INTRODUCTION
In this Info Age, Information Technological innovation has revolutionized every facet of human existence to an extent that the current technology could be referred to as digital natives. This Data Technology has brought the globe to a issue of staying a world-wide in conditions of info dissemination. It is against this background that Sutton(2008) envisaged “Information and facts Engineering has quickly altered the entire world currently.” This is evidenced in the alter of cultural, social, economic and educational facets of existence. In this regard, the influence of Data Technologies has been felt in the residence, education and learning, health and fitness defense and security, finance and commerce, the market and in the office. This technological improvement has also had an affect on standard info institutions this kind of as libraries.
Facts Technology’s affect on libraries in academia has been on actions anxious with in-residence keeping routines this sort of as acquisition, cataloguing, serials command, circulation of library resources, taking care of figures and retrieval of info. Academic libraries are now supplying their clientele with a lot superior and efficient information solutions via the use of Facts Know-how. The application of Information and facts Know-how to details management things to do has resulted in the total improvement in the performance of tutorial libraries.
An academic library is the nerve centre of its father or mother establishment thus conference the teaching and study wants of that institution. It is established with the major focus of providing powerful information assistance delivery for college students, instructing staff members, administrative and technical employees of an educational establishment. In this regard, present-day and pertinent textbooks and journals as well as reference materials constitute the collection of an tutorial library to match with the facts requirements of the curricula. In an educational library, an suitable and conducive looking through ecosystem need to be delivered for end users and it should really be appropriately staffed. In a nutshell, an educational library supports exploration function and complements the instructing/understanding programme of the establishment.
FOURAH BAY University LIBRARY
Fourah Bay Faculty Library is a three-storey setting up situated in the centre of the campus housing a variety of sections/departments. The features/functions of the diverse departments of the Library are all geared in the direction of just one goal, thus the provision of powerful services shipping and delivery in meeting the data needs of its clientele. Each individual division is headed by a properly trained and certified specialist staff supported by para-qualified and non-specialist workers who are all answerable to the Acting Librarian.
The reduced ground ground of the Library homes the Sierra Leone Collection and Bindery. The Sierra Leone Selection residences resources prepared on Sierra Leone and the neighbouring nations around the world products composed by Sierra Leoneans handful of copies of dissertations and theses manuscripts, pamphlets and pamphlets-files chosen titles of nearby newspapers, Sierra Leone Gazette Fourah Bay Higher education and College publications periodicals these types of as Sierra Leone Experiments, Africana Analysis Bulletin, Sierra Trade Journal, Sierra Leone Language Evaluate, Historical Journal of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Geographical Journal Sierra Leone Chambers of Commerce Annual Reviews Sierra Leone Functions/Charges CSM Studies, Parliamentary Debates and Proceedings Yearly Experiences of the different Governing administration ministries and departments and Presidential Addresses. Attaching such importance to this division for investigate perform, the Sierra Leone Assortment is referred to as our national heritage. Found on this flooring also is the Bindery which is the Conservation and Preservation Unit of the Library for the preservation of library components to prolong their daily life span. It also operates commercially as a way of making earnings for the Higher education.
On the ground floor of the developing on entering the Library are the Circulation and Cataloguing departments, American Shelf, the Librarian’s Business office, the Reference Part of few stocks with a conducive looking through spot and a Photocopying Unit. The Circulation/Lending section of Fourah Bay Faculty Library like all tutorial libraries is liable for lending resources primarily books for use outdoors the creating or property-studying. The Circulations Desk which is adjacent to the Librarian’s Office and Reference Assortment handles all lending methods, so charging and discharging. The Circulations staff also register new learners and those people needing to become customers by issuing them prepared library playing cards for the use of the library and its services. Recalling overdue books and reserving demanded textbooks returned variety component of the routines of the Challenge Desk. The Challenge Desk workers also retain records of all materials issued for house-reading.
