Acquisition and Preservation of Newspapers and Magazines in Dr. Aliyu Obaje Library, Kogi State University Anyigba
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© Kamla-Raj 2014 J Hum Ecol, 45(3): 251-255 (2014)
Acquisition and Preservation of Newspapers and Magazines
in Dr. Aliyu Obaje Library, Kogi State University Anyigba
Bessy F. Abalaka, Dauda Yahaya and Mohammed Nasir Okikiri
Kogi State University, Anyigba, Nigeria
KEYWORDS Acquisitions. Preservation. Newspapers. Magazines. Centre for Learning Resource
ABSTRACT This paper discuses the acquisition and preservation of Newspapers and Magazines in Dr. Aliyu Obaje
Library, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Nigeria. The study outlines and analyses the process for Newspapers and
Magazines acquisition and preservation. The main objective of the study is to ascertain and address the challenges
affecting acquisition and preservation of Newspapers and Magazine in the Library under study. It looks at the
importance of these items, procedure for pu rchasing them and arranging them. The methodology a dopted is
observation and content analysis using secondary sources of data like journals, papers, unpublished thesis etc.
Conclusion was made and recommendation proffered including a review of Newspapers/Magazines acquisit ion
policy in the Library under study. Binding of Newspapers/Magazines and microfilming same is being advocated.
INTRODUCTION consists of media, non-book and non –print re-
sources. She gave examples on media resources
The issue of preservation is as old as inven- which includes computer hardware drive, data
tion of writing, thus man in quest to maintain bases, library software, non book materials which
records has devised places to preserve such include CD ROMS, audio and video tape, while
records for future use. The most difficult prob- print materials include pictures, newspapers,
lem that has pressured the minds of librarians magazines, books, maps and photographic ma-
from time immemorial till date is the ability to terials. Library materials therefore must last as
ensure that safety of library information resourc- long as possible and be preserved for active use
es against threats such as floods, fire, mutila- for posterity.
tion, rodents, insects and so on are taken care
of. According to Bamigboye and Burriamo History of Kogi State University Library
(2008), libraries acquire and preserve materials –
books, periodicals, maps etc to meet potential The Kogi State university library came into
information or recreational need. They further existence in September, 2000. It is located along
stated that it is the responsibility of the library Ankpa road on the permanent site of the univer-
staff to maintain these materials in good physi- sity. The building complex has a total floor space
cal condition so that they can be readily avail- of about 10,000sq metres, with the capacity to
able for use at all times. hold stock of five hundred thousand volumes
The academic library is a key focal point for of books and journals. Presently, it has a seating
teaching, learning and research activities. Ac- capacity for 2,552 readers, a total stock of 29,000
cording to Hayles (2003), University libraries are volumes of books in the collections. For admin-
established to serve as support to faculties in istrative convenience, and in a bid to sharpen
their teaching, research and learning activities. its service orientedness, the library is structured
University libraries are repositories of informa- into the following Units:- Administration, Ac-
tion and knowledge from all kinds of fields of quisition, Technical services, Reference, Serials,
learning to the academic communities. Miracle Circulation and Documentation. The Law library
Eka Njeze (2012), opined that library materials was moved to the faculty of Law in November,
2007. It has a seating capacity of 152 and is ad-
Address for correspondence: ministered from the main library.
Bessy F. Abalaka,
Kogi State University, Definition of Terms
P.M.B 1008, Anyigba,
Kogi State, Nigeria
Telephone: +2348033623822, Acquisition is the act of procuring and ob-
E-mail: abalakabessy@gmail.com. taining materials. This is the act of acquiring252 BESSY F. ABALAKA, DAUDA YAHAYA AND MOHAMMED NASIR OKIKIRI
knowledge or books that are relevant to users. quakes, and pest attacks. It is also in this regard
The acquisition department or section is the only that the usefulness of preservation cannot be
gate way to any library’s collection development. overstressed in libraries today.
Acquisition can be seen as acquiring of qualita-
tive relevant information resources to meet the Importance of Newspaper/Magazine
need of users and the objectives of the library.
