Planning a collection development policy for effective e-resources’ acquisition in federal universities in South-South Zone, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated planning as a factor for effective acquisition of electronic resources in the federal universities in South-South Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was used for the study. A sample size of 614 comprising the 69 Professionals and 85 Para-professional Librarians, 10 IT personnel / System analyst and 450 Post graduate students registered 2014/ 2015 session in the three federal universities in South-South Nigeria was used. A questionnaire of 9 items was used for data collection. Out of total number 614 copies of questionnaire distributed, 578 copies were returned and analyzed using frequency, tables, percentages and mean rating. Findings revealed from the study that e-resource are preferred by users to print, acquisition librarians are involved in planning for acquisition and management of e-resources, staff training and retraining is required to update knowledge and information on e-resources. Libraries should not depend on government alone for funds of e-resources. Based on the findings, recommendations were made. Implications for the study were enumerated and suggestions for further research made.

Keywords: Planning, Collection development policy, E-resources, University libraries, South-South zone