CHALLENGES OF COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT IN LIBRARY

1.1 Introduction

A library collection is the sum total of library materials i.e. books, manuscripts, serials, government publications, pamphlets, catalogues, reports, recordings, microfilm reels, micro films, microfiche etc, Building a collection may occasionally involve the selection and acquisition of these materials, but in most cases it is the planning of the systematic development of the already existing collection. The library budget, available staff and space, policies established by the library either in terms of the variety and number of clientele served or in terms of the purposes and goals implicit in the institutional environment, in which the library works, are the governing factors for collection development of any library. The growth of most library collection is the fruit of great generosity and open-mindedness of the authority.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Libraries and their collections have existed for thousands of years. The existence of a library in Red Temple at Uruk, dating from about 3000 B.C. proves the aforesaid statement. Collecting and organizing information and making it available to individuals have had a long history. Our libraries are the repositories of the wisdom of ages stored in the form of recorded information for use of present and future generations. Digital technology has made it more easy and comfortable to apply this wisdom. Earlier, the main task of the librarian was to select the reading material, which has now been extended to creation and maintenance of the website along with the existing duties. The recorded knowledge is to library, what heart and brain are to human body. Library collection has ranged from clay tablets to papyrus sheets, paper documents and silicon chips, optical and magnetic discs and so on. Collection and dissemination of information are the main functions of a library. Importance and success of library collection lies in the satisfaction of users’ information needs.

Academic libraries have a varied collection to fulfill the needs. Provision of syllabi, study and research materials add to the library collection. Collection preserves knowledge for the future. So, provision for information material for cultural and recreational reading is another important aspect. The activities of acquisitions include need assessment, collection development policies, book selection process, purchasing of books, accessioning and addition of books to the existing collection. Such activities are known as book selection. The terminology was changed and the acquisition activities were known as collection development. This term is being used in the libraries, where the existing holdings are assessed and each new title is considered to ascertain whether it is going to strengthen the existing holding or not. The books are not purchased on the merit of the individual title but on the basis of the individual needs and requirements of the potential users. The declining financial resources, space problem in storage area, administrative problems on the one hand and exponential growth of document along with readers’ demand on the other hand compel the libraries to formulate policies and principles for collection development. The word is being used in a wider connotation.

The collection includes books, periodicals, printed and non-printed reading material, graphic, audio-video material, archival materials, manuscripts, microfilms, microfiches, and CDROM database, and -resources including local history collection. Collection evaluation and user studies activities are the major components of this section. Collection management signifies different aspects of collection building as well as different aspects of collection management like use of collection, storage and organization, circulation, information service, resource allocation, access to library resources etc. In the current trend in collection development, the librarian emphasises on the access to information, which is not holding oriented but has an impact on budget allocation. The optimum retrieval of document should be on the basis of the priority area of study. The collection management policy, techniques, procedures for acquisition of books, serial publications, non-book materials in an electronic environment plays a vital role due to the integration of ICT.

Therefore, in Imo State University Library where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Challenges of Collection Development in Library.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

The Nigeria public libraries are designed to serve the general public, irrespective of their background, sex, age, states and religious. In order to achieve the aim of setting up a public library, adequate collection required by the users should be made available to them at the right time.

Considering the purpose of establishing a public library. It is necessary to beef up the collections of the public library from time to time so that appropriate library materials are made available to the users. Now for the Nigeria public libraries to provide good service to their patron, at require finance to beef up the collections of the public library, but due to scarcity of funds most of purpose of having public libraries is not undertaken at all.

Also the problems of gifts and exchanged affects collections development in Nigeria public libraries, the preponderance of gift received in public libraries are not relevant to the needs of the users.

Large proportions of those gifts are book, discovered from libraries in oversea countries that do not suit the local situation. When the materials exchanged are loaded in favour of one library the exchange agreement is usually terminated. The exchanged programme is supposed to be a symbiotic relationship that benefits all the libraries involved in the agreement. The above stated problems and lot more has affected the collection development in Nigeria public libraries, which has landed inadequate supply of library collection.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to identify the Challenges of Collection Development in Library using Imo State University Library as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To find out the state of collection development in Nigeria libraries.
2. To identify the problems of collection development in Nigeria public libraries
3. To identify solution to the problems of collection development.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What is the state of collection development?
• What are the problems of collection development in Nigeria?
• What are the solutions to the problems of collection development?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

• H0: There is no significant factor affecting Collection Development in Imo State University Library
• H1: There is a significant factor affecting Collection Development in Imo State University Library

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1.7 Significance of Study

The significance of this study is to help in following ways.

1. Help in supplying adequate library materials and making them available at the right time.
2. It helps to know the needs and demands of library patrons in search of information.
3. It helps in carrying out community analysis.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of this study is focused on the problem of collection development with emphasis on Imo State University Library, the study will also examine the inherent problem to the issues of collection development of public libraries.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

• Collection: It is the means by which information items or materials are finding in the libraries.
• Development: It is the means of assembling of materials to insure that the collection is good enough to certify the collection by updating the library with qualitative books.