By Ikechukwu Odu

In this age of Information and Communication Technologies, ICTs, the chief Librarian of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, Prof. Chinwe Ezeani, has identified deficiencies in procuring and managing ICTs as the bane of most academic libraries in Nigerian universities.

Ezeani,  who spoke as the 158th inaugural lecturer of UNN at the Princesses Alexandra Auditorium, weekend, also emphasised on the urgent need for training of librarians in the country to acquire more competencies, especially in digitisation and management of archival records.

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While speaking on the topic ‘Rejigging Nigerian Academic Libraries for Increased Visibility, Greater Impact, and Enhanced Service Delivery: How Can We Connect the Dots’?, she explained that the Internet offers rich resources for authentic inquiry and librarians must learn to orchestrate sophisticated strategies to become literate in the complex environment.

The don said that re-skilling and re-tooling of academic libraries in line with global best standards must not be overlooked if the country wants to turnout quality research outputs that would proffer solutions to the myriad of problems staring the nation in the face.

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She bemoaned what she called “severe national library budget cuts,” which according to her, has made it impossible for academic libraries in Nigeria to thrive in the face of new innovations creeping into the profession.

In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Charles Igwe, described the lecturer as a sound administrator whose contributions in efficient management of the library has earned the university the top spot in Nigeria as the university with highest scholarly citations according to Google Webometric ranking.

The Vice Chancellor who was represented by his deputy in  , Prof. Patrick Okpoko, also revealed that plans are on to make the university administration paperless by investing in ICTs and improving the competency of both staff and students.

Vanguard