Electronic Information Resources Sharing in University Libraries in South East Nigeria

Abstract

The study is on electronic information resources sharing in university libraries in in south-east. The survey design was adopted. Data were gathered through questionnaire. Population of study comprised librarians working in the ICT/e-library unit of university libraries in south-east Nigeria. A total of 45 (93.8%) questionnaire were retrieved and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Multimedia resources and CD-ROMs are the major electronic resources university libraries in south-east shared with other libraries. CD-ROMs remains the main approach that libraries in the south-east adopt in sharing electronic information resources. Findings further reveals that there are several opportunities opened to university libraries for sharing of electronic information resources. The major challenges affecting functional electronic resources sharing are escalating cost of connectivity and attitude of heads of libraries towards e-resources sharing. Training and re-training of library staff, providing alternative sources for power supply, development of strong e-resources sharing policy, provision of strong internet access for libraries, etc, were identified as strategies that can be adopted for effective electronic information resource sharing. Library management and heads of university libraries should be proactive when engaging in electronic information resource sharing.