DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION PROGRAMME FOR EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study developed a digital resources preservation programme for effective service delivery in Federal university libraries in Nigeria. Four research questions were formulated to identify: the objectives of digital resources preservation programme, the content of digital resources preservation training programme, the instructional methods to be used in digital resources preservation programme and strategies to be used for digital resources preservation programme.  Six hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the Research and Development (R and D) design. The study was carried out in five phases as follows: Phase 1: Determination of the needed digital resources preservation skills and knowledge by the librarians. Phase II: Determination of the components of digital resources preservation programme to be developed. Phase III: Development of the draft digital resources preservation programme. Phase IV: Validation of the draft digital resources preservation programme. Phase V: Revision of the draft digital resources preservation programme. The population of the study was made up of 540 librarians working in the 37 federal university libraries in Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the 177 librarians that made up the respondents. Three instruments were used for data collection, namely: the Needs Assessment Questionnaire (NAQ), the Digital Resources Preservation Programme Questionnaire (DRPPQ) and the interview schedule. The DRPPQ was face validated by three experts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Cronbach alpha reliability index was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument and it yielded an overall coefficient of אּ = 0.90. Data was collected personally by the researcher. Mean and Standard deviation were used to analyze the data collected on the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The draft of the developed digital resources preservation programrme was validated by five experts, namely two Library Science lecturers, two Computer science lecturers and one curriculum expert. The study revealed that the major objective of digital resources preservation programme empowerment was to enable librarians participate in proactive protection of digital resources in libraries (X = 3.68). The contents of digital resources preservation programme among others include uploading of digital data to the internet/intranet (X = 3.41) and archiving of digital information (X = 3.39). The instructional strategies that could be used for the programme include group discussion (X = 3.50), cooperative learning (X = 3.48), and the use of demonstration to develop practical skills (X = 3.45). Also, the evaluation strategies that could be used for the programme include interactive exercises on digital resources preservation (X = 3.42), and practical application of knowledge and skills on digital preservation techniques (X = 3.29). Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that it is pertinent to make adequate plan for the preservation of digital resources by training the librarians to enable them acquire the required preservation skills and knowledge to function effectively in the libraries. There should be constant and timely in-service training of practicing librarians and library educators in order to keep them abreast with the changing technological innovations in library trend so as to remain relevant as information professionals.