AVAILABILITY AND USE OF SERIALS COLLECTIONS BY STUDENTS/RESEARCHERS IN NATIONAL ANIMAL PRODUCTION RESEARCH INSTITUTE (NAPRI) LIBRARY ZARIA
ABSTRACT
This research work investigated availability and use of serial collections by students/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Library Zaria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 100 respondents for the study. Questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using simple percentage. The result of the findings revealed that the serial collections are available in the library. Journals 67(74.4%), newsletter 73(81.1%), magazine 85(94.4%), CD-ROM 90(100%), and yearbook directories 74(82.2%), are most use by respondents. The findings also revealed that the purpose of respondents (students) using serial collections is for examination 90(100%), research 75(83.3%), assignment 61(67.8%), and to get current information 83(92.2%). It was then noted that the challenges faced by students while using serial collections are lack of borrowing facilities in the serial section 80(88.9%), poor attitude of the staff to students 81(90%), inadequate reading facilities in the serial section 90(100%), and power failure/interruption 83(92.2%). In the light of the findings from this study, the researcher concluded that a large percentage of the population were very aware of serials like newspapers, journals and magazines available and makes use of these serials adequately. It was therefore recommended that library management should expedite action on the online data entry because when it is fully accomplished, it will facilitate quick and easy information access in the serials library.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â Â Â Â Background of the Study
The basic purpose of an academic library is to provide sufficient information for making informed decisions by users. Academic libraries normally provide for educational needs of students, to support the teaching staff in their teaching roles and provide for research activities of both the students and teaching staff. The academic library collections must reflect the subject interests of the institutions. It must also be adequate in terms of quality, quantity and variety. The library does this through useful selection and acquisition of materials for teaching learning and research; process and organization of the materials for easy retrieval: and dissemination of information encourages their active exploitation.
Library is an educational tool, which constitutes important components in the infrastructure of knowledge in institutions research and teaching, particularly to make information accessible to the students. Library’s operations are divided into various sections, which include; Reference section, Technical section, and Serials section etc. The importance of Serial collections to students in institution of higher learning such as the academic cannot be overemphasized particularly in academic and university libraries. This is so, because the library resources provide the users with up-to-date information resources that can assist them in their academic pursuit especially in research and learning.
Meanwhile, Serials have historically and presently focused on the provision of current or up-to-date information in general or specific fields of study, this is one of the reasons why according to Woodward (2018) it constitutes “a major part of the collection of academic libraries and also accounts for a large sum of the library expenditure, the academic library inclusive”. The academic library is an integral part of tertiary institutions and accounts for majority of the information material holdings of a tertiary institution, serving all and sundry especially staff and students of a tertiary institution. To further underline the importance of the academic library to a tertiary institution, Kwampong (2014) stated that “the academic library is the heart and aorta of any academic institution, he went further to state that the health and effectiveness of any academic institution depends on the state of health of the library in that academic institution”. The academic library therefore, cannot claim to be the determining factor for the state of excellence of its parent body i.e. the institution where it is situated, if it cannot provide the immediate needs of individuals in that institution, which it can only do through the provision of information materials. Immediate needs as the name implies refers to current information gaps that individuals have identified during the course of their activities on a specific field of study, therefore, the academic library is obligated to be current in its holdings so as to fill immediate information gaps as they are discovered. If immediate needs are not met, the academic library is considered to be inert and moribund which results in an inert and moribund academic institution and automatically low standard of excellence for patrons by the academic library is witnessed as it serves especially undergraduates.
