academic library: philosophy, nature, services, historical development and challenges

7/30/2019 Academic Library: Philosophy, nature, services, historical development and challenges

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ACADEMIC LIBRARY:

PHILOSOPHY, NATURE,PURPOSE, HISTORICAL

DEVELOPMENT, SERVICES

AND CHALLENGES

By:

([email protected])

(badaru-ayotunde.blogspot.com)

DECEMBER, 2012
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Introduction

An academic library is a type of library located in an academic institution such as a

university, polytechnic, college of education and other types of higher institutions

mainly to serve the information needs of the parent institution and support in theattainment of academic goals and objectives through supporting teaching and

research.

This paper examines the historical development, philosophy, nature, services and

challenges of an academic library without restrictions any region or any library.

Historical Development

Academic libraries are usually started on the same year of establishment as its

parent institution. They also evolve and develop as the parent institution develops.

It is for this reason that Weiner (2005) in his study of the history of academic

libraries in the United States examined the history of academic libraries from three

major periods in the evolution of higher education in the United States which

includes the colonial period, the nineteenth and early twentieth century and the

period of the world war. According to him, the history of the academic library in

the U.S can be traced back to the time John Harvard donated approximately 300

books to Harvard University which began the first academic library in the colonies

Weiner (2005). In fact, Harvard constructed the first freestanding library building

in 1841 (Hanson, 1989). The nineteenth and twentieth century being the period of

transition from just conservation and preservation of books to providing

accessibility for students in higher institutions. Further establishment of

institutions, publication of books, and increased demand for periodicals from 1880

to 1885 emphasized the need for academic libraries. It is from this humble

beginning that other academic libraries started and evolved as higher institutions

were established through the periods highlighted above.

In Nigeria, the history of academic libraries can be traced back to the establishment

of the University of Ibadan in 1948 which first started as University College

Ibadan; as pointed out earlier establishment of higher institutions simultaneously

establishes the academic library. From the period of independence, universities


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known as second generation universities were established in Zaria, Ife, Benin and

University of Ilorin Library established in 1976 the same year the university was

established. Also, the continuous establishment of several private universities all

over the country in different years has given rise to proliferation of academic

libraries in Nigeria both the private and government sectors of education.

Purpose

Traditionally, the purpose for the establishment of an academic library is to select,

acquire, organize and provide access to information materials that will suit the

information needs of individuals within and outside its parent body which usually

consists of staff and students. It is from this basic purpose that the academic

library supports its parent institution in attaining goals and objectives especially

academic ones. The academic library through collection development grooms a

well informed community of staff and students which will serve as a fertilizer for

ideas and innovations that increase the standard of a higher institution and the

educational system at large. Students and staff in an institution can learn new

things and be nourished with the wide range of information materials the academic

library has in stock.

Chisita (2009) quoting Beenham and Harrison noted that the main purpose of anacademic library is to serve the needs of the academic community, to provide

reference materials at appropriate levels, to provide study areas for students, to

provide lending services and an active information service, all these point to and

add to the overall purpose of ensuring that members of an educational community

where the academic library is located are well informed. In addition to this, the

author noted that the three main functions of a modern university are teaching,

research and extension services. Syllabus and courses offered by the students and

taught by the staff are major pointers to the information needed by students and

staff for both teaching and research. It is therefore important that academic

libraries periodically evaluate and compare the overall information need direction

including the goals and objectives of the parent institution with its own collections

to maintain its value in the institution and align its mission and vision with that of


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its parent body. The academic library through its collection is capable of providing

information needed for these functions.

With the advent and expanding use of digitized information materials and online

information retrieval systems, the academic library still serves its basic purpose buthas to conform to this trend by providing online services through web blogs,

websites, electronic journals, online newspapers and Online Public Access

Catalogue to satisfy its patrons, remain relevant and achieve its purpose in the

educational system and the 2.0 world.