The operations of the Cataloguing Office which is also positioned in the floor flooring involve the classification, cataloguing and accessioning of all newly acquired supplies especially textbooks right before placed on the cabinets for accessibility by end users. Typing and submitting of catalogue cards and stamping of catalogue textbooks with Library’s possession stamp is also done by the staff members of the Cataloguing Office. The American Shelf designed by the American Embassy in collaboration with the Fourah Bay School Library is a selection of American literature, record and several titles of international magazines and supplies a compact examining area. Photocopying, printing, laminating as perfectly as comb binding careers are done on professional basis in a rented space. This Photocopying Portion situated at the floor flooring of the making. The total to start with ground of the library properties the Periodicals Department which properties present and back challenges of periodicals in pretty much all disciplines. These involve journals, abstracts, indexes and journals.
Lecturers, pupils and researchers locate the Periodicals Section valuable for making ready lecture notes, carrying out assignments and enterprise research pursuits. This Office also residences publications for leisure reading as they consist of info these as information goods, bulletins, statistical facts, and ads about products and solutions and providers. The routines carried out in the Periodicals Department incorporate subscribing to journals, claiming again concerns paid out for but not however to be acquired as perfectly as lacking issues, getting into of acquired journals on kardex, making ready components to be sure.
The Textbook Assortment is partly situated in the second floor of the Library and as the identify indicates, this section shares suggested texts by the a variety of school training team in meeting the information needs of the curricula. Previous examination query papers, dissertations and theses as perfectly as well prepared lecture notes by some departments kind section of the Textbook Assortment. This division is very patronised by pupils and lecturers in boosting training/mastering programmes.
THE Will need FOR DITIGISING FOURAH BAY College or university LIBRARY
Academic libraries should really transfer alongside with the world-wide tendencies of facts technological improvement. I is consequently considered with a lot optimism that digitizing Fourah Bay School Library will significally boost its functions and enhance its information services supply. A digitized library makes sure an precise and rapid information processing, storage, retrieval and accessibility. The use of pcs in accumulating, processing, examining, retrieving of data and details for dissertation to users could be seen as a good privilege savored by tutorial libraries in this Facts Aged. According to Birdsall (2009) a digitised library operates within just an digital collaborative environment to access information irrespective its place. This indicates that effortless access to electronic publications of textbooks and journal is feasible and feasible as a result of a digitized library process. Digitised library enables data to be accessed by an unrestricted viewers at the exact same time and anywhere.
In accordance to the fifth maxim of Library Science asserted by S. R. Ranganathan (1931) “The library is a expanding organism”. That means that libraries especially academic libraries in Third Globe international locations in this Information and facts Age should not keep on being static but be dynamic and transfer alongside with the international developments of technological growth in phrases of information and facts processing, preservation, retrieval and dissemination. Justifiably, Fourah Bay School Library needs to undertake and adapt this pattern as a way of enhancing the products and services it offers in trying to satisfy the demands of information and facts seekers.
The dire require to digitize Fourah Bay College library stems from the simple fact a digital is just one that harnesses electronic technologies and infrastructure to look for, acquire, organise and distribute cultural, historical and scientific information whether or not it is textual content, visual images or audio. Digital libraries make it attainable for digital publications of textbooks and journals to be accessed by an endless viewers at the exact time and wherever. In this regard, digitising tutorial libraries these types of as Fourah Bay Faculty Library is a necessity. Justifiably, there is dire need to have to digitise Fourah Bay College Library as the routines carried out manually are time-consuming as opposed to the digitised program which is incredibly a lot a lot quicker and it is thus important to digitize Fourah Bay School Library as a way of effectively enhancing its functions. Devoid of controversy, a digitize Fourah Bay College or university Library system is extremely substantially in its operations and retrieval of information and facts and lookup techniques involve much less labour, skills and expertise as effectively qualified competence in reference queries posed by facts seekers.