Apart from books, Serials form a vital part of the academic library’s collection for meeting the immediate needs of patrons in its community especially undergraduates for the purpose of this study. Academic libraries acquire, process and make Serials available to its patrons who are usually undergraduates through continuous subscription. Serial are usually treated separately in libraries i.e. they are acquired, processed and disseminated separately due to rate of subscription and peculiarity of its nature. The unit responsible for Serials management is the Serials unit, which was described by Oni (2016) as “the unit responsible for Serials operations”. Osborn (2014) defined Serials as “a printed work that appears regularly, founded with the expectation of unlimited duration, which is not predominantly concerned with events of the day or else it pays attention only to the latest development in a special field”. In addition to this, Harold (2014) describes Serials as “any publication bearing either chronological or numerical designations issued in successive parts, appearing at intervals and as a rule, intended to be continued indefinitely”. The definitions above not only describe Serials literature but also underlay the major importance of Serials: providing current information. This importance is very essential to the relevance of the academic library to its immediate community and the general population. Kinds of Serials include journals, newspapers, newsletters, proceedings, transactions of societies and other periodicals like abstracts and indexes. These types of Serials vary in content and interval of appearance. Daily Newspapers constitute the highest rate of issues because of its daily publications, but it doesn’t provide information on specific fields of study, it takes a little of everything in one issue. Unlike journals, that will not be published daily but focuses on the specifics in a field of study. Serials are usually in print formats but with the advent of information technology, Serials are not computerized appearing in e-formats.
A brief look at the origin of Serials show that, according to Osborn (2014), Serials can be traced back to the period when annals where written on the tombs of Egyptian kings during the first dynasty. This is no surprise as the growth of papyrus started along the Nile River in Egypt, papyrus being a paper-like material was a major landmark in the history of writing and ultimately the beginning of Serials. As time evolved, other notable inventions such as the moveable types by Johannes Gutenberg, typewriters, and of course computers have facilitated the development and use of Serials up to the 2014s when Serials and the internet were compliments of one another. Undergraduate students are an integral part of the university community. They form the “receiving” members of the university community, while the lecturers and other staff form the “giving” members of the university community. This makes learning the most important issue. A brief look at the origin of Serials, according to Osborn (2014), Serials can be traced back to the period when annals where written on the tombs of Egyptian kings during the first dynasty. This is no surprise as the growth of papyrus started along the Nile River in Egypt, papyrus being a paper-like material was a major landmark in the history of writing and ultimately the beginning of Serials. As time evolved, other notable inventions such as the moveable types by Johannes Gutenberg, typewriters, and of course computers have facilitated the development and use of Serials up to the 2014s when Serials and the internet were compliments of one another. Undergraduate students are an integral part of the university community. They form the “receiving” members of the university community, while the lecturers and other staff form the “giving” members of the university community. This makes learning the most important issue for undergraduates. As the “receiving” group, undergraduates are expected to use information usually based on specific courses of study for assignments, reports, presentations, seminars, and final year projects, this is encouraged and expected of the undergraduate for excellent performance. The academic library located in the university should be open to undergraduates for the use of its Serials, as Serials are vital information materials providing the latest in a field of study and suiting the needs of the learning group, which will always have immediate needs. This is supported by Fayose (2016) when he stated that Serials are very useful because they are the most up-to-date materials in the library and that articles in Serials are written by experts in the field, making them reliable and precise. Although, even with the enormous benefits of Serials to the academic performance of undergraduates, it seems undergraduates do not recognize this, or they ignore the benefits they can derive from the use of Serials and some cases the few undergraduates who are interested in the use of Serials are denied access, a brief look at some findings show this.
The explosion of knowledge and publications of all kinds, conventional or non-conventional, means the universe of materials has grown much larger. One very important set of library materials in the library is Serials. A Serial is a publication in any medium issued in successive parts and intended to be continued indefinitely. This definition includes periodicals, newspapers, annuals (reports, yearbooks directories, etc., journals, and memoirs proceedings, transactions of societies, monographic series, and unnumbered series. The Anglo American Cataloguing Rules (2013) define Serial as a ‘continuing resource issued in a succession of discrete parts usually bearing numbering that has no predetermined conclusion for example, print and electronics journal, magazines, continuing directories, annual reports, newspapers and monographic serves’.