For the acquisition section to function effec- Primary materials such as newspapers/mag-
tively, a solid foundation must be laid through azines constitute important sources of informa-
the formulation of written articulate acquisition tion in Nigeria. Their usefulness is found in the
policy. current information they carry. The information
A policy statement is a framework and set of these vital sources carry, educate and not just
parameters within which staff and users work. that, it entertain the readers and keep them
This facilitate ordering and receiving of library abreast or informed about what happens in the
materials and monitoring expenditures of funds society around them. The creamy or vital infor-
for the materials. In Kogi State University library, mation which is on regular basis, makes them
acquisition of newspapers is through purchase one of the most important and crucial sources of
and gifts/donations. information. On the importance of News papers,
Preservation is an act of preserving some- Igbeka and Ola (2010), posit that Newspapers
thing from decay be it food or books, etc. In this provide up- to- date information on Local, State,
context, we are dealing precisely with newspa- National and World issues. They stressed that
pers/magazines. Preservation is the activities every category of newspaper reader usually find
associated with maintaining library information some important, current and interesting infor-
resources for use either in original forms or oth- mation in the newspapers. They further ex-
er ways. Okonkwo (2009), views preservation as plained that newspapers use design that make
the totality of all measures for maintaining the information easily accessible to the reader, im-
integrity of documents and information con- portant stories have large bold headlines, graph-
tained in them. These includes all the manageri- ics are also used to relate stories.
al and financial considerations, storage, staff- Consenting to the importance of newspapers,
ing level, polices, techniques and methods in- Bankole and Barbalola (2011) asserts that news-
volved in safeguarding documentary materials. papers are vital sources of information, it en-
The issue of preservation cannot be over- lightens society, providing the most recent in-
stressed. This is because preservation if well formation to readers and it serves various pur-
carried out will improve span of valued materi- poses for different categories of users. Umoh
als, pave way for the long-term access to infor- (1991), while writing on enhancing functional
mation and help to preserve for posterity. Ac- reading among the youths through newspapers
cording to Omede (2004), preservation assists and magazines concludes that the material are
in enriching our culture and history. She further excellent media for reading instruction because
stated that it will also assist economic histori- they are readily available and treat a wide vari-
ans in their quest to amplify and elucidate the ety of subject matters. It can therefore be con-
official records if well preserved. In regards to cluded that newspapers/magazines plays sig-
newspapers/magazine, preservation prevents nificant role in learning, teaching and research
decay and loss of separate issues and maximiz- work.
es the usefulness of the newspapers in libraries. According to Kumar et al. (2011), newspa-
Preservation is done in libraries or archives to pers help to improve reading habits, knowledge
prevent deterioration. The cause of deteriora- and awareness. They further posited that news-
tion is a function of such factors as the chemical papers can be part of good study habits for stu-
characteristics of the paper, the mechanical con- dents in any area of specialization. Huchins
struction of the volume of storage conditions (2001) observed that it is no longer necessary to
and intensity of use. argue for the importance of newspapers in the
Alegbeleye (2002), opined that archives and reference work. He further noted that from child-
libraries are prone to disasters that can be clas- hood up to present generation, he has read news-
sified generally as natural, man made which in- papers and used them for information. This then
clude lightening, rodents, flood, fire, war, earth- implies how vital it is to preserve newspapersACQUISITION AND PRESERVATION OF NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES 253
for future generation for reference. Most times, zine is the only magazine purchased by the li-
the question that subsequently occupies the brary under study.
minds of professionals and laymen is on how to
preserve newspapers or library materials in gen- Problems Encountered in the Preservation
eral. Consequently, answers to these questions of Newspapers/Magazines in Dr. Aliyu
are needed, because preservation in Nigeria li- Obaje Library
braries is of acute importance when viewed with
drastic library budget cut by either the govern- The problem of preservation has become a
ment or university authorities yearly. The impli- great headache for librarians. This can be attrib-
cation in this drastic budget cut, is that the li- uted to many years of neglect and the environ-
brarian will not be able to acquire newspapers mental conditions, which cannot be tackled by
on daily basis and lack of funds for its preserva- the librarian. Some of the newspaper problems
tion. The only way out for the librarian is to in Kogi State University library are as follows:
apply wisdom to preserve what he has and cher- 1. Lack of disaster plan and documented pres-
ish. ervation policy: It is a known fact that a
stated articulate policy is key and a solid
Newspaper/Magazine Acquisition and foundation for work to be carried out effec-
Preservation in Dr Aliyu Obaje Library tively and efficiently since, policy is a frame-
work of parameters and guide to the librari-
Newspapers are among information resourc- an. Wamukoya and Murtala (2003) stated
es published in Nigeria and so are part of Nige- that disaster control plan is lacking in some
riana collection; they are purchased by the li- libraries, the absence of such plan mean that
brary on daily basis as part of library’s collec- such a library will not be in a position to
tion. The Kogi State University library has no respond to the disaster with the urgency it
stated policy on acquisition of newspapers/mag- requires. Consequently, there is no preser-
azines. The administrative officer liaises with the vation policy to guide, enhance or set the
newspaper vendors, purchases them and brings framework on what to be preserved, how to
them into the library. The various titles are then preserve and standards to adhere to. In Kogi
taken to the reference section and stamped with state University library, there is no docu-
the university library ownership stamp, the var- mented policy and plan.
