Libraries and Distance Education in Nigerian Universities: A Revisit

Abstract

The emergence of the system of open and distance education is an inevitable development in the evolution of education internationally. With the increasing popularity of distance education, focus has turned to the role of libraries in the distance learning process. The library is an important tool for individuals' intellectual development. Academic libraries contain resources for research, teaching, and learning. This paper examines the efforts being made by Nigerian university libraries to fulfill the information needs of distance education students in their respective institutions.

This study was carried out in four Nigerian universities running distance education programs. The questionnaire method was used for data collection. The respondents used in this study were randomly selected from the distance learning (DL) students of the universities under study. It was discovered that DL students were not adequately catered for as far as the use of library resources is concerned. A student could graduate without having used libraries. The study recommends that adequate planning and financing should be made for DL students to be able to make use of the libraries and information resources. It adds that this would enhance their critical thinking and also enhance their degree of exposure to existing knowledge.

Keywords:

• Nigeria
• Africa
• university libraries
• distance education