Digitising Fourah Bay College Library is justifiable as effectiveness and efficiency in information services shipping is ensured in excess of the handbook. A digitised library process will increase speed in doing duties and subsequently boosts productiveness. Indisputably, this sort of a library locations the full methods it has at the rapid disposal of the consumer. Realistically, improvement in the services presented by a digitised library will be on a scale unattainable to reach by manual procedures. An additional position of justification in digitising Fourah Bay College Library is that the existing handbook program is incapable of managing the operate-load having into account the current condition of the assortment in terms of measurement and improve in the amount of people. It must be pointed out with worry that materials primarily publications are included to the assortment on a daily foundation and the scholar inhabitants of the school raises just about every yr.
Trying to keep pace with the present tendencies in this Information Age, it is essential to digitise Fourah Bay University Library so that it will obtain some prestige. It is a universally approved phenomenon that libraries that have initiated a mechanised programme have attracted attention and improved their standing appropriately. In this working day and age, there is unquestionably improvement in the forex of searchable information, enhancement in the forex and manufacturing of Recent Awareness Bulletin, and skill to lookup and manipulate information in a amount of diverse ways as a consequence of digitisation. In this regard, there is a need to digitise Fourah Bay School Library as the technique boosts its Current Awareness Products and services in preserving consumers abreast of latest developments in their spots of interest.
As no library is self-sufficient in information sources, data sharing is facilitated as a consequence of digitisation. It is pretty probable with the use of the computer to share the assets of Fourah Bay University Library with other libraries and information and facts units without the complications and constraints represented by the catalogue. By digitising Fourah bay Higher education Library, team can master new abilities primarily based on this new know-how wearisome careers can be delegated to machines simpler and quicker accessibility to details simpler usually means of remedying typing errors availability of shorter operating hours therefore supplying extra earnings for the staff members.
WHAT TO AND WHY DIGITISE
Digitised tutorial libraries stand to gain among other factor increased output and additional successful responsibilities in documentation and information and facts processing, details network enhancement and excellent command of records management and retrieval.
Using into account the dimension of the Fourah Bay University Library selection, its digitisation desires ample funding by the college administration. Nonetheless, if not the Sierra Leone Selection which holds exceptional and critical documents of historical and analysis benefit, some of which are out of print have to have to be digitised. By digitising the Sierra Leone Selection, the country’s cultural heritage will be perfectly preserved for posterity. Local newspapers and some critical files housed in the Assortment are so flimsy that if they are not digitised, as yrs go by, there is every single tendency for them to put on out and turn out to be unreadable.
The Cataloguing Division of the Library which processes newly obtained products prior to put on the cabinets for accessibility requires a computerised cataloguing program that will show a clear superiority above its manual counterpart. A digitised cataloguing technique entails the manufacturing of catalogue cards as perfectly as the availability of high pace printers. Compared with guide cataloguing, a digitised cataloguing technique makes certain enhancement in operate stream far more effective operate area and increased productivity is also envisaged. Dependent on the availability of required funds to embark on this all-significant challenge, the Sierra Leone Collection and the Cataloguing Department need to be prioritised in digitising Fourah Bay College or university Library.
Staff and end users will very enjoy the immense rewards to be derived in digitising Fourah Bay College or university Library new competencies are realized based mostly on this new engineering. As for the staff, tedious career can be delegated to devices and typing problems can be simply remedied. People have less complicated and a lot quicker accessibility to information thereby reducing intermediary with a digitised library method. Some rewards of digitising tutorial libraries include things like improving improved output additional successful duties in documentation and data processing, information and facts network enhancement and ideal command of information management and retrieval. According to Tedd (2009), academic librarians will obtain better control and manipulation of their work natural environment via the use of digitised library process. In this regard, Library wants to be suitably and adequately stocked with applicable materials to meet the data demands of the curricula, a digitised technique will make certain simple range and acquisition of resources from publishers and their distributors. The purchase of elements especially books and journals can be done online and fewer paper is involved in this training. And a major advantage of a digitised library program especially the Acquisition Office is the means to stick to up remarkable orders the identification of publications expected to build the collection purchasing publications from suitable suppliers their recording on arrival the settlement of invoices and in-depth holding of acquisition accounts.