To further examine the purpose of academic libraries, the University of Ilorin

Library being a perfect example of an academic library has the following

objectives: to assist in the achievement of learning through dissemination of

knowledge; to support the success of teaching and research activities of theUniversity of Ilorin; to meet the academic, research and personal advancement of

the university and its communities respectively through the abundance of

information resources in its stock; to offer to its clientele rich and current

information resources; to offer to its clientele a balanced traditional novel and

productive services for the main purpose of ensuring that the library disseminates

knowledge and advancement of scholarship. (www.unilorin.edu.ng/unilibrary/).

These objectives show a typical example of the purpose of academic libraries and

what is expected from it in its parent community.

Nature

The nature of the academic library consists of the characteristics, qualities and

features its components possess; each of the components making up an academic

library such as collections, location and so on has certain qualities differentiating it

from other type of libraries.

-High population of patrons: The population of staff and students of a university

or any other higher institution is always on the high side, this implies that patrons

the academic library serves is also high; the academic library is expected to serve

all individuals in its immediate institution which includes staff, students and others

which is usually in thousands for a single institution.
http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/unilibrary/http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/unilibrary/http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/unilibrary/http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/unilibrary/


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Lecturers, undergraduates, research institute staff, postgraduate students, medical

staff and many other individuals too numerous to mention form a high patron base

of the academic library.

-Large size of personnel: An academic library is characterized by a large numberof staff members which range from university librarians, readers services

librarians, technical services librarians, principal librarians, senior librarians to

library officers and so on depending on the librarys organizational structure.

Some large academic libraries might even have more than one university librarian

apart from the deputy university librarian. So therefore, the larger the academic

library the higher the number staff members.

The various department and units the academic library possesses requires the

appointment of staff with varying positions, the technical services departmentalone for example will typically appoint technical services librarian, acquisitions

librarian, serials librarian, cataloguers which will consist of chief cataloguers and

junior cataloguers, and other support staff for typing and updating of catalogues,

stamping of newly acquired information materials, accessioning and other behind

the scene activities in the academic libraries. Non academic staff such as security

staff, cleaners, messengers, porters and store keepers are also not excluded which

increases the number of staff the academic library employs.

-Wide and varied service provision: Due to the numerous amounts of patrons the

academic library serves, the needs of these patrons are heterogeneous, requiring

varying services to satisfy these needs. The academic library with the mandate to

provide for the information needs of a wide variety of patrons has to expand and

widen the scope of its services for its mandate to be achieved.

Information materials and services required by lecturers will vary based on their

field of study and interest; this is the same with students and other support staff in

an institution. Services offered by the academic library will be discussed later in

this paper.

-Extensive and complex collection of information materials: Academic libraries

usually have a policy that guides the acquisition, processing and organization of

information materials. This is necessary to ensure that the library does acquire

information materials that are in line with all the courses and syllabuses in the


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institution. The academic library in an effort to accommodate all fields of study in

its parent institution acquires an extensive and complex information material

collection, no wonder the Library of Congress Classification Scheme is popular

known as being suitable for academic libraries.

-Complex Administration and Management: An academic library in its

organizational structure usually has administrative staff members which are usually

headed by a university librarian especially for a university. However,

administration in an academic library is usually complex depending on the size of

the library. Management of an academic library sometimes goes beyond the

university librarian to the administrators of the parent institution which shows

some level of complexity.

-Inter-related departments and units: The departments and units that make up anacademic library are inter-related with one department and unit connecting to

another in certain way. Academic libraries consist of two major divisions which is

the technical services division and readers services division. Departments in the

technical services division work behind the scenes and do activities such as

acquisition, processing (stamping, accessioning and registration), cataloguing and

classification and others. Information materials from the department in the

technical services division moves to the departments in the readers services

division for shelving, use and dissemination and then back to the technical servicesdivision for preservation techniques.

From this simple explanation, it should be noted that each department cannot

function alone but requires the combined effort of all departments for complete and

efficient service delivery.

Services

The services provided by an academic library are based on its divisions,

departments and units. Major divisions in an academic library that provides

services to patrons in varying ways include the technical services division and

readers services division. These divisions houses other department in an

academic library, these departments then provide services based on their area of


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expertise. The technical services division and readers services division are major

divisions in an academic library that provides services to patrons.

