Managing Periodical Literature in Higher Education Libraries in Sierra Leone

INTRODUCTION

At the Standard Meeting of UNESCO held in Paris on 19th November, 1964, it was agreed that “a publication is a periodical if it constituted one particular concern in a continuous sequence under the identical title” (Norman, 2008). Supporting this notion, a periodical literature is revealed at frequent intervals in excess of an indefinite period, unique problems in the collection becoming unnumbered. On this be aware, a periodical literature is a publication with a exclusive title which appears at mentioned or regular intervals without the need of prior conclusion as to when the previous difficulty shall look. It consists of article content, tales, or other writings by many contributors. Periodical literature is employed in its narrower sense as indicating transactions and percentages of societies, everyday newspapers publications, scholarly journals, trade journals, critique journals. Like most underdeveloped and establishing nations around the world in the globe insufficient funding of increased education libraries in Sierra Leone demonstrates on badly formulated periodical literature selection and as a outcome ineffective facts company is furnished to the dissatisfaction of buyers. Based mostly on the worth for exploration get the job done in the academia, controlling periodical literature in better training libraries in Sierra Leone should really be the have to have for a selection of standard periodical literature in academic libraries is vital.

Bigger Academic Institutions IN SIERRA LEONE

Sierra Leone operates a 6-3-3-4 system of training are subdivided into 6(6) a long time at the main stage, a few(3) many years at the Junior Secondary stage, three(3) at the Senior Secondary level, and a least of four(4) years at the tertiary degree. This sub-division lets the implementation of curriculum that can take account of the different pupils far more fully. The basic goal of training plan in Sierra Leone is to provide every boy or girl with an instruction which requires entirely into an account: character advancement: his curiosity means and aptitude his psychological, psychological and bodily effectively-becoming the manpower requirements of the country the equal importance of both educational and non-educational schooling the have to have for a literature and numerate populace. the economic sources of the point out, so that his education and learning can be of use to the region and at the exact same time give alternatives for him to be prosperous in everyday living.

Higher instruction is submit-secondary education and learning specified in a university, school or polytechnique and is the phase of specialisation. The aims of bigger education and learning fluctuate in accordance to the establishment and system of examine but frequently consist of the acquisition bodily and intellectual competencies vital for the advancement of each the individual and his society. In Sierra Leone, bigger educational institutions type the basis of academic development pursuing the completion of secondary schooling. Higher instruction is the most successful implies altering the outlook of men and women via the broadening of their horizon. Societal progress to a huge extent is dependent on the human useful resource empowerment and development. From this background, increased educational establishments enjoy a pivotal purpose in producing the human source to lead positively and meaningfully to the socio-financial, political and instructional progress of Sierra Leone.

Better instructional institutions in Sierra Leone are the University of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma College and Njala University which are state owned and College of Makeni and Limkonwong College which are personal owned. The constituent colleges underneath the University of Sierra Leone contain Fourah Bay School(FBC), Institute of Community Administration and Administration(IPAM) and University of Medication and Allied Wellness Science(COMAHS) Bo Campus and Njala College. The larger educational establishments of collegiate standing incorporate Milton Margai Higher education of Education and Technologies Jap Polytechnigue Bonthe Polytechnique Freetown Teacher. Port Loko Teachers Faculty and these give programs major to the award of diplomas and Certification. On the opposite, the point out-owned and private -owned universities give Certificates, Diploma, Undergraduate and postgraduate diploma programs in many disciplines in the school of their respective institutions. The curricula differs from establishment to establishment and curricula and programmes that need the use of periodical literature incorporate medicine, law, engineering, schooling, agriculture, arts and humanities, social sciences, pure and used sciences, know-how, administration and administration. To a better extent, the Central Government, by means of subventions resources for larger educational institutions to enrich their sleek-working, even though some donor businesses do render financial aid to these establishments in addition to internal money produced by them.

Bigger Education LIBRARIES IN SIERRA LEONE

Libraries are storage of data and info is these kinds of a beneficial commodity that its immense contribution to national improvement simply cannot be underestimated. Higher instruction libraries are the nerve centres of all academic routines. This only implies that these libraries contribute to the teaching/finding out and research programmes of the parent institutions by supplying the necessary facts services for undergraduate and postgraduate students, educating personnel, researchers, administrative and technical employees. Powerful educational do the job is dependent on good quality facts service and the library plays a sizeable position in this regard. In accordance to Frederick Ken Nicol information is an crucial supply applied by organisations to deliver ideal merchandise or services to prospects(2011 p.64). In this vein, increased education and learning libraries control data to satisfactorily meet the have to have of their clientele. Therefore, info needs to be planned for in the same way that human and monetary assets are planned to guarantee increased productiveness and successful support shipping and delivery. Thus, tutorial libraries like all other organisations that have assumed out and systematic details preparing method stand out to benefit additional people that do not. Very well-planned and organised details boosts successful provider delivery.

