USE OF LIBRARY, STUDY SKILLS AND INFORMATION AND

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) GST 1201

Table of Contents

1. Concept & definition of

library………………………………………………………………

…………

2. Brief of history of library

………………………………………………………………………

…..........

3. Role of library in

education……………………………………………………………

…………………..

4. Objectives of virtual

library………………………………………………………………

……………… 3

1
5. Types of

libraries……………………………………………………………

…………………………………..4

6. Details on the types of

libraries……………………………………………………………

…………5-6

7. Aims and objectives of

libraries……………………………………………………………

……………7

8. Types of library

materials……………………………………………………………

…………………8-16

9. Organsational structure of the

library………………………………………………………….17-

19

10. Organisation of library

materials……………………………………………………………

……….20
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11. Sample of card

catalogue……………………………………………………………

…………………….22

12. Online

catalogue……………………………………………………………

……………………………………22

13. Classification of library

materials……………………………………………………………

….23-27

14. Approaches to the use of library

catalogues…………………………………………….27-29

15. Sample of catalogue cabinet containing catalogue

cards……………………………..29

16. Library registration and

search………………………………………………………………

………29

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17. How to borrow a book in the

library……………………………………………………………….

.30

18. Copy

right…………………………………………………………………

…………………………………..31-32

19. Plagiarism or academic

dishonesty…………………………………………………………

……..33

20. Referencing…………………………………………………

……………………………………………….33-37

21. Database

resources……………………………………………………………

……………………….38-41

22. E-

learning……………………………………………………………

………………………………………..41-43

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23. Study

skills………………………………………………………………

…………………………………..44-49

24. Tips on how to be successful in

examination……………………………………………………50

25. Qualities of good science student in the 21st

centaury…………………………………51-52

26. Information and communication technology (ICTs)

…………………………………………52

27. Internet………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………54

28. Strategies for internet

search………………………………………………………………

………….54

29. Search

engine………………………………………………………………

………………………………55-56

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 30. Concept of

computer……………………………………………………………

……………………………57

31. Hardware

component…………………………………………………………

……………………….57-59

32. Software………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………60

33. Word

processing…………………………………………………………

……………………………….60-69

Preamble

Library and information services have undergone various stages of transformation from

inception and this date back to the pre- writing era, when human brains served as the only

repository of ideas and knowledge. Information was transmitted from one person to another

through words of mouth and the human brain was not able to store and retain all the knowledge

and information available. This led to the emergence of writing in places like Egypt, Babylon,

Sumerian, Persia, Assyria, Phoenicia etc. The art of writing made it possible for knowledge and

information to be recorded on clay tablets, papyrus sheet, stones, parchments, vellum, papers,

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bark of trees etc. the “library” at this stage was reserved for the privileged class in the society.

John Gutenberg’s invention of printing in 1450 AD helped in no small way, to quicken the pace

of library development as books were massively produced and made available at affordable

prices. Further advances in science and technology gave rise to the information explosion, with

its attendant challenges of how to cope with storage, retrieval and dissemination of information

to numerous libraries and its users.

Hence, the emergence of computers with its high storage and retrieval capabilities to meet these

challenges was introduced to facilitate dissemination of information resources in different types

of libraries. The emergence of information and communication technologies has helped to widen

the scope of library and information services beyond the traditional norms.

Concept of library

Encyclopedia Britannica (2004) defined library as a collection of books gathered for the purpose

of reading, study or references. In other word, Reitz (2004) viewed library as a place where

information materials are organised and maintained for use such as reading, consultation, study

or research. Similarly, a library is an institution responsible for the collection, processing and

storage of recorded knowledge for the purpose of reading, study, and consultations. Wikipedia

the reference encyclopedia (2010) viewed library as a collection of sources, resources and

services and the structure in which it is housed; organised for use and maintained by a public

body, institution, or a private individual. Ezennia (as cited in Abah, 2011) defined library as an

institution or establishment for the care of collection of books and for making them accessible to

prospective users.

