
reports.

These holdings include:

• sessional papers (House of Rep bills and papers, House of Assembly bills and
papers, command papers)
• parliamentary debates
• legislation (Acts of Parliament, statutory instruments)

These papers often reflect the flow of legislation, from a consultative document
(Green Paper) to an initial statement of government policy (White Paper), a Bill,
Debates on the Bill, an Act of Parliament, and the subsequent Delegated Legislation
(usually in the form of statutory instruments).

Acquisition Sources
The major sources of government publications for the Library’s collections are
international exchange agreements, gifts, and the Library’s overseas offices.
Materials are purchased if not available through exchange or gift.

If the Library receives print copies for temporary public service, and those print
copies are replaced by a final cumulation for the permanent collections (the case
with some sets of parliamentary papers), serious consideration should be given to
replacing the temporary print copies with online electronic access. In fact, many
countries no longer furnish paper copies to the Library by exchange or gift once the
publications are available online and as more foreign governments produce their
official laws in electronic format only, the Library will need to harvest and archive
these publications.

Because of the proliferation of electronic government publications, the Libraries are

now seen obtaining and archive publications from many levels of foreign
government. This is especially true in the case of official gazettes.

At present, acquisitions units create records for many foreign government websites
in a Library tracking system, so that the Library has current access only to a large
number of foreign government publications.

The Libraries usually establish cooperative agreements with other libraries for
collecting government publications.

Characteristics of Government Publications

Effective government publication is really not different from effective writing in any
other professional setting. It is writing that gets its message across to the reader while
conveying an overall impression of authority, thoroughness, reliability and care.

It is characterized by the following attributes:

Purposeful: Government publications have purpose that is clear both to the

government and to the intended reader. Purposeful writing is useful; it may solve a
problem, answer the reader's questions, advance the goals of your organization in
some way, result in a desired outcome—or do several of these things at the same
time. In government, you are never writing simply to express yourself or for no
purpose whatsoever.

Reader-centred: Much of what students write at university really has no audience

(and often a vague purpose). The result is that inexperienced writers often haven't
noticed the difference between, writing an essay and writing a proposal. The latter
must make an impact on its reader; to do that it must be written with the reader's
needs in mind. Therefore government documents are usually writing for intended
reader, rather than for the government themselves.

Clear: The goal in writing is always to convey meaning in a way that reader can
understand easily. Clear writing is a product of effective thinking, planning,
language use and organization. Government publications usually contain clear
writing and these saves time, money and effort.

Concise: Concise documents are as long as they have to be to achieve their purpose
and not a word longer. Nothing is more disrespectful of readers than expecting them
to plow/flip through pages of poorly organized, wordy, unfocused writing and to try
to locate the meaning themselves. Conciseness represents work on the part of the
writer—the work of planning, organizing, choosing an appropriate design, revising,
and editing so that readers optimize the time and effort they put into a document.

Accurate: Government publication should be accurate as much as possible.

Inaccuracies can be expensive, annoying or simply confusing. They can of course
also hurt government reputation.

Complete: Often, a government document is intended as the basis for action. A

recommendation report, or even a memo, may request action on the part of the
reader. In these and all cases, it is crucial that readers have all the information they
need. A complete document includes necessary background information for readers
who are unfamiliar with the subject. It contains sufficient detail or analysis, and it
provides clear references to any additional information or includes it as appendices.

Objective: All communications in the government publications must be honest, fair

and unbiased. Effective government writing must always be clear and well
organized, but must also always be fair, reasonable and honest.

Situated Within Its Strategic Context: All language occurs within and is shaped
by its context. In government, the context is usually strategic; that is, it relates to the
goals and objectives of the organization. Make sure readers know how a topic looks
in its full strategic context: for example, what other topics, policies, decisions it
relates to; what relevant background influences the current status; what plans affect
how it will look in the future.

