Page 17 - DLIS101_LIBRARY_AND_INFORMATION_SOCIETY

Library and Information Society

Notes Definitions

For a better understanding of this paper, it is necessary to define what a library is;
At the elementary stage library is referred to as:
(i) a collection of literacy documents or record kept for reference or borrowing
(ii) a depository house built to contain books and other materials for reading and studying
(iii) a collection of standard programmes and subroutines that are stored and available for
immediate use.
(iv) A building that houses a collection of books and other materials.
Advanced definitions of Library however are as follows:
(i) Islam (2004) described it as a learned institution equipped with treasures of knowledge
maintained, organized, and managed by trained personnel to educate the children, men
and women continuously and assist in their self-improvement through an effective and
prompt dissemination of information embodied in the resources.
(ii) Omojuwa (1993) described the library as an enabling factor to obtain spiritual, inspira-
tional, and recreational activities through reading, and therefore the opportunity of in-
teracting with the society’s wealth and accumulated knowledge.
(iii) Another definition of Library according to Islam (2004) is an instrument of self educa-
tion, a means of knowledge and factual information, a centre of intellectual recreation,
and a beacon of enlightenment that provides accumulated preserved knowledge of civi-
lization which consequently enriches one’s mental vision, and dignifies his habit
behaviour, character, taste, attitude, conduct, and outlook on life.
(iv) The online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia described the library as a place in
which literary and artistic materials, such as books, periodicals newspapers, pamphlets,
prints, records, and tapes, are kept for reading, reference, or lending. In a digital sense, a
library may be more than a building that houses a collection of books and other materials
as the Internet has opened up an avalanche of online and electronic resources for access-
ing documents on various fields of interest.
(v) Online Glossary defined digital library as a collection of texts, images, etc, encoded so as
to be stored, retrieved, and read by computer. Furthermore, a digital library is a collec-
tion of documents in organized electronic form, available on the Internet or on CD ROM
disks. It is the traditional/conventional physical library that provides a basis for the digi-
tal library. The Association of Research libraries (ASL) in a publication on 23 October,
1995, described digital collections as unlimited access to document surrogates: they ex-
tend to digital artifacts that cannot be represented or distributed in printed formats. An-
other further development from the digital library is the advent of Virtual Library (VL).
(vi) A web definition for virtual library is that which exists solely in electronic from or on
paper. The building blocks required for such a library may not exist, and the chemical
steps for such a library may not have been tested. But the materials needed like journals
are barred to a location, which can be decoded through passwords.

The need for Library Services

The history of the library in Nigeria is not done without mentioning the first library called “town
Library” which according to Oyegade, Nassarawa and Mokogwe (2003) was founded in 1879. Its
objectives, which included, the establishment of books and materials to lend to the public for their

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