ACQUISITION PRACTICES IN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NORTH CENTRAL ZONE OF NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This  study  is  centred  on  acquisition   practices  in  state  university libraries  in  North  Central Zone  of  Nigeria.  The  study specifically sought   to   find   out   the   acquisition  polices  in  state university libraries   in   the   North   Central   Zone  of  Nigeria,  ascertain  the acquisition  pattern, ascertain  the  sources  of  acquisition, identify current   problems  encountered  in  the  acquisition practices  and finally  determine  strategies  to  enhance  acquisition  process. The study was guided by five research   questions   directly drawn from the purpose of the study.   Purposive  sampling technique  was used to select a sample of   196   which  comprises   of professional   librarians, para-professionals and others  who   are  concerned with  acquisition  of  library  information resources  in   all the state university  libraries   in   the  North  Central  Zone  of  Nigeria.  The instrument  for  data collection “Acquisition Practice Questionnaire (APQ) was  used  to  collect data  from  the  librarians,  library officers and staff  in  the  acquisition  and  serial  sections  of  the libraries. Other instruments   for   data   collection were interview and observation. The instruments developed were face validated by the researcher’s Supervisor and two experts. The researcher personally with the help of one trained research assistant from each university distributed 196 questionnaires to respondents.  One Hundred and Seventy-Seven questionnaires were duly filled and returned. Furthermore, simple percentages, frequencies, tables, and mean were used for data presentation and analysis. The  research  findings  show  that  this  important  library  activity is still fraught  with  problems  which include:- Lack of adequate funds, non-existence   of   written acquisition policies, lack of skilled acquisition librarians, low level of publishing, lack of book trade, absence of staff motivation. The researcher recommends an increase in government allocation, proper formulation of written acquisition policies, training and re-training of staff, recruitment of skilled professional librarians to enable the state university libraries and similar libraries overcome the problems associated with acquisition practices, among others.