This is why authors such as Attama and Ezema (2002) defined Serials as publications issued in successive parts, appearing at intervals bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to continued indefinitely. The term thus embraces such materials as periodicals, magazines, annuals which include reports, yearbooks, directories, proceedings, and transactions etc. Serials formed the backbone of research collections as a result academic libraries cannot do without it because of the usefulness to researchers, scholars, and investigators. They see Serial collections as sine qua non to the development of research activities in academic environment.
The Library Serial collections/materials were established to serve the Academic libraries. It coordinates the collections and services of the academic Library. The administration of the Library System is centralized under the academic Librarian. The last years have been a period of rapid growth, with the printed book collection now well stocked. The Library stocks other items as well as current periodical titles. The virtual Library will be available to the academic students and staff online 24/7 via the Internet, regardless of the user’s physical location.
Serials are essential tools of teaching and research in academic endeavor and remain a potential tool for dissemination of knowledge .It is in support of this that Attama and Ezema (2002) stated the importance of Serials in academic environment particularly for undergraduate students, which include the followings:
- Serial provide up –to -date information on any issue than textbooks.
- It supplies scientific and discoveries and results of latest findings.
- It makes researchers frequent and current in the frontiers of knowledge.
- It provides a first hand and detailed information on a particular subject and also it provides empirical evidence on issue being treated.
According to Okiy (2013) the Serials constitute an important part of the resources of an academic library because, they provide the latest information on research and current affairs. For this reason, it is necessary for the Serials division to be as complete in its holdings as possible in order to support the teaching, learning, recreations and research programmes of the University. The Serials collection is made up of both current and backsets of periodicals for lecturers and students to access within the library but cannot be borrowed for home reading. Ogbomo (2014) defines Serials as “a publication issued in successive parts, usually at regular intervals and as a rule, intended to be continued indefinitely”. Serials include journals, magazines, bulletins and newsletters, proceedings learned societies and associations etc. they may be published daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly etc the search for information on any subject in an academic library must include the examination of Serial publication because they current information about new ideas or discoveries and keep researchers abreast of growth of knowledge in their areas of investigation.
In the selection and acquisition of materials, the Serials librarian and collection development librarian work closely with the university librarian. However, the libraries welcome recommendations from patrons and faculty lecturers. Broadus (2015) asserts that Selection must be given due importance because funds are always limited, the available money should be spent wisely to meet the needs of users towards fulfilling the objectives of supporting, teaching, learning and research needs of the University. The Serial Liberian should be able to satisfy the patrons by selecting and acquiring their immediate and anticipated needs. Collection management involves managing the use of library collection, its storage, its organisation and making it accessible to users. The process of collection management has become very challenging and complex. As observed by Friend (2014), basic collection management activities include analysis of user needs, inter and intra-library communication, policy development, budgeting and allocation of resources, contract negotiations, macro-evaluations of collection, micro-evaluation for selection, relegation, preservation or withdrawal of stock and system evaluation. So this study intends to find out the availability and use of Serial resources by student/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria.
Historical Background of National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria
The National Animal Production Research Institute had a primordial beginning as Shika Cattle Stud farm in 1928 used for selecting indigenous breeds of bulls for breeding native herds. In 1954, research into sown pastures and range management commenced and in 1962 it became Shika Grassland Research Station under the Institute for Agricultural Research of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The Decree No 35 of August 27, 1973 and the Research Institutes (Establishment) order of November, 1975 gave birth to the National Animal Production Research Institute on July 1, 1976. The Institute is funded by and financially accountable to the Federal Government but administratively under the Ahmadu Bello University.
