Preservation and Conservation Practices Influencing Service Delivery in University Libraries in Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

University libraries offer access to diverse collections of books, journals, databases, multimedia and other resources, as well as render relevant service delivery to meet the varying needs of their users. It has however been observed that many services provided in most university libraries are below the requirement of users. This may be as a result of poor preservation and conservation practices in university libraries. This study thus examined preservation and conservation practices influencing service delivery in university libraries in Edo State, Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design of the correlational type was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all 207 library personnel in six (6) university libraries in Edo State, Nigeria, and the study adopted a total enumeration technique due to the manageable population size for the researchers. The finding showed that the prominent services delivered in the university libraries are cataloguing and classification services (  = 3.69), circulation/readers services (  = 3.63) and internet services (  = 3.69; Std.). The level of preservation and conservation practices of the university libraries is high (  = 3.04). The findings revealed a positive significant relationship between preservation and conservation practices and service delivery (r = .411, P < 0.05. It was recommended that university libraries should encourage and train library personnel to maintain their willingness to ensure user satisfaction.