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To summarize the above concepts of library it could be said that, library is a resource centre for

students, teachers, researchers and others. In other words, a library is conceptualized as the

“power house” of any ideal academic institution. Above all, with (ICT) libraries are being

regarded as a place to get unrestricted access to information in various formats. ICTs based

libraries can be referred to as electronic library, virtual library or reality, digital library,

community library, library without walls, the library of the future etc.

In the contemporary knowledge age, it could be said that the provision of information service

could emanate from two types of libraries. These are:

 The conventional libraries (paper based or tangible libraries)

 The contemporary libraries (paperless, digital, intangible libraries or library without

boarder)

Virtual library as a contemporary library

Virtual library is simply a library in which computer and telecommunication technologies make

access to a wide range of information resources possible. It is also referred to as digital library,

electronic library or “community library”. It is called “virtual” because in a good electronic

wide area networked library, the user enjoys the euphonies of being in distant libraries. In other

words, virtual library is a library that harnesses digital technology and internet technologies as

infrastructure to search, collect, organise, store and distribute cultural, historical and scientific

information whether it is text, visual images or sound. With virtual libraries it is possible for

electronic books, journals to be accessible to an unlimited audience at the same time, any time

and any where.

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Magara (2002) stated that virtual library is an information centre without a physical location for

the end user. In other words, the users can access a virtual library from any where and

information can be held anywhere. This is achieved with the use of telecommunication systems

which enable the digital library offer facilities for accessing collections of automated libraries

online.

Its objectives

 Avail the nation access to global information

 Fulfill the concept of universal availability of publications (UAP) through resources

sharing

 Improve the quality of teaching and research institutions of higher learning in Nigeria

through the provision of current books, journals and other library resources.

 Enhance scholarship, research and lifelong learning through the establishment of

permanent access to shared digital archival resources

 Improve the use of globally distributed, networked information resources

Basically, there are two main features that distinguish a functional library from haphazard

collection of books and non books materials. These include:

 Organisation: organisation of library collection comes inform of cataloguing and

classification processes which brings order to the libraries. The concept of organisation

helps the library to determine types of materials to acquire and places to locate them.

 Accessibility: accessibility is the ability for a library to upon up its collection for use

without boarder, allowing user’s access to its material collection e.g. books and non

books. Thus, organisation and accessibility are what made the library an outstanding

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 social agency whose operative devices are purposeful. Essentially, the social functions of

any library necessitated the categorization of its services according to its users.

Types of Libraries

All libraries keep information materials, but there are different types of libraries namely:

1. Academic library

2. School library

3. Special library

4. Public library

5. National library

6. Private library

Academic library

An academic library is the type of library which is established to cater for tertiary institutions

such as Colleges of education, Polytechnics, Monotechnics and Universities. The academic

library provides resources and services that encourage independent reading and literature search

to complement the lecture notes. The users are mainly students, lecturers, internal researchers

and private researchers from out side the institutions.

School library

The term “school library” applies to the library to be found in a primary school, secondary

school, or teacher training college. It is usually a collection of books including text books on

various subjects, fictions, some reference materials and audio visual materials.

Special library

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The terms “special library” and research library tend to be used inter changeably. The specialized

library serves the special information and knowledge needs of its parent body. It is a defined

library with defined materials and funded by the concerned institution. In other word, special

library can be defined as that library which is restricted in its collections and also the users it

serves. According to Kumar (2002) special library can be seen as one which is established to

obtain and exploit specialized information for the private advantage of the organisation which

provides financial help to the parent organisation which might be a government, a private society

or institution, a hospital, a public cooperation, a research association, a local authority or a

company. Special library is one which is neither national nor academic, it is one which covers a

specific subject field including hospitals, museums, research laboratories, law firms and many

government departments and agencies, maintain their own libraries for the use of their

employees in doing specialized research related to their works.