Designed for Readability: A well-designed, professional-looking document

achieves a number of purposes that are important to government
communications.First, it is more likely to be read, which is the first step in achieving
a document's purpose. Second, it helps readers understand, by enhancing the clarity
of the writing itself. Third, it conveys a tone of professionalism, which helps
relations between writer (government) and reader (society).
On Time: Government workplaces can sometimes seem unreasonably busy and the
writing demands impossible to meet. However, much information can be thought of
as having a "best-before" date.

Correct: The documents produced in government workplaces reflect the

professionalism, care and authority of their writers. As a result, they should always
observe the standard conventions of grammar, punctuation, spelling and usage.

WEEK11: Electronic Resources and its Benefits to the Libraries.

Introduction
Electronic resources form one of many formats that the Library collects to support
its universal collections. The Recommending Officer responsible for the appropriate
subject, language, geographic area, or format is responsible for recommending
electronic resources. The increased production of and reliance on electronic
resources demands sustained effort to identify and acquire them. It is the Library's
policy with electronic resources, as with all others, to obtain them through copyright
deposit unless they are not subject to deposit under sections 407 or 408 of the
Copyright Law.

The Library is committed to preserving its electronic resources just as it is to

ensuring permanent access to its collections in other formats. When the Library
collects both electronic and analog versions of a resource, both versions are retained
as permanent holdings of the Library. For both direct and remote access resources,
the Library will endeavor to archive these resources following standard practices,
guidelines and legal requirements. Furthermore, the Library will negotiate
permission to archive electronic resources either upon collecting or for future
archiving should the content provider no longer be able to provide access to the
resource. For remote access resources, when permission to archive them is
unattainable, the Library will only provide a link to the resource.

Examples of electronic resources include, but are not limited to: web sites, online
databases, e-journals, e-books, electronic integrating resources, and physical
carriers in all formats, whether free or fee-based, required to support research in the
subject covered, and may be audio, visual, and/or text files.

Definitions

An "electronic resource" is defined as any work encoded and made available for
access through the use of a computer. It includes electronic data available by:
(1) remote access and
(2) direct access (fixed media).

In other words: Remote access (electronic resources) refers to the use of electronic
resources via computer networks (AACR2, 2002 edition; glossary).
Direct Access (electronic resources) refers to the use of electronic resources via
carriers (e.g., discs/disks, cassettes, cartridges) designed to be inserted into a
computerized device or its auxiliary equipment.
An electronic resource is any information source that the library provides access to
in an electronic format. The library has purchased subscriptions to many electronic
information resources in order to provide you with access to them free of charge.
An electronic resource is any information source that the library provides access to
in an electronic format. E-Reources include lots of things: full-text journals,
newspapers, company information, e-books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, economic
data, digital images, industry profiles, market research, career information, etc.

"Acquire" refers to any electronic resource, remote or direct access, which (1), the
Library provides access to through official contractual, licensed, or other
agreements (any of these electronic resources may or may not be owned by or
housed at the Library) or (2), the Library receives through its acquisitions processes
(e.g., purchase, gift, exchange, copyright deposit, ISSN requests, and transfer).

"Collect" refers to electronic resources owned by the Library and selected for
the permanent collections. It may also include resources stored elsewhere for
which the Library has permanent ownership rights.

"Link" refers to pointers from the Library's web resources or bibliographic

records to remote access data.

"Archive" refers to that process of maintenance in a secure and permanent digital

repository managed by the Library or for the benefit of the Library.

General Guidelines for Evaluating Electronic Resources

The criteria used to evaluate the research value of electronic resources do not greatly
differ from those used for other formats. However, particular emphasis should be
placed on materials of contemporary interest which provide unique testimony of the
social, cultural, and political issues under-represented in mainstream publishing.

The Library acquires electronic resources which rank high on the following list of
criteria:

➢ usefulness in serving the current or future informational needs of Congress

and researchers
➢ reputation of the information provider
➢ amount of unique information provided
➢ scholarly content
➢ content is available only in digital form
➢ at risk (possible accidental or deliberate removal of resource)
➢ fugitive resource (e.g., grey or underground literature)
➢
Specific Guidelines
When making the decision to recommend or select electronic resources, the
following should be considered.
Content:The resource should meet its stated goals and present a platform of robust
coverage of apparent research value.