1.2Â Â Â Â Â Â Statement of the Problem
Students in the academic community are mainly concerned with one major  pre-occupation: learning. Learning in tertiary institutions therefore, goes beyond class lectures or the traditional lecturer-student interaction in class. Students are expected to conduct research for immediate needs such as continuous assignment and assessment test, further reading apart from class notes, presentations and ultimately final year projects which Serials are capable of providing information for. However, these students have unlimited access to Serials in the academic libraries and even the internet. Researchers have shown that high price of subscription to Serials both print and online, budget cuts by academic management, lack of internet access, inadequate basic search skills, ignorance and so on are the major challenges. These challenges in turn bounce back on the students in Nigeria and this seems to be affecting academic performance and overall knowledge standard, this as well escalates to affect the educational standard of the entire nation. The role of academic libraries, open access journals and other sources for current Serials is to provide students with immediate information needs. However, there appears to be lack of access to these Serials or restriction to their use.
Moreso, in developed countries, use of Serial library resources is easy because of it availability nature, but in developing countries like Nigeria, available literature and the researcher’s personal experience have shown a low use of Serial resources in library by the students because of the observed inadequacies and lack of knowledge of their availability by the students. It is against this background that this study investigates the availability and use of Serials library resources by students/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria.
1.3Â Â Â Â Â Â Research Questions
- What are the types of Serial collections available for students/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria?
- To what extent do students/researchers use Serial collections in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria?
- For what purpose do students/researchers use Serial collections in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria?
- What are the challenges facing the use of Serial collections by the students/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria?
- What are the solutions to the use of Serial collections by the students/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria?
1.4Â Â Â Â Â Â Objectives of the Study
           Objectives of the study are:
- To identify the types of Serial collections available in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria.
- To find out the extent at which the students/researchers make use of Serial collections in National Animal
- Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria.To examine the purpose for the use of Serial collections by the students/researcher in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria.
- To identify the challenges facing the use of Serial collections by the students/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria.
- To find out possible solutions to the challenges facing the use of Serial collections by the students/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria
1.5      Significance of the Study         Â
The study is essential because it is hoped to provide an insight into availability and use of Serial resources by students/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria. The study would reveal the effect of non-availability and low usage of Serial resources by students/researchers. The recommendations that may be given would be important to our government policy makers at the federal, states and local government levels.
The study will provide lecturers, school authorities and government the dangers and damage of non-availability of Serial resources and its effects on the academic performance or achievement of students. Finally, it shall serve as a veritable source of information to students and researchers. Also, school authorities would find the finding of this study useful. They could use them to detect and prevent such symptoms that are likely to make students’ low academic performance in the selected tertiary institutions
1.6Â Â Â Â Â Â Scope and Delimitation of the Study
This study is restricted to the availability and use of Serial resources by students/researchers in National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) Zaria only.
The project work of this kind cannot come up without some limitations. The major limitations of the study is finance, limited time at researcher’s disposal, and because of these limitations, this study was only able to select one academic library in Kaduna State. Despite these limitations, due care was taken not to sacrifice quality and in-depth of this study on the iota of time, data and money.
1.7Â Â Â Â Â Â Operational Definition of Terms
Library: A Library is a building or room containing collections of books, periodicals, and sometimes films and recorded music for use or borrowing by the public or the members of an institution.
Serial: A publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designation and intended to be continued indefinitely.
Serial Collections: This is the action or process of collecting a publication that is issued in successive parts. Examples are periodicals, magazines, journals, newspapers, annual reports, and series. Journal and periodical are terms also used to describe such publications.
Use: An act that brings something into services for a particular purpose.
Availability: This is the quality of being able to be used or obtained.
Periodicals: Periodicals are form of magazines or newspaper published at regular intervals.
Virtual Library: A Virtual Library is a collection of resources available on one or more computer systems, where a single interface or entry point to the collections is provided
Internet: The internet is a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.
Students: These are people who go to school and are learning something. Students can be children, teenagers, or adults who are going to school, but it may also be other people who are learning, such as in college or university. A younger student is often called a pupil.
Researchers: These are people who carry out academic or scientific research.
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