Public library

A public library is a library that is established with sole aims of serving the generality of the

community where it is located. It is managed or ran by the state Government or a Board set up by

the state government. The public library has heterogeneous clients to serve; its services are

directed to every one without restriction. In a nutshell, the public library is to meet the

information needs of the people, no matter how diverse the interests of the public are. That is

why it is usually referred to as the “people’s university”.

National library

This is a library established to serve the entire citizen of the public within a local community, a

state or a nation. It is usually established by the national government of a country to serve the

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educational, social and recreational need of the country. Each country has it own national library

and it is usually situated in the capital. Books in this library are usually for reference only. It is

the nation’s centre of information. National library provides referral services and keeps track

records of information concerning the country.

Private library

This library is set up, equipped and managed by individuals. It is usually maintained by

renowned scholars in the society. These scholars turn their collections over the years in to a

library. The library collections usually reflect the areas of specialization of their owners. For

example bulk collections of medical doctors will be on medicine while a lawyer will have law

books as his major collections.

Aims and Objectives of Libraries

Libraries are set up to meet three basic demands and needs namely:

 To give information

 To provide and improve knowledge and

 For recreational purposes.

Obi (1974) highlighted the aims and objectives of libraries in academic institutions as follows:

1. To promote the development of reading skills and encourage long term reading interests

and habits

2. To contribute to academic achievement in other subjects thus increasing students’

chances of success in institutions of learning or other professional pursuits.

3. To provide students with vocational information leading to the choice of suitable careers.

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 4. To help in discovering and developing the special gifts and talents of students.

5. To train students to study independently by providing wide range of materials for class

projects, individual reports and class assignment and

6. To provide up to date resources to meet the greatest challenge of education and the

explosion of knowledge. The library also helps to reduce the cost of educational materials

as many parents can not afford to buy all books needed by their wards.

Types of library materials

These materials can be classified in to three namely:

1. Print

2. Non print

3. Digital/ electronic

The print materials also divided in to the following:

a. Fiction

b. Non fiction or subject books

c. Serial

d. Reference materials

 Fiction refers to books that tell stories. They include literature in English, French

and other languages. A fiction book enhances reading skills and mastery of

13
 language through expanding the vocabulary of readers. Fiction can also be read

for pleasure.

 Non fiction or subject books: these are text books and other book materials

which deal with factual information rather than imaginative stories. They are the

texts that exist in all fields of study. Examples include those for single subjects

like Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer science and Geography. Others are

those books which deal with professional fields of study such as medicine,

engineering to mention a few. The subject books are the largest number of a

library collection. This is because of their vital role in supporting the curricular

and research functions of the parent institutions.

 Serial: Prytherch (1995) defined serial as “any publication issued in successive

parts, appearing at regular interval, and as a rule is intended to be continued

indefinitely. In other words, the term serials include all periodicals, newspapers,

magazines, journals, and proceedings.

Advantages of serials:

 They carry current information on various fields of study with immediate

results of experimental research and development.

 They report the results of recent research more quickly than books

 They are useful to students and lecturer who are engaged in serious research

and personal development.

 Reference books: these contain certified data e.g. data required not only for

research work but also for general information. Reference materials are the

books which are consulted more frequently than others for certain kind of

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 information and which are planned and written to be referred to for pieces of

information rather than to be read from cover to cover. Such books are usually

arranged as a separate collection, and their use is restricted to the library. The

major types of reference materials are:

 Encyclopedia: it is a work containing information on all subjects, or limited to

a special field or subject, arranged in systematic order, usually alphabetical.

Encyclopedias may be in one volume, they may also be in many volumes,

some times more than forty. Examples of subject or specific encyclopedia

include encyclopedia of science and technology, international encyclopedia of

social sciences, encyclopedia of Agric among others. While general

encyclopedia cover all aspects of knowledge, the subject encyclopedia treat

one subject or sub area of a subject very thoroughly. One consistent

characteristics of encyclopedia is that the articles are always arranged

alphabetically.