Greater education and learning libraries in Sierra Leone aid research get the job done, local community growth and enhance the instructing/discovering procedures in their respective father or mother establishments. In this regard, fantastic management of bigger schooling libraries is the organisations and maintenance of a effectively-well balanced and lively selection in making sure that the information and facts desires of end users are satisfactorily met. The distinctive collections stocked in these institutions include things like but not restricted to basic guide assortment on all disciplines to personal loan by people out of the library setting up, specialised selection, reference collection and periodical literature and the quantum of their contents depends on the dimension of the library and its readership. Developing and preserving a effectively-stocked selection as very well as recruiting and empowering capable and capable personnel is mostly dependent on the economical energy of the library. Consequently academic libraries want to be prioritised by their mother or father bodies when it arrives to once-a-year spending plan acceptance and allocations for their helpful operations.

Controlling tutorial libraries could be joined with the solutions they offer you. Considering that the functions of educational libraries are gear in direction of the provision of productive services, this is only actualised by acquiring multiple copies of textbooks, the latest journals and a great selection of suggested texts for history studying to acquire and organise an tutorial library for powerful educational operate.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE IN Larger Training LIBRARIES AND Administration

The provision of increased training libraries is essential in complementing the educating/mastering process and for successful analysis do the job. In this regard, quality must be place on the administration of periodical literature in higher instruction libraries using into account their significance in providing present and researchable details.

Because periodical literature varieties section of the assortment of an educational library, a big percentage of its funds allocated ought to be utilised for the invest in of latest and well-known journals. The periodicals to be obtained really should be titles advised by school associates in collaboration with the periodical Librarian across disciplines supplied in the institution such as Library Quarterly Journal of Sociology Chemical, Abstracts Soils Science Journal Intercontinental Journal of Administration Medical Science Quarterly. It is vital to take note that organising and keeping periodicals in larger education libraries differ from establishment to establishment.

Initially, periodicals were being revealed to allow philosophers and Scientist to connect their new concepts and imagined to other folks fascinated in the similar or related topics. These days, periodicals are principal media for publishing primary acquired papers and the state-of-the-art reviews. They are significantly critical as they can be handy for equally present-day and retrospective facts wanted by lecturers.

Lawson(2014) opined that the importance connected to periodical literature necessitates the enhancement of a powerful periodical literature assortment as component of the library inventory. The writer of this article, nonetheless uncovered that periodicals are of excellent significance in bigger education and learning libraries in that:

• new matters new discoveries and systems are generally launched in content in periodicals
• they source usually the newest doable data on a given subjects
• they are frequently the purely resource of materials on new subjects
• they provide a particular write-up to a reader who has observed it cited in a book or another journal and
• they supply an overview of the condition of a offered willpower at a particular time.

Also periodical short article may possibly keep on being invaluable information and facts sources for a era or indeed for a longer interval. Periodical content are normally reasonably concise, frequently pretty dependable and frequently properly-illustrated. A stage to take note is that periodical carry present-day data on most disciplines.

Further significance of periodical literature in better schooling libraries as asserted is that they are major source of new information, no matter if it be the result of exploration, news objects, statistical info, announcement, correspondence, adverts about a items and expert services or whatever. Each and every type of periodical is vital to at minimum a group of people today in academia, relating to their perform, or leisure activities some have ephemera existence other individuals may possibly be practical for lots of a long time, even indefinitely. Taking into the consideration the importance of periodical literature in bigger schooling libraries, their collection and acquisition either by subscription, donation or exchange must be a collaborative energy in between the libraries and team of the various faculties and universities.

Periodical literature in better schooling libraries in Sierra Leone incorporate journals, indexes, abstracts, magazines, serials and their organisations and administration differs from library to library. Challenges of all gained periodical literature are recorded on a kardex and any lacking difficulty really should be claimed from the publisher. Ahead of displaying and shelving them, all recorded concerns are claimed with the ex libri stamp of the library in dilemma. When all the troubles to full a volume are acquired, they are then place collectively to be sent to bindery or conservation unit for both challenging deal with binding or stitching. End users of periodical literature in these institutions include things like learners, lecturers and scientists. Periodical literatures are to be utilised within just the partitions of the Periodical Department. Having said that, buyers are authorized to take them out to photocopy the required webpages right after signing for them. Lecturers are specified conception to personal loan them on brief expression basis and financial loan documents are stored to remember overdue concerns. The maintenance of periodical literature is as importance as the other collections of the library.

Worries

The significant challenge higher instruction libraries in Sierra Leone facial area is funding. These libraries are inadequately funded by their father or mother bodies to a level that the sleek-functioning of their functions in guaranteeing effective info assistance shipping is tremendously hampered. For an educational library to build and keep a vibrant periodical literature selection count on how perfectly it is funded. Selection growth in better education and learning libraries in Sierra Leone has faced worries of satisfying the demand from customers of their clientele with an rising scarcity of money to cope with the high price of periodical publications. As the final result of the regulation finances allotted to run these libraries, subscribing to the required journal title poses a serious difficulty for the Acquisition Librarian. Some volumes are incomplete missing problems are challenging to replace and the invest in of kardexes on which been given journal problems are recorded is not pretty feasible since the library operates within a confined money sources.