Added Value:The ability to make the resource available campus wide and
accessible for the Library’s teleworking staff is a high priority.

Accessibility:Consider the following: server reliability, if registration is required,

it should be judged appropriate and be accompanied by a privacy notice, provision
of links to sources for the plug-in software should be provided, if needed

Design, User Interface and Navigability: organization and ease of navigation,

presence of search and help features, and site maps, fully functioning design
elements, interactive features that facilitate use.

Standards:Fee-based resources should conform to prevailing technical

standards and computing equipment.

Permanent Retention:Electronic resources are part of the Library collections and

subject to the same criteria for retention decisions as other media, based on the
mission of the Library to satisfy the research needs of the research community. The
commitment to provide permanent access to electronic resources of long term
research value is made, when possible, at the time resources are acquired or created
by the Library. This commitment extends to the retention of associated
bibliographic, administrative and preservation metadata. Assured access will be
achieved by the development of the Library's digital repository and through
contractual arrangements with other trusted digital repositories.

Of high priority for retention:

Electronic resources created by the Library, for which no other versions exist,
Such as web archives, Portals to the World, etc.
Electronic resources for which no other versions exist
Electronic versions of print resources no longer collected by the Library, Electronic
equivalents with added value, Unique electronic resources acquired by the Library
Material digitized by the Library.

Advantages of ER

Many of library databases allow you to create a personal profile in order to keep
track of new content via email or RSS feeds. As a member of fact users are provided
with 24/7 access to some libraris e-resources on campus or remotely via the library's
proxy server or the campus VPN.

Access to information that might be restricted to the user due to geographical

location or finances, access to more current information, and provision of extensive
links to additional resources related contents.

Others

• Accessible – can be accessed from any computer on campus and usually any
computer off campus, any time of the day or night, so there is no need to make
a trip to the library
• Easily searchable - each journal can be searched quick and easy often through
the complete full text of articles and via online index
• Speed - Articles/issues appear online before printed version is available
• Interactive - Rapid turnaround time means articles can be read, commented
by the readers, amended quickly and greater feedback thru the web
• Links - Hypertext format should be exploited and links to related articles,
information on other web sites, stable URLs for individual articles and email
alerts when latest issue loaded.
• Added Value - Advantages taken on the web is to add value by using
animation, virtual reality and interactive mathematical charts.
• Inexpensive - savings can be made over printing costs, distribution costs and
extra costs by new features.
• Flexibility - E-journals evolved quickly. They are not tied to a format, printer,
and distribution network

Disadvantages of e-resources

Difficulty reading computer screens:

limitations of computer monitor
 read information in the screen
Often not included in indexing and abstracting services
Search engines ignores PDF files
Format that a large proportion of e-journal use

Benefits to the Libraries

The emergence of electronic information resources has tremendously transformed

information – handling and management in Nigerian academic environments, and
University libraries in particular (Ani and Ahiauzu, (2008). These dramatic changes
include the way in which information is provided to the University Communities.

A number of electronic resources initiatives have been put in place in Nigeria to

assist in the development training and use of electronic resources in a number of
academic institutions.
WEEK 12: THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY

An electronic library is a heterogeneous system in which information is available in

hard copy, on magnetic tape and discs, CD-ROMs and videodiscs, and also from
online sources. Storage and copying of information are done either by downloading
or by printing from a master file. Such libraries are can provide very diverse
information; however, electronic libraries will evolve in an incremental fashion and,
at least for the next few decades, we will operate in a dual paper-based and electronic
environment.