 Dictionaries: Basically, a dictionary is a reference source which is used

widely at all levels of education. Like all other reference materials, dictionaries

are mainly consulted by people who are learning new words, like pupils in

primary schools. They are also consulted by students in secondary schools who

want to improve on their vocabulary. The dictionary helps them to verify or

clarify the real meaning of words being used. At the higher level, academics

who are writing or are engaged in editorial work also used dictionaries. A

dictionary is expected to provide the following information concerning each

word:

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  Meanings; part of speech, provenance(place of origin)

 Spellings; common usage

 Pronunciations

 Etymology (word origin; usage and dialect)

 Abbreviations

 Acronyms

 Synonyms

Dictionaries come in different types and sizes:

 General dictionaries: unabridged and desk dictionaries

 Subject dictionaries

 Special purpose dictionaries dealing with aspects of word such

as quotations, synonyms, slang, etc.

 Directories: a directory is a list of persons, organisations, telephone numbers, cities

and towns, systematically arranged usually alphabetically. Giving names, addresses

and affiliations of the subject matter in question. Good examples are the directory

of British Associations and directory of African experts. There are different types of

directories. These are.

 The telephone directory provides answer to a an inquiry for a

local telephone number

 Government directory

 Institutional directory

 Professional directory

 Trade and business

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 Year book: are books that contain current information in descriptive and or

statistical form usually published annually. It aims therefore, at covering activities

which took place within a period of one year. It usually covers such topic as

politics, economy, culture, business education among others. Example the Nigerian

year book.

 Almanac: it is usually an annual publication containing statistical, tabular, and

general information. Almanacs serve the same function as yearbooks though it is

possible to differentiate the two, as almanacs are more statistical while yearbooks

are more descriptive. Yearbooks and almanacs are published yearly, giving general

information (especially statistics), covering the past year’s activities, and event such

as areas as the sun, moon, star, tides, public holidays and so on.

 Indexes: Bonn (1971) describes index as a detailed alphabetical list of names,

terms, topics, places, formulate, number or other significant items in a completed

work (such as a book, set, or bound journals) with exact page reference to materials

discussed in that work. In other word, index is a systematic guide to text of any

reading materials with headings arranged in alphabetical order.

 Abstract: an abstract is the intellectual summary of the content of the original

document. In other word, an abstract is a condensation that presents succinctly the

objectives, scope and findings of a document.

 Atlas: an atlas is a volume consisting of a collection of maps. Maps/atlases are used

by people who would want to know about places they would like to visit or have

visited already. It uses clear and easily understandable pictures and texts to give

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 brief explanation of the areas covered. In other words, an atlas contains maps and

charts as well as historical, cultural, political and economic information.

 Gazetteer: this is a dictionary of places. It is very useful in finding information

about the location of a place, its correct pronunciation and in many cases; it also

provides a brief history. The gazetteer includes information not only on citizens,

regions, countries and physical features but also on national parts and internal

economic and cultural regions.

 Gazette: every government or organisation publishes information on major

decisions taken or statements made. This record of public events in a country or

university published periodically is what is referred to as a gazette. It is used to

formalize important government activities such as decree on land use, promotions

and appointments, retirements from service, resignations etc.

 Bibliography: is a printed list of documents containing formal descriptions of the

documents.

 Biography: is the life history of some body written by another person during his

life time or after his death. When the person writes about himself/herself, it is called

autobiography. Its purpose is to tell accurately history of a person from birth to

death in a manner that will reveals various aspect of character, personality and

philosophy. Example WHO is WHO in Nigeria

 Quotation books: a quotation book contains numerous quotations on a wide

variety of subjects. Such quotations can be especially useful for your paper’s

introductory and concluding paragraphs.

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  Handbook: are concise reference works covering a particular subject. They contain

data, procedures, principles, tables, graphs and diagrams. Students use them

because they are one of the authoritative sources of information in their specialty

e.g. handbook of Biology, chemistry etc

 Manuals: these are reference sources that contain instructions on how to do things.

