Perception and Attitude Towards Indigenous Knowledge Documentation by Library Personnel in Public Libraries in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Public libraries are not only expected to provide information resources and services to different categories of users in the society, they also need to preserve the culture and tradition of the people for the sake of posterity. Library personnel in the public libraries can carry out this responsibility through Indigenous Knowledge (IK) documentation. However, it might be difficult for librarians to give priority to IK documentation if they do not have a favourable perception and the appropriate attitude towards it. Therefore, this study empirically examined the perception and attitude of librarians towards IK documentation in public libraries in South-west, Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design was adopted and data was collected with the use of a questionnaire. The population of this study consists of 126 library personnel in all the public libraries, in South-west, Nigeria. Due to the manageable number of the respondents, the total enumeration method was adopted. The data was analysed with the use of simple frequency and percentages, mean and standard deviation facilitated by the Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS). Results revealed that most the respondents had a favourable perception of IK documentation as most of them (=3.29) felt that librarians in public libraries should be supported financially to document indigenous knowledge. Findings also revealed a positive attitude towards IK documentation by the library personnel with majority of them (=3.27) with the believe that documenting indigenous knowledge will enrich the library’s collection. Therefore, library personnel in public libraries should serve as vanguards for IK documentation. Thus, management of public libraries should invest in continuous professional development for the staff.