In effectively functioning higher instruction libraries, the two the human and economical things need to be balanced as these two are inseparable in obtaining the preferred aim of an organisation. From this history, schools and universities in Sierra Leone with the assist of the Ministry of Specialized and bigger Instruction really should re-described their respective libraries so that high quality could be placed on the membership of pertinent journal titles as well as boasting missing challenges from publishers and their brokers.

A further challenge better education libraries in Sierra Leone confronted in taking care of their periodical literature assortment is that of storage space. Most of these libraries with the exception of Fourah Bay University(FBC) library which has a separate Periodical Office, do not have enough house for newly obtained titles. The storage troubles these libraries confronted leads to the frequent weeding of periodical literature to build room for subsequent concerns.

The cost concerned in conserving and preserving periodical volumes and issues is a different problem in running periodical literature in greater training libraries. Unbound, unstitched challenges can be conveniently snatched away especially for all those in heavy demand. Finishing the issues are these of major use of minimal copies. Opening hrs of periodical literature collection and mortgage method inadequate staff scenario and capability developing for team to efficiently control periodical literature collection which indicates that recruited personnel must be skilled academically and professionally to enrich their competence and performance misuse and abuse of periodicals in terms of theft mutilation of crucial articles or blog posts thus depriving other end users and rough handling that will cause hurt which basically implies insecurity digitisation of periodical literature collection as a way of modernising it in this data Age whereby details is processed, preserved and retrieve electronically in making certain speed and accuracy unavailability of on line copies and photocopiers getting into account the rising range of periodical literature.

Any remedy of assortment enhancement in higher schooling libraries are not able to afford to forget the issue of periodicals which can be found as a problem. As valued resources of recent and trusted information and facts for scientists and academics, periodicals are of great significance. The role they play for the improvement of know-how to battle illiteracy are unable to be underestimated. Periodical literature stays crucial sources of information and facts for a generational time period. Higher training librarians may well not be ready to judge the intrinsic value of periodicals but should really know something about their value to the institution in issue and pattern of use which are crucial criteria for judging their worth.

Periodical literature can be of excellent importance in increased training libraries in Sierra Leone and so their successful management must be of worry to the librarians and college authorities. In developing periodical literature collections in academic libraries ensure well balanced assortment of current journal titles in issue parts related to the curriculum, librarian-school collaboration is important. The adequacy of periodical literature assortment depend on journal titles selected and acquired to be added to the present inventory to meet the requirements of the curriculum of the establishment and individuals of end users. In view of these issues, the authorities of increased training libraries in Sierra Leone should really see the will need to solicit ample cash by lobbying the Govt, NGOs, parastatals and philanthropists to render economical guidance for the effective cooperation of their libraries. Advocating by librarians for superior spending plan allocation is fairly in spot and the action in the right way.

Conclusion

Increased schooling libraries in Sierra Leone want to make and managed vibrant periodical literature collections but this is dependent on how sufficiently they are funded by their respective father or mother institutions. Consequently, there is a will need for an increase in the budget allocation of these libraries so that they can achieve their preferred goals. A level-worth noting is that the appointment of capable and qualified workers in managing the periodical collection of these libraries ought to be taken into keen thought as equally the human and fiscal aspects ought to be properly balanced in boosting helpful service shipping. Ability building of the recruited workers to a significant extent is basic for economical performance guarantees their upward mobility which is viewed as a motivational issue. Employees of the periodical literature assortment really should be stability-conscious to keep away from the misuse and abuse of periodicals. The use of periodical should really be closely monitored by staff members so that pages are not mutilated and intensely made use of concerns are not taken absent by buyers whereby other folks are deprived. Photocopying facilities should be presented in the library, so that desired webpages are photocopied by buyers on request. The availability of sufficient funds boosts the digitisation of periodical literature collection therefore making certain the availability of on-line copies which would make the management of periodical literature in larger instruction libraries in Sierra Leone useful. The librarians of these institutions ought to endeavour to revisit the opening hrs of their periodical literature collections as long several hours could make it possible for profitable use of the time of users.

REFERENCES

Donaldson, Frank H. (2010). Managing periodicals in academic libraries. New York: Prentice Hall.

Findlay, Jane Rose (2011). How to build and operate a periodical collection in a faculty library? London: ELM Publications.

Lawson, Eric J.(2014). What is a periodical and its significance for researchers? Cambridge: Cambridge College Push.

Nicol, Frederick Ken(2011). How to acquire and regulate periodical publications in research libraries? New York: Tutorial Press.

Norman, Betty Ann(2008). The use of periodicals in university libraries. London: Clive Bingley.