Readers Services Division:

Registration of patrons, borrowing of materials to registered patrons, shelving and

shelf reading of library materials, taking statistics of students in the library and

books consulted, filing and interfiling of registration records, receiving of books

from the cataloguing section for shelving and shelf reading, taking adequate

information about carrel rooms, determining reserve books, directional function:

offering direction to patrons to find materials, answering enquires from patrons,

literature searching and academic searching: searching the internet for materials

on behalf patrons and websites in academics and receiving and documenting of old

newspapers.

Technical Services Division:

Consulting faculties for list of titles needed by students (sending them catalogues

of books), pre-Order Checking (checking if books are already available before

acquisition), filling of order from for acquisition of new information materials,

receiving of books ordered, cross checking of books requested, preparation of form

to the bursary for payment, stamping of books received (Title page, gift, security,

accession, ownership stamps), assigning accession numbers to each book stamped,

sending processed books to cataloguing section, receiving of new materials from

the acquisition section, cataloguing of all new materials, updating the catalogues in

the library, typing and updating catalogues processed by the cataloguers,

determining and assigning subjects to materials, receiving all materials having torn

covers, binding and providing hard covers to torn materials, acquisition of journals

(Subscription, Internet downloading, gifts, exchange), classification of serials

(Foreign and Local), cataloguing of periodicals, registration of periodicals,receiving, registration, stapling, indexing of daily newspapers, retrieving dailies of

the previous day and replacing them with new ones, sending old newspapers to

documents unit, daily shelving and occasional shelf reading of periodicals.


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With the advent of the internet, online information retrieval, digital formats of

books and periodicals have added to and modified the services provided by

academic library. Academic libraries now have to provide Online Public Access

Catalogue (OPAC) services to patrons and provide internet access for reading and

downloading of online resources. Integrating traditional services with digitalservices is vital to the continuous relevance of the library to its community as the

ability keeping up with latest trends enhances services provision.

Philosophy

The philosophy of an academic library can also be known as the principles

governing the existence of an academic library. The service philosophy of anacademic library is majorly minimum service philosophy. This philosophy is

majorly due to the large collections and large patrons the academic library

possesses. Minimum service philosophy aims at attending majority of patrons at

the shortest time possible. Patrons dont get special treatment to ensure their

information needs are satisfied, usually they are just directed to shelves unlike the

special library.

The academic library is established to serve the information needs of its parent

body, this sets a down principles for its operations of which one is the fact the

parent body always comes first. The academic library might help others through

inter-library loans and consortiums but not at the expense of its parent body.

In addition this, the philosophy behind the collection development of an academic

library, acknowledges the fact that information materials are acquired only based

on the choices of lecturers and academic staff of the institution. Catalogues are

usually distributed to faculties and departments for review and selection of titles to

be acquired.

There are several principles guiding the activities of academic libraries around the

world which will differ but one remains constant: the parent institution comes first.


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Challenges

1. We dont see the need.

Countless number of patrons makes this statement when asked: Why dont you go

to the library? It is no longer news that the explosion of information and the easy

exposure the internet offers has shaken the foundations of librarianship. The need

for patrons to visit the four walls of an academic library is seen as burden some

when information materials can be downloaded while listening to music in the

comfort of your home. The internet though one of the most vital trends that have

given information exchange and use a huge boost has threatened the role of a

librarian as a steward of information.

The academic librarys role in its parent institution therefore may be eroded, as

patrons such as staff and students use the internet for online information retrieval

thereby devaluing the library and its services. The academic library if care isnt

taken and improvements arent made periodically will be ignored and just be

structure in the institution. However, this leads to another challenge.

2. How much does it cost?

An academic library inevitably considers this question in an effort to keep with the

trends that the internet and digitized formats of information have brought up. The

cost of acquiring, installing, using, and maintaining technological innovations is

usually a big challenge to academic libraries especially in Africa. Digital formats

of storing information, purchase, installation and maintenance of library software,

internet service, and subscription to online databases among others require funds in

the academic library.