Thus, questions on “how to do” how to perform, how to make, get their answers

from manuals.

The non print materials

The non print materials are often called audio- visual materials or non book library

materials. They are also known as multimedia. The multimedia is an information

bearing media, but not in the form of the conventional book format. Usually, the

multimedia is used to refer to information resources that are not or print form but which

are capable of appealing to the eyes, ears, sense of touch, smell or taste or a

combination of more than one of these. Such non- print material include microforms,

audio material, models, slides film strips and recording.

Some audio visual materials require equipment or machines. Notable ones are

microfilm, micro card, and microfiche. These are rich photographic images stored on a

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translucent medium (microfiche or microfilm) or on an opaque medium such as card

stack, micro opaque or aperture card which require to be read by machines.

 Microform reader: This is a generic term for microforms that

require the use of equipment which will change the text and

display it on screens. Such equipment is called microform reader.

It is also worthy of note that most microform readers are now

reader- printers not just readers and thus can produce a paper copy

of what appears on the screen. Microforms include microfilm,

microfiche and micro card.

 Microfilm: A micro film reader must be used to magnify the

reduced image so that it appears in readable size on the machine’s

screen.

 Microfiche: is a flat piece of transparent film containing images

greatly reduced in size. For the microfiche to be read, one needs a

microfiche reader.

 Micro card: is an opaque card with reduced images which must

be magnified on the appropriate machine before the text can be

read. It is superseded by microfiche.

 Audio materials: these are those materials that produce sound

recordings. They include records and record players, tape

recorders, radio and cassettes.

 Slides, film strips and recordings: today many teachers make

use of film strips and motion pictures to illustrate and classify

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 their subjects. Some of the most entertaining cartoons convey

useful information and the documentary film like “Things Fall

Apart” is an important memory booster, useful in teaching and

learning

Advantages of non print material:

The advantages of non print materials are more than the print materials, they are as follows:

 They serve as facilitators of information transfer and

communication. Thus, they enhance effective teaching and

learning.

 In learning they help to sustain the interest of students just as they

excite them.

 They create that sprit of inquisitiveness in students.

 They enhance logical and rational thinking in students and other

learners through the arousal of their curiosity.

 They assist teachers in communicating to a large audience of

students, thereby making teaching to be more comprehensible,

interesting and motivating.

The digital materials

The advent of information and communication technology (ICTs) in the world has

affected all facet of human endeavor of which library is not left out. This new

innovation made the library to store and use digital materials in the discharge of

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 services to their clientele. Examples of such digital software in libraries include fax,

electronic mail, CD ROM among others.

 Facsimile transmission (Fax): a fax machine looks like a small

photocopier. The document to be transmitted is placed on the

machine and the recipient’s fax number is keyed in; the document is

then scanned and converted in to digital form. Then after the

transmission, the original document is reassembled at the recipients

end as an exact copy or facsimile. The materials that can be

transmitted are texts, charts, handwriting documents and drawings

(Anaeme, 2004).

 Electronic mail service (E-mail): E-mail allows messages to be sent

over a telecommunication network from one computer to another

without the use of any paper. With the E-mail services, messages are

typed on a computer terminal, stored on disc or other devices and

sent to the recipient. At the receiving end of the circuit, messages are

held in an electronic mail box opened by the receiver at will.

Organizational structure of the library

The chief executive of the university library is the university librarian who is responsible to the

vice chancellor for the smooth running of the library. The polytechnic librarian is in the

polytechnic and is responsible to the rector for the smooth running of the library, while the

college librarian heads a college of education library and he/she is responsible to the provost for

the smooth running of the college library. In the public and national libraries, the library is

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headed by the director of library and national librarian respectively and they are responsible to

the ministries or agencies to which the libraries are attached.

Departments in the library

All establishments have organizational structures and departments. The library is not an

exception. In a standard library therefore, three major departments can be identified namely:

 Administrative department

 Technical department

 Readers’ services department

Each of these departments is made up of several sections. The activities of some sections are

visible to users of the library while those of others are not.

