Being a paper presented at the KOHA15 Conference, held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan,

19th to 21st October, 2015.

Saturday U. OmeluzorC. Evans Otuza, Ph.D.

Gloria O. Oyovwe-Tinuoye

Highlight This paper discusses Introduction The concept and benefits of automation. Integrated Library Software (ILS) products ILS adoption in academic libraries across Nigeria while

expatiating on KOHA ILS as viable solution for effectivelibrary service delivery to library users.

Explicit step-by-step strategy used to import a total of 23, 274records from X-Lib automation software to KOHA ILS at LazOtti Memorial Library, Babcock University; and

Concludes by encouraging libraries to adopt viable automationsoftware such as KOHA in order to forestall problemsassociated with system failure, poor service provision to theclientele and none visibility of the library and its materials tothe library users.

Introduction “Library and information science occupies a vantage

position in the education sector and plays a strategic rolein national growth and development” (Shekarau, 2014, p.iii).

Prior to the use of information and communicationtechnology (ICT) tools in the library to access anddisseminate information, traditional methods werepredominantly used.

Ayiah and Kumah (2011) asserted that traditional libraryprocesses proved unsatisfactory to respond quicklyenough in a technology driven environment.

Due to the growing number of collections inlibraries for various courses offered in a universityand the decentralization of library activities foreffective service delivery to library users,

Omeluzor, Adara, Madukoma, Bamidele andUmahi (2012) averred that it became inevitable touse automation software that would provide on-the-spot access to information, take accuraterecords or stock of library collections, identifymaterials on loan, link with other libraries andprovide adequate library services to the users.

Library automation is the use of computer and otherassociated technologies to manage the library operations.

It is an improved method to render services and to provideaccess to the library collections.

It creates opportunities for library users to access thelibrary’s collections without necessarily being physicallypresent in the library.

It is a promising trend in library management and deliveryof quality library services to the library users.

Considering far reaching conspicuous benefits thatautomation software offers, they are now been deployedby libraries in the bid to join the global informationsociety on the Internet to deliver services to a widerpopulace of library users in diverse regions irrespective ofgeo-political location, space and time.

Concept of automationAutomation is

synonymous to qualitycontrol and effectivemanagement usingcomputer and associatedtechnologies to do whatcould have been donemanually.

Benefits of automationWhy is library automation necessaryin library operations?1. Library automation manages library

processes and services.2. It enhances access and retrieval of

information materials.3. It improves delivery of quality

services to library users.

4. It integrates all library operations andservices that comes in separate modulessuch as acquisition, cataloguing, serials,circulation and reference services intoone system.

5. Automation is a marketing tool to marketthe library and its services.

6. It showcases a library and its parentinstitution especially with software thatis Internet compliant like Koha.

7. It gives a library an edge over its competitors.8. It enhance collaboration and provide active

link among libraries.9. It supports quick retrieval of information

materials.11. It increases the visibility of both the library

and the university through a constantonline/web presence

12. Support distant students and communityusers.

Okiy (1998) affirmed that theapplication of computer technologyto university libraries hastransformed the pattern ofinformation handling, provision

of services and theperception inlibrary cooperationworldwide.

RATIONALE FOR THIS PAPER Academic libraries all over the world are established to

support its parent institution. In this 21st century, librariesare adopting new methods to deliver services to itsclientele through the use of ICT tools, thereby enhancinglearning, teaching and research of its parent institution.

A study by Aguolu, Harunan and Aguolu in 2006 cited inSharma (2009) revealed that most academic and researchlibraries in Nigeria have not computerized any of theirfunctions.

It is now a decade since Aguolu, et al, made that claim;therefore, it is pertinent to critically look at the extent towhich ILS is being adopted and used in academiclibraries in Nigeria.

Integrated Library software productsProprietary ILS Open Source ILSSource code is controlled by vendor.

Source code is accessible to everyone. No vendor lock in.

Lack of support from vendor(Osaniyi, 2010).

Support is available to users through online user group.

High cost of product and susceptible to virus attack (Omeluzor, et al. 2012).

It is free, anyone can copy, and share (Uzomba et al. (2015). It runs on Solaris and Ubuntu OS.

It cannot be modified, changed, altered or customized.

It can be modified, changed, altered and customized.

Adoption of Library Automation Software in some Nigeria libraries The first attempt to computerize Nigerian

university libraries was in the 1970s (Ibrahim,2012).

The International Institute for TropicalAgriculture (IITA), Ibadan in 1984 announcedits large-scale automation success story usingBattelle Automated Search Information System(BASIS).

(Ibrahim, 2012 and Abbas, 2014).

The National UniversitiesCommission (NUC) in 1994introduced TINLIB, a foreignsoftware into the university libraries.Many libraries like Ladoke Akintola

University of Technology andDevelopment Policy Centre libraryat Ibadan adopted TINLIB

(Idowu and Mabawonku, 1999).

The University of Nigeria,Enugu (UNEC) Library,one of the FederalUniversities in the SouthEast zone at several timesautomated with TINLIB, X-LIB and LIB+.