Academic libraries majorly get funding from the parent institution they are located.

Ignorance and general lack of funds will see the library get low allocations; the

academic library constantly has to show its relevance to its parent institution and

community to keep getting funds and allocations.


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3. How do I keep up?

Librarians in the field are often bothered about the level of flexibility required of

them in the use of digital formats, online information searching, use of blogs and

wikis, websites and emails. This is due lack of proper education and resistance to

change. Some librarians who prefer the traditional means of librarianship see

virtual librarianship as a burden and are often disturbed. Librarians who ask this

question get discouraged and pose a threat to the advancement of the academic

libraries in any part of the world.

Muller pointed out that change is one of the challenges facing special libraries and

pointed out six trends that constitute change that not only special libraries but all

types of libraries are facing today. These trends include: Exponential growth in

the demand for information, the new era of global systems, from baby boomers to

generation Y (the entrance of internet oriented individuals both staff and patrons).

Librarians constantly have to keep with trends like the ones above.

This is why younger lads are encouraged to join the profession as they are at the

center of this age of internet and digitized information use. Older librarians are

encouraged to go for workshops and seminars that will sharpen their skills and get

out of that traditional library environment.

4. Why should I be a librarian?

Adolescents and future graduates of universities ask this question showing the fact

they dont see the need to be a librarian. The librarian profession as been

stereotyped so much that librarians are seen individuals who just sit in the library,

the ability of individuals to get information online further gets adolescents asking:

why should I be a librarian?, and saying: people wont need me. This poses amajor challenge to the present and the future librarianship.

Succession is important in any profession and librarianship isnt an exception.

Present staff and experts in the field should ensure they dont relent in encouraging

young lads into joining the profession. Junior staff should be appointed for


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varying positions in different libraries, encouraged to go conferences workshops

and so on.

5. Other challenges?

Of course there are other challenges. Preservation of the academic librarys

collections is one as information materials are acquired without proper foresight,

policy and operational plans to preserve them. Library materials therefore after a

while begin to deteriorate, damage and are eventually destroyed.

Administrational challenges also exist although it differs from one academic

library to another. These challenges might include neglect, low income, incentives

and allowances and managerial flaws.

Acquisition and maintenance of library infrastructure is another. Library

infrastructure differs from one library to another although there are one common to

all libraries such as catalogues, shelf, reading furniture, electricity, water, air

conditioners or fans and so on. The maintenance of these infrastructures might

accumulate to high overhead cost and take a part of the librarys budget except for

special circumstances where they are charged to the librarys account.

Conclusion

An academic library is integral to any parent institution it and is a representation of

the knowledge repository of an academic institution supporting teaching, research

and other academic activities with its wide variety of information resources.

However, librarians have to show the value and relevance of the academic library

through proper delivery of services and keeping up with trends to meet up the

demands of their patrons.

As for the challenges, the academic library I believe has what I take to beat the

odds and reach out to patrons in an academic setting which will not only see the

academic library esteemed but also excel in all ramifications.


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References

1. Adeogun, M. (2008). Emerging University Library services in an ever-changing

and knowledge-intensive learning environment. A paper presented at the ACU

conference of executive heads, 28

th

Nov., Hyderabad, India, pp, 1-15.

2. Chisita Collence T. (2009). The critical roles of libraries in academic

institutions: Nerve centers of learning. Retrieved from:www.KMAfrica.com

3. Hanson, Eugene R (1989). College libraries: The colonial period to the

twentieth century. Advances in Library Administration and Organization

8:171-199.

4. Shiflett, O. Lee. (1994). Academic libraries in Encyclopedia of Library

History. Edited by J. Wayne A. Wiegand and Donald G. Davis. New York:Garland.

5. Weiner, Sharon G. (2005). The History of Academic Libraries in the United

States: a review of literature. Library Philosophy and Practice 7:2
http://www.kmafrica.com/http://www.kmafrica.com/http://www.kmafrica.com/http://www.kmafrica.com/


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