Administrative department

The college librarian or University librarian, as the case may be is always the administrator

responsible for the management of human and materials resources in the library. Some other

units can be directly under the office of the librarian, defending on the library concerned. Such

include non print, media resources, audio- visual and photocopying services units.

Technical department

The department is always referred to as behind the screen department because the activities are

carried on out of the sight of regular users of then library. It consists of among others:

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  The acquisition section: the selection of library materials of all kinds is done in this

section by the librarian in charge

 Cataloguing section: library materials on receipt from the acquisition section are

catalogue and classified here.

 Serials section: various journals subscribed to by the library are selected, ordered,

received, processed and shelved by the serial section.

 Binding section: even books that are well used are certain to deteriorate eventually.

Though some are made to last longer than others. There are many ways of prolonging

their life span and one of such ways is through repairs. The binding section is where such

repairs are carried out.

Readers’ services department

This is the area where the activities of library staff are glaringly seen. The area is made of

various sections, the number of which some times depend on the type of library. The sections

are:

 Reference section: this section specializes in the provision of reference services as

well as giving readers advice in addition to keeping reference materials. Reference

services: this is the process of establishing contact between a reader and the library

materials; it is also a personal service which involves many activities aimed at making

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 information, data, ideas or knowledge easily available to the user. More so, reference

service is, “the process of establishing right contact between the right reader and the

right book at the right time and in the right personal way. It is a personal service to

each reader in helping him to find the documents answering his interest at the

moment, pin-pointedly, exhaustively and expeditiously”.

 Circulation section: this is where materials that go on loan are charged to patrons and

discharged on return to the library. Shelving of books is done by staff in this section.

 Reserved books section: materials in short supply but in constant and extensive

demand are kept here for in house use.

Other services in the readers’ services department include inter library loan system, current

awareness services and users’ education. Through the inter library loan system, it is possible to

borrow or request for materials that are not available in a particular library but are available in

other libraries. All such request is treated by the readers’ services librarian. The current

awareness services simply mean creating awareness to the library clienteles of the new arrivals in

the library either by displaying new books or listing the titles and sending them out to the

prospective clienteles so that they are aware of the current materials in their fields of study.

Organization of library materials

The beauty of any library or information centre is the ability to put their resources and services in

a fashionable manner in order to facilitate easy access to their customers. Basically, there are two

major ways in organising resources in the library namely:

 cataloguing and

 classification

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Cataloguing of library materials

Is the process of describing and recording of the physical features of a book necessary to identify

and distinguish it from other materials in the library? Therefore, the end product of cataloguing is

known as catalogue.

Catalogue

Is defined as a systematic and complete record or listing of books, maps, and other information

materials in the library. According to Adedibu (2008) describes catalogue as the inventory of the

stock of any library. It is the tool for accessing the collections of the library. Harrods (1990)

defined catalogue as: “the compilation of a list documents or printed materials according to a set

of rules so as to enable the consulter to know what items are available, and from the class

number or other means of identification, where they may be found”. In addition, the library

catalogue is an essential tool, index and key to the collection containing an entry representing

each item. It also tells where in the library a book is located. The catalogue gives comprehensive

records of materials owned by the library so also listing what the library possesses by a certain

author on a given subject and with a certain title and enable library materials to be located

(Clark, 2000).

Physical forms of catalogue

 card catalogue

 printed catalogue

 sheaf catalogue

 microform catalogue

 on line catalogue

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For the purpose of this article, only two forms of catalogue are to be discussed. These are:

 card catalogue

 on line catalogue

The card catalogue

The catalogue is the most popular and widely used in many libraries. Here entries are made in a

3” by 5” inches or 12.5cm by 7.5cm card and can be filed and interfiled at will. It carries detailed

information about a book such as the author, titles, imprint, pagination, call numbers, series etc.

example of card catalogue is shown in figure 1 below:

A sample of card catalogue

Class mark Author name Title of the book Statement of responsibility

Z Appreciating the library/ by Isaac M. Ogbonna. – 3rd ed. – Enugu: His glory
200.2 publishers, 2009.
ogb Ix, 219 P.: ill. – (library science series)
Include index
ISBN: 978 – 978 – 907 – 833 – 2
1 LIBRARY SCIENCE I Title

Collation or imprint Edition statement

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 Series statement

Physical descriptions Notes Tracing

ISBN

Online catalogue

The introduction of ICT in the field of libraries and information centres has brought a see change

in the techniques of access, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information resources that

library acquired to serve it users. It has also changed the ways of providing services offered to

user’s community. OPAC is one of these technologies provide access to any of the information

contained in the record for an items in the library. It may be define as a database of bibliographic

records describing the holdings of a library. In other word, OPAC contains the entire

bibliographic information of an information centre or we can say it is a gate way to information

centre’s collection.

An OPAC it allows users to search document by authors, titles, subject and key words from

terminal and also allows printing, downloading or exporting records via different electronic

means. Thus, provide users a means of searching and accessioning information. However, users

can see the collections and issue status of each document of the library and can reserve and

renew a document of their interest when needed.

Classification of library materials

Classification ordinarily is the orderly arrangement of things either by characteristics or usage. It

is the process of putting like things together. However, classification in library and information

28
science is the process of grouping books and non book materials in the library in a systematic

order according to their subject affinities (Innocent, 2008).

Rational for classifying library materials

Storage of books in a library necessitates some kind of order if the books are to be easily

retrieved. Orderly arrangement whether of ideas, scientific specimens, books or a document is

vital for easy retrieval. This is usually done according to subject affinities. This is because most

library users ask for books based on their subjects. Classification schemes are the devices used in

grouping library books and materials together in an orderly manner according to their subject

relatedness. For this reason, discussion will be based on two major classification schemes

namely:

 Dewey Decimal classification System (DDC)

 Library of congress classification system (LC)

Dewey decimal classification scheme

The Dewey decimal classification scheme was named after its originator Melvil Dewey (1815-

1931) and it was first published in 1876. Melvil Dewey divided knowledge in to ten (10) main

groups as follows:

 000 -General Works

 100 –philosophy

 200 – Religion

 300 – Social science

29
  400 – Language/ Philosophy

 500 – Pure science

 600- Applied sciences

 700 – Arts

 800 – literature

 900 – History

Each of the ten groups above is further divided in to classes which represents the subdivision of

the subjects. For example, 500 represents pure science and subdivisions in this class are as

follows:

 510 – Mathematics

 520 –Astronomy

 530 physics

 540- Chemistry

 550 –Earth science

 560 –Paleontology

 570- Botany

 580 – Zoology

The number, 510, represents mathematics and this is further subdivided in to the various aspects

of mathematics.

 511 – Arithmetic

 512 – Algebra

 513 – Geometry etc

30
Thus, the ten classes are divided and subdivided in an attempt to bring related subject together in

a natural sequence.

Library of congress

The library of congress (LC) classification scheme was originally designed for the library of

congress in Washington D.C., but has since been adopted by many other libraries. The library of

congress classification scheme differs from DDC in many ways including that it is not a decimal

classification, it uses alphabets and numerals and the entire field of knowledge is divided in to 21

groups using the letters A- Z except letters, I, O, W, X, and Y. the main groups include the

Following:

 A- General works and Polygraph

 B –Philosophy, Religion and Psychology

 C –Auxiliary Sciences of History

 D –Universal History

 E-F American History

 G- Geography

 H- Social science

 J- Political science

 K- Law

 L- Education

 M- Music

 N- FAA( Fine art and applied arts)

 P- Language and Literature

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  Q-Science

 R-Medicine

 S-Agriculture

 T-Technology

 U-Military Science

 V-Naval science

 Z-Bibliography and Library Science

The letters represent general classes. Additional letters show general divisions of a class and

