Librarianship in The Era of Digital Divide: Review of Literature (Published)
Librarianship is an evolving discipline having its feet in partially every profession. It is the foundation upon which all other professions in the world over built their structure of existence. It is no longer news that the application of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) has revolutionized the practice of librarianship. This paper therefore, examined the place of librarians in the digital divide. Furthermore, the assumption that those who have knowledge of ICTs are adequately equipped with functional information than those who do not was also examined. Who librarians are and their responsibilities, effects of digital divide on librarianship practice, factors contributory to the digital divide and the challenges confronting the practice in the digital divide were highlighted. The paper concluded that training and re-training of librarians in the form of capacity building is inevitable if librarians will occupy their space in the digital era.
Keywords: Digital Divide, Information & Communication Technologies, Librarians, Nigeria, librarianship, university libraries
Feminization and Image of Librarianship in Academic Environment: The Nigerian Perspective (Published)
The objective of the study is to examine the effect of feminization of librarianship on the professional image of the profession in Nigeria.Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Questionnaire was used as the instrument of data collection. Due to the COVID-19 that was ravaging the globe at the time of the study, the questionnaire was administered online via an online survey service, www.surveycrest.com. The data generated were analyzed using SPSS Version 21 and presented in Tables.It was found that Nigerian women librarians are adequately prepared for leadership positions in librarianship, though lack of creativity, low level of confidence, and inability to coordinate accounted for low level of women librarians in leadership positions in librarianship. The finding also revealed that feminization of librarianship in Nigeria determined the low image of the profession. Also, the study showed that continuous feminization of librarianship may consequently decrease the image of librarianship. The study is novel as it investigated how feminization affects the professional image of librarianship in Nigeria. Librarians from only few selected public university libraries in South-west, Nigeria were used for the study. This could limit the generalization of the opinions gathered by the study. Perceiving librarianship as ‘women’s profession’ may erode the image and prestige the profession once had when the field was dominated by men. Feminizing librarianship may reduce the image of the profession
Keywords: Academic Libraries, Gender, Librarians, feminization, image of librarianship, librarianship
The Roles and Status of Women Librarians and Their Leadership Impacts in Selected Tertiary Institutions in Ogun State, Nigeria (Published)
Librarianship nowadays means different thing from what it used to, some decades ago. Libraries then were mere reservoirs and citadels of good decadence, getting in but not giving out. The 21st libraries are now active, vibrant; a living foundation of good influences, a service-oriented institution with set goals to achieve with transformative technological knowhow. This new outlook exited through formal education which was extended to the females, provide gateway for talented women to prove themselves. Despite the equal training like their male counterpart, there is much to be said on being deprived of getting to the political peak of their career and being refused promotion to a higher management post. This study, investigates women’s role and impacts in selected tertiary institutions in Ogun state. It used questionnaire and data collection methods, administering 400 copies of the questionnaire in 19 institutions in the state. It also searched databases on librarianship, library services and women’s socio-political roles, impacting the development and growth of librarianship in Nigeria.The result show that more female librarian’s occupied leadership ladders now than before. Many institutions offer library science to PhD level, revealing a large turnout of the female librarians, not minding gender differentiation. There are more women professors, doctors, heads of libraries; outcome of die hard labor, to move the society forward.
Keywords: Women Education, gender differentiation, leadership and library education, librarianship