The University of BeninLibrary is currently usingStrategic Library AutomationManagement (SLAM), anindigenous proprietary ILSthat is incompatible withInternet and web resources.

Failure of Proprietary softwareAutomation of libraries in Nigeria using

proprietary ILS such as X-lib, TINLIB, LIB+,CDS/ISIS had failed due to problemsassociated with porosity, compatibility issue,susceptible to virus attack, vendors’ poorattitude to respond and lack of skilfulmanpower

(Adeyemi, 2002; Osaniyi, 2010; Omeluzor, et al., 2012 andMbakwe and Ibegbula, 2014).

Adoption of KOHA in some Nigerian LibrariesThe Bowen University Library,a privately owned university inNigeria automated their librarywith Koha open source integratedlibrary software

(Otunla and Akanmu-Adeyemo, 2010).

The University of Jos alsoadopted KOHA ILS for holisticlibrary management and onlinelibrary registration.Akpokodje and Akpokodje(2015) confirmed that “opensource ILSs are more costeffective than proprietary ILSs”.

The RedeemersUniversity, MOWE alsoadopted KOHA and iscurrently supporting theoperations and servicesof its library.

Laz Otti Memorial (LOM) Library,Babcock University; a privatelyowned institution of higher learningby the Seventh-day Adventist Churchadopted Xlib in 2003 which failed(Omeluzor, et al. 2012).In 2012 after the failure of Xlib, it

adopted KOHA, installed byProjektlink Konsult Limited, Ibadan.

Why adopt Koha?Full-featured ILS: Koha is a true

enterprise-class ILS with comprehensivefunctionality including basic or advancedoptions. In use worldwide in libraries ofall sizes.It includes modules for circulation,

cataloguing, acquisitions, serials,reserves, patron management, branchrelationships, and more.

International Library Standards Compliant:Koha is built using library standards

and protocols that ensure interoperability with other systems and technologies, while supporting existing workflows and tools.

Web-based Interfaces: Koha's OPAC,circulation, management and self-checkout interfaces are all based onstandards-compliant World Wide Webtechnologies – XHTML, CSS andJavaScript.You do not have to install any software on

your clients systems. All they need is abrowser. This makes systemsadministration tasks easier.

Dual Database Design: Koha uses adual database design that utilizes thestrengths of the two major industry-standard database types - text-based andrelational database management system(RDBMS).This design feature ensures that Koha is

scalable enough to meet the transactionload of any library, no matter what the size.

Open Source: Koha isdistributed under the open-source General Public License(GPL).This gives you right to thesource code, modify, customize,change and alter the software tomeet your need.

No Vendor Lock-in: This is animportant part of the open-sourcepromise that there is no vendor lock-in.Libraries are free to install and use

Koha themselves if they have the in-house expertise or to purchasesupport or development services fromthe best available source.

Migration of data from XLIbto KOHAX-Lib is a proprietary softwarewhich did not provide any meansto export out its data either as aComma Separated Values(CSV) or as Machine ReadableCatalog (MARC) data.

A careful analysis of the X-Lib filesrevealed a database system of filesbased on Foxpro.The key files containing relevant

tables were identified.After identifying these files, the next

step was to find ways to merge thefiles and extract the data into CSVformat.

Several efforts were made touse the open sourceprogrammes – “open office”and “libre office” to open andmanipulate the data into aformat that can easily beexported to CSV withoutsuccess.

However, Goggling forDatabase file (DBF) to CSVconverter (Foxpro files are dbfformat) turned into‘DBFTOCSV’, a perl scriptthat did a wonderful job ofconverting the Xlib dbf filesinto a CSV file.

After generating the CSV file, the next challengewas to convert the CSV file into a format thatcan be imported into Koha.

The format for data import that Koha support isMARC.

To convert the CSV into MARC, the veryefficient utility which is “MarcEdit” was used.

MarcEdit is a free programme, which can do allsorts of manipulation with your Marc data.

MarcEdit was therefore employed to finish thejob and all the usable data in X-Lib wasimported into Koha.

After the conversion into MARCusing MarcEdit, the generatedMARC file was imported into Kohausing Bulkmarcimport script.At the end of the conversion, a total

of 23,274 records were importedinto the Koha database from X-Libfor LOM Library, BabcockUniversity.

Conclusion Access to available information resources in a

library’s collection and beyond is the mainreason for adoption and installation of an ILS.

The revolution and transformation which ILSbrought to the Nigeria libraries and informationscience environment in the last three decadeshas been tremendous.

This would be appreciable if libraries inNigeria explore and utilize viable automationsoftware to enhance their services to itsclientele.

Recommendations Libraries in Nigeria should be willing to go the whole

mile to adopt and implement viable automationsoftware that can stand the test of time.

The library administration should be at the fore in thecourse of transmitting the change necessary in themode of service provision in academic libraries.

Since funding constitutes a major setback to therealization of automating the library, adequateadministrative support – financial and otherwiseshould be accorded the library for its success.

Thank you for your time.