An electronic library is a type of service that allows users, without actually stepping
into the library, to read library books and conduct research at home, in the office, or
at school, using the Internet. Service which enables users to effectively employ
electronic data by using an in-library network is also referred to as an "electronic
library service." This is a new library service that applies rapidly advancing data
processing technology and networking technology, and it is expected to become a
highly convenient, epoch-making mode of service.

It is defined in the "electronic library concept" as "a library which provides primary
and secondary information electronically through communications networks, and
the basis for this purpose." Putting emphasis on the library as a mode of service,
electronic library service, including in-library services, is broadly defined as "service
which enables library users to directly access electronic data via telecommunications
networks."

It is commonly thought that an electronic library enables anyone, at any time or

place, to access a library's enormous book collection by using the Internet. It is even
believed that one can use all the books in a library's collection without actually going
to the library. But these notions are only half-truths.
It is true that an electronic library is aimed at making it possible for anyone, at any
time or place, to access digitized resources over the Internet. It is only natural,
however, that the contents which can be used over an electronic library are limited
to those contents which have been digitized at the library so they can be relayed
through a network. The process of digitization is a major one, involving much labor
and expense. Libraries have huge book collections and it is not possible to digitize
all these resources. It is a huge misconception, therefore, to think that anyone, at any
time or place, can access any book in a library.
What is more, most of the books in a library's collection are protected by copyright.
Electronic libraries must honor copyright and in digitizing and providing
information, ample attention must be given to this copyright.

Characteristics of Electronic Libraries

Some of the features pointed out in the definitions of electronic library may be listed
as follows:
(1) A library that served a defined community or set of communities.
(2) A conglomerate of multiple entities.
(3) Librarythat incorporate learning and access.
(4) Library that provide fast and efficient access, with multiple access modes.
(5) A library with a collection which are large and persist over time, well organized
and managed, contain many formats and contain objects which may be otherwise
unobtainable.

Electronic libraries will also include digital materials that exist outside the physical
and administrative bounds of any one digital library, will serve particular
communities or constituencies, as traditional libraries do now, though those
communities may be widely dispersed throughout the network, and will require both
the skills of librarians and well as those of computer scientists to be viable.

Definition of electronic library involves three

key components, which constitute the theoretical framework underlying digital
libraries, namely
(1) people.
(2) information resources.
(3) technology.

Digital contents that can be used in an electronic library

With the electronic library, the following digital contents and information can be
used:

Primary information

Full-text database e.g.session proceedings through cooperation of the House of

Councillors and the House of Representatives)

Rare books image database:(Image data of the rare and old books including
important cultural properties and colored materials).

Secondary information

OPAC

• List of titles of the Periodicals Index

• Prompt report on Braille books & tape-recorded books
• Directory of Scientific Periodicals
(The Directory of Scientific Periodicals Database covers serials on science
and technology edited and published by organizations operating in Japan)

Electronic Exhibition

• Digitized exhibition /rare books

(Electronic edition of the exhibition commemorating library’s 50th
anniversary,
Organisation of Library Materials

The ultimate goal of any library is to enable users locate its materials as quickly as
possible. Organisation of library materials is the entire process of identifying,
collecting and putting together properly and systematically relevant information
sources so that users can identify and locate the materials without much difficulty.

The purposes of the organisation of library materials are:

➢ To make location of library materials easy
➢ To save time and space
➢ To facilitate easy accessibility to the materials
➢ To enhance effective utilization of the materials
➢ To make the library attractive to its users.

Cataloguing

Cataloguing is the art of preparing catalogues. A catalogue is the key to a library’s

collections. This is because each entry in a catalogue contains the bibliographic
details of a particular document. A catalogue informs the users about the holdings
of the library. By definition, a catalogue is essentially an organised list of
document in a library with entries representing the documents arranged for access
in a systematic order. In short, a catalogues is the principal means by which library
users can find the content of the library collections.

Reasons for having Catalogue in the library:

1. For keeping record of what the library has acquired.

2. It serves as retrieval aide which allows users to have access to what they want to
retrieve from the library collections.

