The Level of Awareness, Knowledge and Infringement on Copyright at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (Published)
The encouragement of intellectual creation is one of the basic prerequisites for social, economic and cultural development of any nation. Copyright was instituted to inspire authors towards more creativity by enabling them to harness the full benefit of their works; however there are issues associated with the compliance on copyright rules. There is a dare need to stem the overwhelming tide of copyright infringement activities going on across the globe. This study examines the level of awareness, knowledge and infringement on copyright at the University of Ibadan. Questionnaire instrument was used for data collection. The population used in the study comprises 150 academic and senior staff of University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The study found that there is low level of awareness and knowledge on copyright matters, as many of the respondents were unfamiliar with matters relating to copyright. The study identified a high level of infringement on copyright in University of Ibadan. The study further advocated for intensive sensitization on copyright matters and enforcement of copyright law within University of Ibadan community in order to strengthen copyright protection.
Keywords: Knowledge, Nigeria, awareness, copyright, university of Ibadan
An Empirical study of Librarians and Libraries as drivers of access to Knowledge in Ebonyi State, Nigeria (Published)
The library from inception plays a very crucial role in the extension and modification of knowledge. The growing need for knowledge management has influenced every component and operation of a library. This is built on the fact that it is only by transmission of knowledge by each succeeding generation can civilization maintain itself and make advance upon the knowledge of the past. The individual and social meaning of education can only take place on the backdrop of beliefs and values of a particular social setting. In both, the library has a crucial role to play. The library we know is a social system that stores and disseminates information which is knowledge. This paper therefore is an empirical study of Librarians and libraries as drivers of access to knowledge using Ebonyi State, Nigeria as a case in point. This researcher applied a descriptive study method with a sampled population of 138 randomly selected from the different libraries in the State. The study investigated ways through which librarians and libraries operate as drivers of access to knowledge as well as the various challenges encountered by librarians that militate against their optimal performance as drivers of access to knowledge. The study also identified ways of enhancing the role of Librarians and libraries as drivers of access to knowledge. The instrument for the study was structured according to the modified Likert scale on four point rating scale. On this scale, the average mean cut off is 2.50. To this end, an item is accepted if it is 2.50 and above and rejected if it is below 2.50. Statistically, frequencies, percentages and mean scores were used to compute the data collected that led to the decision rule.
Keywords: Human development, Information and Communication Technology, Knowledge, Library, access to information, librarian