Bottle neck to the effective use of academic library among students with visual impairment in tertiary institution in Oyo State

Abstract

Over the years, academic libraries have contributed in no small measure to the paradigm shift in Nigeria higher institution of learning from being teaching-centered to learning-centered. It is regarded as the centre of information reservoir, knowledge, skills and adds values to users. The effective utilisation of academic libraries by students with visual impairment was observed to be fundamental so as to bridge all the gaps that exist between students with visual impairment and the academic library. Therefore, this paper seeks to examine bottlenecks to effective use of academic library among students with visual impairment using tertiary institutions in Oyo state as case study. The finding reveals that library environment, library physical structure is the major factors that affect library effective utilisation among visually impaired in the study. It was also discovered that students with visual impairment are confronted with lots of challenges in accessing and using the academic library services. The result also shows that library personnel serve as impediment to effective utilisation of library by students with visual impairment. The study therefore recommends that academic libraries should be well equipped with information resources which are in Braille and large print as well as assistive equipment which enables students with visual impairments to access information independently.

Keywords: Bottle Neck, Academic, Visual Impairment, Library