An investigation into the role of libraries in higher education in Africa
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Date
2013
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Abstract
Libraries have been the companions of higher education for many
centuries. Library in higher education is supposed to play a critical role
in the teaching, research, and learning activities through selection,
acquisition, organization, preservation, and given access to all sorts of
relevant and current materials which include books and periodicals,
manuscripts, rare documents, journals, maps, etc. needed by teachers
and students. This paper therefore made an attempt to examine the
state of higher education libraries and how they have been able to
support the institutions to which they are attached. The academic
library is a vital force at the heart of higher education. Yet, its future
seems to be uncertain, hence the need to bring into limelight the
challenges facing academic library in Africa and offer possible strategies
for responding to them. It was discovered that higher education
libraries in Africa have not been providing the expected services
effectively and efficiently due to the severe economic challenges facing
them such as inability to stock libraries with current and relevant
information resources, under staffing among others. The study
recommended that higher education library should be well funded in
order to employ enough staff, acquire materials such as current
journals, books, equipment, integrate the use of Information and
Communication Technology to carry out their housekeeping operations
and services in order to be more effective and efficient in the
information delivery, global access to information, and also to easy
retrieval of information.
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Keywords
Higher education libraries, Academic libraries, Africa