Acquisition,Preservation and Accessibility of Indigenous Knowledge in Academic Libraries in Nigeria: The Place of ICT
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Nigerians interact well with their natural environment, culminating in the
accumulation of diverse experiences. These experiences result in a body of
indigenous knowledge which though unique to a given society or culture,
forms part of the information needed by researchers. In spite of the place of
indigenous knowledge in enriching academic libraries, its documentation
and preservation for posterity have hitherto posed tremendous challenges.
However, the emergence of information and communication technology
(JCT) has provided opportunities for librarians to interact with their host
and other communities in a bid to document various indigenous information
that may be of use to the library.
This paper discusses various indigenous knowledge practices in Nigeria
·,such as language, medicine, agriculture, family, marriage and highlights
the benefits of indigenous knowledge which include contributions to
community development, exchange of cultural information, recognition of
indigenous community in the global setting, etc. The paper also discuss
various ICT facilities required in documentation and preservation of
indigenous knowledge like recorder, photographic camera, video camera,
tapes, films, CDs, computer etc. Problems hindering the use of ICT which
are discussed include lack of fund, power failure and attitude of indigenous
communities and distortion of information among others. For the purpose
of improvement, the paper recommends collaboration with multinational
organizations and donor agencies for the purpose of fund generation,
librarians ' skill acquisition, respect of indigenous copyright issues, and
persuading the custodians of indigenous information on the need to release
information
Keywords
Z665 Library Science. Information Science