In terms of precision and velocity, the merits of a digitised cataloguing program much outweigh its guide counterpart. Economical perform space and elevated productivity particularly in the production of catalogue playing cards is ensured as a result of a digitised cataloguing program. The digitisation of Fourah Bay College Library increase its graphic as a credible source of relevant, timely and existing data in satisfactorily meeting the wants of its clientele. In a nutshell, the digitisation of Fourah Bay School Library boosts productive data service shipping and delivery thus attracting superior patronage.
DIGITISING Difficulties
Notwithstanding the rewards derived in digitising Fourah Bay University Library, there are issues similarly related with this new technological innovation. It should really be pointed out with excellent worry that as a result of economical constraints faced by the College, there has been a drastic reduce in the Library price range and this has adversely impacted the operations of the Library and its administration. Towards this back-fall, digitising Fourah Bay University Library will not be an quick enterprise as the procedure desires to be properly maintained and sustained.
A different obstacle to be taken into thought in digitising Fourah Bay University Library is that most people and staff lack fundamental teaching in the use of this new know-how and as these kinds of, they need to be sufficiently experienced for the effective functions of this procedure. And it should really hence be borne in mind that the schooling of customers and staff members to turn into personal computer literate and proficient consists of cash which the Library are unable to simply pay for. This implies that for the programme to do well, it will have to be integrated into the doing the job lives of buyers and staff members of the Library. Unquestionably, the Library will have to have aid from program analysts to be certain the features of the procedure. Contracting the solutions of laptop experts fees revenue which must be regarded as financial load on the Library. Aside from, the Library will also will need to get and maintain all required tools for the method to be operational.
A tough undertaking in controlling digitised library systems is that desktops are advanced, speedily switching, fragile and typically incompatible. In addition to, digital data are difficult to protect due to the fact of swift alterations in computer system components and software. There will normally be a new or improved procedure readily available that is more substantial, improved or much less pricey than the a person just obtained. The time and exertion essential to convert manual details to equipment readable sort is also a trouble in implementing the method. Regular electrical power-cuts as very well as irregular energy source pose a critical problem in digitising Fourah Bay University Library as it does not have a stand by generator to run the program.
It should be also taken into account that a true challenge during the wet period is the threat of large depth lightning strikes. The protection of the devices against hurt is also viewed as a problem if people and team do not purchase sufficient capabilities in dealing with this technological innovation. An additional challenge associated with digitising Fourah Bay Faculty Library is the drastic reduction of its staff members thus creating unemployment which eventually becomes a social problem.
Summary
Digitising Fourah Bay School Library is a good idea taking into account the enhanced companies which the technique would bring to it. The college administration as a result, need to completely aid this initiative as customers and team of the library as well as the administration will immensely benefit from it. Precise and fast details retrieval so as to get the proper data to the proper individual is realised when the library is digitised. In essence, undertaking these a enterprise is truly worth-while notwithstanding the pending issues that it will bring with it. The faculty librarian should really therefore advocate with justification so that the administration manifests significant interest in funding this all-crucial venture. In addition, the university librarian should really solicit cash from other organisations, ask for donor businesses and be actively engaged in fund-elevating things to do and income-creating programmes for the realisation of this desire.
REFERENCES
Birdsall, Margaret O. (2009). Managing electronic information and facts. New York: Prentice Corridor.
Chinney, Victor M. (2007). Picking an automated library system: a organizing guidebook. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Findlay, George R. (2009). Managing periodicals in college or university libraries. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Suttan, Milton S. (2008). A computerised library: results and challenges. London: Routledge
Tedd, Lucy A. (2009). An introduction to computer system-based mostly library process. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