ious titles are sent to the serials section of the 2. Storage facilities: Librarians have contin-
library and are dropped on the stand for users. ued to acquire newspapers as part of their
At the end of each month, all the issues are ar- collections and lots of money and time have
ranged into different titles tied together and sent been spent in the process of storing them.
into the store for safety keep without binding. Where these adequate accommodation and
In Kogi State University library, the only meth- storage facilities are lacking, preservation
od of preserving newspapers/magazine is cannot effectively be carried out, ideally,
through tying them together according to their storage area must be humid free, well venti-
titles and kept in the store. There are no other lated, no direct sun rays and must be insect
forms of preservation; this can be attributed to and rodent free. Newspapers/magazines
lack of funds, lack of skilled personnel in the stored in libraries must of necessity be free
area of preservation and machinery. The news- from disaster of any type. Presently, Kogi
papers/magazines regularly purchased in Kogi State University library have enough stor-
State University library are: The Punch, The dai- age facility but will have to think of more in
ly Sun, The graphic, The Guardian, Daily Trust the near future due to the bulkiness of news-
and Tribune. papers/magazines.
However, the Guardian is purchased only 3. Lack of funds and modern equipment for
when the Nation is not available. On the other preservation: Kogi State University lacks
hand, the Tribune is not purchased by the li- funds to preserve her newspapers. It is ob-
brary, but donated by the University Librarian vious that there can never be any effective
to the library. The magazines on the other hand programme and policies without adequate
are purchased the same way and are preserved funds to run it. These funds are needed to
same way as the newspapers. Nigeria Tell maga- procure latest information techniques such254 BESSY F. ABALAKA, DAUDA YAHAYA AND MOHAMMED NASIR OKIKIRI
as microfilm, magnetic tapes/disc, optical magazines, however, some measures were in
disc which are better ways of preservation. place for averting or reacting to disaster, but
Alegbeleye (2002) opined that archives and were so limited that they could not have com-
libraries are prone to disasters that can be prehensively covered all the forms of disasters
classified generally as natural man made to which the library was disposed. Furthermore
which include lightening, rodents, flood, library staff were half way trained on the issue
fire, war, earthquakes, and pest attacks. It is of preservation and so are not fully equipped or
also in this regard that the usefulness of skilled to keep to recent trends of techniques for
preservation cannot be overstressed in li- curbing disasters in the library under study.
braries today. Microfilming is one of the preservative meth-
4. Lack of air-conditioning: Air conditioners ods that is well known for its durability and effi-
are vital for rare book collections. Accord- ciency. However, this preservative method is not
ing to Ogundare (2009), it assists in stabi- available in this library, but if ventured into, it
lizing the temperature and humidity condi- will add to the preservation age, conserve space
tion in libraries. This helps to sieve out par- and reduce the deterioration process so that they
ticles and chemical pollutants. A look at the will be no need for replacement, as money meant
newspaper room in Kogi State University for replacement can be channeled towards en-
library indicates that there are no air condi- riching existing collections.
tioners. However, it is worthy of note that
air conditioners are of great necessity to RECOMMENDATIONS
the preservation of newspapers in particu-
lar and books in general. Consequently, 1. Kogi State University library should for-
there will be fast deterioration of newspa- mulate a written acquisition policy on news-
pers if there are no air-condition in the news- paper/magazine acquisition and preserva-
paper room. tion.
5. Lack of trained personnel: Librarians in Kogi 2. Disaster plan should be established to form
State University library are to some extent a part of the preservation and conserva-
trained but such training cannot be said to tion programme. This will enable Kogi State
professionally trained with preservation University library create emergency re-
technologies. Faliaye and Isokephi (2001) sponse to salvage newspapers and other
suggested that more trade schools should library materials in case of any disaster.
be established by government to train tech- 3. The government should provide adequate
nical expertise in such fields as preserva- funds for both acquisition and preserva-
tion, conservation and repairs of library tion of newspapers/magazine in the library.
materials of all kinds, such courses accord- 4. It is recommended that the purchase of the
ing to them should be introduced in library newspapers should be the sole duty of the
schools. Subsequently, head of libraries in serial librarian and that trained and skilled
professionals in the area of preservation
Nigerian libraries will have both background
should be employed.
and expertise in PAC activities.
5. In-house training on preservative method
should be organized yearly to keep staff
CONCLUSION abreast with current devices.
6. Regular cleaning of library and its sur-
Acquisition and preservation of Newspapers rounding should be carried out while users
and Magazine are crucial to teaching, learning and library staff who eat in the library
and research in University Libraries, and as such should be sanctioned.
the needs for its acquisition and preservation 7. There should be a kind of coordination of
cannot be overemphasized. The study showed programmes between libraries for library
that there were no written acquisition policy on preservation to create enough awareness.
how to acquire newspapers and magazines, nei-
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