Objectives of a Catalogue are:

1. To enable a person find a book by author, title, and subject.
2. To show what the library has by a given author, on a given subject in a given
literature.
3. To assist in the choice of a book
4. To find entities that correspond to the user’s stated criteria
5. To identify and select an entity that is appropriate to the user’s needs.

The parameters that are used to denote and represent a document in the catalogue
have been developed and several codes or rules emerged. The most popular code
which is used all over the world is the ANGLO-AMERICAN CATALOGUING
RULES 2 (2005). The rules focus on eight areas of a book: title, edition, material
(type of publication), publication, physical description, series, notes, and standard
number in each catalogue entry.

The code describes rules for each of the activities involved in cataloguing (sequence,
punctuation, indentation, capitalisation, etc). Following the guidelines in the AACR
2, it is easy for library users to use the library catalogue.

Cataloguing is done in two ways:

1. Descriptive cataloguing
2. Subject cataloguing

Descriptive cataloguing is done by describing the document and allocating access

points to it (this has nothing to do with the subject matter). It involves determining
the main entry i.e. the person or body that is responsible for the work. It also entails
the description of the essential parts of the publication such as the title, pagination,
and publisher, place of publication, edition, and series note. Added entries are also
made if there is more than one authour or editor. A sample of a catalogue card
showing descriptive cataloguing is given below.

TORORA, Gerald, J.
Microbiology an introduction by
Gerald, J. Tortora, Bendel R. Funke and
Christine L. Case- 8thed- San Francisco,
CA: Pearson B. Cummings, 2004.
xxvi, 968p: ill
ISBN: 0-321-39602-2
I. Funke, Bendel R. Jt. Authour
II. Case, Christine L. Jt. Authour
III Title

Subject Cataloguing also classification involves assigning subject headings and class
marks to library materials as shown below:

Example in the book

A library catalogue can be in different types and libraries can adapt any type that
most conform to their various operations. There are printed catalogues, and card
catalogues, slip catalogues, microfilm catalogues, film/picture catalogues, and
online catalogue associated with electronic environment worldwide. Whatever, the
form of the catalogue, the entries they contain has to be filed in such a way to make
it easy for users to access the library materials.

The University of Ilorin Library like most universities libraries in Nigeria uses LC
Scheme and operates the dictionary catalogue. If the users know only the author of
a book, he would use the surname to locate the book in the Author/Title catalogue.
The same applies if the users know only the title of the book.

The user may not know the author or title but ha a subject he wants to work on. In
this case he would use the subject catalogue. Whatever approach the user takes when
using the library catalogues, the information needed to locate the material would be
found in the catalogues. The next step is to go the shelf to retrieve the material. If
the material is not on the shelf, the user would need to consults the staff at the
circulation desk to find out the status of the material whether it has been borrowed,
or it is the reserve collections or it is missing.
Samples of selected cards in the catalogues are:

Classification

Classification is a subject cataloguing that is based on the subject content of library

materials. In classification, all related documents should be kept together on the
shelves. The basic purpose of classification is to help the library keep related
documents together and ascertain the relationship among the terms. The main
objectives of library classification are:

1. To specify the location of every item on the library’s shelves

2. To display the subject relationship among the items in the collection
3. To arrange materials on the shelves according to their subject classes

The University of Ilorin Library is adopting tools such as Library of Congress

Subject Headings Lists, Library of Congress Classification Schemes and Cuttering
Alphabetical Table. The subject headings lists are alphabetical lists of terms and
phrases that can be used as sources of headings to represent the subject contents of
a document.

In the process of choosing appropriate terms to be used as subject headings, cross

references are made. The commonest ones used in the catalogues are the ‘see’ and
‘see also’ references. ‘see’ references denotes the preferred heading for the given
entry, for example:
Computer programme files
See Computer programmes.

See Also reference provides information as to where related documents may be

found. Entries are made from the general heading to the specific and vice versa. For
example:
Ski and Sking
See also
Water Sking
1) Sking
See also Winter Sport