FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OYE EKITI

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

GST 103 [USE OF LIBRARY & INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION COMMUNICATION

WHAT IS A LIBRARY?
( a). an educational resource centre.
( b). a NEST where scholars are hatched
( c). a storehouse of knowledge

WHY THE STUDY OF USE OF LIBRARY?

- Acquaintance with library resources
- Needful and helpful to be a successful scholar
- A requisite course for all undergraduates

TYPES OF LIBRARIES

(1). ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

These are libraries attached to tertiary institutions of the status of a university, a polytechnic, a college of education or other
tertiary institutions with similar standing, offering Certificate programmes, Diploma and Degree courses at various levels.
Examples are FUOYE Library, Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti Library, College of Education Ikere-Ekiti Library etc.

(2). NATIONAL LIBRARIES

Defined as the apex library of any nation. Has the copyright law to acquire publications published on the country by the
country for retention in its stock for use of the citizenry. Also empowered by law to issue International Standard Book Number
(ISBN) and International Standard Serials Number (ISSN) to intending authors and publishers on request.

(3). PRIVATE LIBRARIES

These are libraries owned by an individual or an organization like a Church. They are established to meet the needs of the
owner and thus the collections are dictated by the fields or disciplines of the owners. For example, some lawyers have their
private (personal) law library also some medical doctors have private medical library. Likewise some engineers, librarians etc.

(4). PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Like the name suggest, public libraries take care and serves the public interest of all ages without any discrimination. It is
often defined as the public or peoples’ university. It is usually financed with the tax-payers money and it makes reading
provision for all in the community/society where it is situated including the children.

(5). RESEARCH OR SPECIAL LIBRARIES

Research or special libraries are designed for a defined or a unique group of users with
similar needs. The users of research or special libraries are specialist users like the Law
Libraries for Lawyers, Medical Libraries for Doctors, Engineering Libraries for Engineers etc Organizations with such libraries
are International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Abuja, Nigeria Institute of
International Affairs (NIIA) Lagos, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) Ibadan etc.

(6). SCHOOL LIBRARIES

School libraries are libraries attached to Nursery, Primary and Secondary Schools. It is intended to encourage reading habit
and to develop in pupils the ability to learn from books with or without the aid of a teacher. The importance of school libraries
cannot be over emphasized as it helps to develop reading skills in children and the love for books, early in their educational
career.

COMPONENTS OF A LIBRARY

A typical library is made up of four (4) components. These components are of equal importance. In other words, all the four
components work jointly and are inseparable from one another.

(1). BOOKS, SERIALS AND NON-BOOK MATERIALS

BOOKS are printed materials of not less than 49pages, apart from the cover pages, that are fastened together for ease of
reading, consultation or reference. When it is less than 49 pages, it's known as a PAMPHLET.

SERIALS are periodical publications which are issued in successive parts and they are intended to be continued indefinitely.
Serials are either published at regular or an irregular intervals, which could be DAILY, WEEKLY, BI-MONTHLY, MONTHLY,
QUARTERLY OR YEARLY. Serials usually bear VOLUME, NUMBER and YEAR eg daily newspapers, journals, magazines, annuals
etc. It is more current than books and it is useful for research.
NON-BOOK MATERIALS are otherwise known as audio-visual materials. These are information resources that can be seen
and or heard. Examples are:
•Computers
•Films
•Video-cameras
•Televisions
• Radios
•Slides
•Maps
•Charts
•Photographs etc

(2). BUILDING OR ROOM

Building or Room is an important component of a library. There should be a designated building or room or rooms set aside as
the library, where the books (collections) can be safely kept, where staff can function effectively and which users can
conveniently make use of, without any form of noise or distractions for maximum concentration and assimilation. The building
or room must be conducive to reading with good lighting, well ventilated, with air conditioners or fans etc.

(3). PERSONNEL (STAFF)

Books, serials and non-book materials (collections) and building or room alone do not make a good/complete library. The
personnel constitute an important component of a library. I.e staffs that works in the library and translate all the policies of
the library into action. They ensure the smooth administration of the library.
(1) The core library personnel consist of :

• Academic librarians: A library specialist attached to an institution of higher learning who typically works to secure the
resources needed to support the school's curriculum as well as its resident scholars and researchers.
• The para-professional staff: Are workers who are not qualified or licensed to serve in a particular professions but handle
tasks in support of qualified professionals in those fields. Para-professionals often work alongside fully qualified professionals,
but they also sometimes work more independently, such as in the case of the healthcare paraprofessionals
who provide home visits to the disabled, ill or elderly.

(4). CLIENTELE (USERS):

Clientele, users, readers and patrons are terms that are used interchangeably to mean the same thing. The library is expected
to provide information, to be disseminated by the personnel and used by the clientele. The library serves different users
depending on the type of library and the need of the users. An academic library for example would serve students
(undergraduate and post-graduate), lecturers, non-teaching staff and other researchers who may be allowed to use the library
for reference services only.

(5). STOCK OF THE LIBRARY: Library stock like books, serials and non-book materials are acquired through
different methods namely:
• Purchase
• Gift or Donation
• Exchange
• Bequeath/Will

DEPARTMENTS IN THE LIBRARY

(1). Administrative Department:

This department is responsible for the day to day activities of the library. The department is headed by the university librarian
who oversees all library activities. These department functions are:
 Planning, organisation and coordination of library programs and policies.
 Plans,supervises and coordinates staff activities during assessment of staff needs.
  Participates in the preparation of the budget and other administrative functions and reports.
 Develops and implements policies,rules and regulation; recommend and implements procedural changes to improve the
quality of services.
 Performs other functions as assigned by the university librarian.

(2). Technical services (acquisition, cataloguing, serials, reprographic, bindery):

They are behind the scene activities that a library undertake to process a library material loan for the public. The activities
they are into ordering, Cataloguing, preparing materials for the library, shelves, inventory e.t.c. They involve in all the
activities that leads to making information materials available to users. Department understand TECHNICAL SERVICE includes:
i. Acquisition Department: They are responsible for the acquisition of books, electronic resources and other information
resources into the library. This department is headed by an Acquisition Librarian.
ii. Cataloguing and classification Department: They process the acquired materials to enable users or patrons have access
to locate and retrieve them easily without wasting time.
iii. Serials Department: They are periodical publication that are issued a successive part.
iv. Bindary Department: This is a section where library materials are repaired, rebuilt or reinforced to make them become
strong again.
v. Reprographic Department: They duplicate the materials by waysm of photocopying, scanning, printing e.t.c. Their aim is
to produce multi copy of the materials.

(3). Reader services department (circulation, reference, reservation):

They are responsible for dealing directly with library users. They have close contacts with the users unlike others. The
members of the staff that work in the department have inconstant interaction with the user of the library and their library
experience. Hence, their functions and activities are customer service related. There are various departments under Reader
service department;
i. Circulation department:

 Research documentation and bibliography

 Information and communication technology (Digital, Electronic, Virtual Library)

CATALOGUING AND CLASSIFICATION

Cataloguing is the process of describing a book or other library item in such a way that all the

important bibliographic details are highlighted.

Classification is the process of grouping things in a consistent logical order. According to

Clarke (1997), it is the process by which we group things according to their likeness and

separate them according to their differences.

In other words, Classification can be defined as the process of arranging library materials into

various subjects for easy accessibility and retrieval without wasting the user’s time. Therefore

cataloguing and classification of library materials gives the book a unique call number that