Arabic figures in numerical sequence showing its smaller subdivisions. We can illustrate with the

class Q, S, G, and T

 Q- Science
 QA- Mathematics

 QB- Astronomy

 QC- Physics

 QD-Chemistry

 QE –Geology

 QH-Biology(General)

 QK- Botany

 QL- Zoology

 QM-Human Anatomy

 QP-Physiology

 QR-Microbiology

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Again further subdivisions of the letters are possible by assigning numbers such as:

 QA101 –Arithmetic

 QA152 –Algebra

 QA445 –Geometry

 QA447 –Elementary Pure Geometry

 S-Agriculture
 SB-Plant Culture

 SD- Forestry

 SF-Animal science

 SH-Aqua-culture

 SK –Wildlife

 T- Technology (General)

 TA – Engineering (General) Civil engineering

 TC- Hydraulic engineering

 TD- Environmental Technology

 TE – Highway engineering

 TF – Rail road engineering and operation

 TG –Bridge engineering

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  TH – Building construction

 TJ- Mechanical engineering

 TK – Electrical engineering, electronic and nuclear engineering

How to use library catalogues

Attached to the use of library catalogue trays is the range of its contents. An approach may be

either by (a) subject or by (b) author/title catalogue.

(a) An approach by the subject requires the following steps:

 Identify the subject and check the tray which contains it.

 Go through the subject headings in the catalogue tray until you see what you

want;

 Copy the call number of the material as given at the bottom of the cards.

 Use the call number to locate the item on the shelf;

 If you are in difficulty, contact the staff

(b) An approach by the author/title catalogue requires the following steps:

 Take the author’s surname to the catalogue;

 Locate the catalogue tray which contains the author’s surname;

 Go through the names and titles in the tray until you see what you are looking for;

 Copy the call number of the material as given at the bottom of catalogue card;

 Take the call number to the shelf for location of the material,

If you are in difficulty, with any of the approaches (a) and (b) contact the library staff.

34
How to borrow a book in the library

The system of borrowing books varies slightly from library to library, but the common thing is

that a borrower submits his/her borrower’s ticket before books can be borrowed. A user who

wants to borrow a book will take the book he/she wants to borrow to the loans desk with his/her

borrower’s ticket and identity card. The officer in charge will stamp the date that the book will

be returned on the date-due label. The borrower’s ticket will be taken from him/her and the

particulars (book cards) of the book he/she has borrowed the book. The identity card is then

returned to the borrower. The date stamped on the date-due label is the latest date that the book

should be returned. Failure to return the book on the date will normally attract a fine.

Copyright

According to Isaac (2009) describes copyright as the reserved or exclusive right given by law to

the creator of a literary work as regards to the use, reproduction and exploitation of his created

works for economic or commercial purpose. The New lexicon Webster’s Encyclopedia

Dictionary of the English language (1993) defined copyright as the exclusive right to reproduce

literary, dramatic, artistic or musical work, given by law for a certain period to an author etc or

his agent.

Why copyright

The protection of the moral right ensures that the work must not be tampered with in any way

without prior approval of the author whose personality is reflected in his creative work.

Copyright is also intended to protect the interest of the society in general. Without copyright,

authors will lose the urge to write, thereby drying up the source of intellectual values for the

society, and stultify intellectual creativity. Copyright is also intended to protect the interest of

35
publishers by enabling them to take reasonable returns in their investment. It is important to

emphasize that the aim of copyright is NOT to impede the transfer of knowledge by protecting

the author’s work from use by other people. Rather it is to ensure that any use made of the work

is lawful and with due benefits accruing to the author.

Works eligible for copyright protection

Below are the works eligible for copyright protection:

 Literary works

 Musical works

 Artistic works

 Cinematography films

 Sound recording

The copyright Act in Nigeria forbade the following with regard to literary, musical and

artistic works:

 To reproduce the work (s) in any material form

 Publish the work

 Perform the work in public

 Produce, reproduce, perform or publish any translation of the work

 Make any cinematograph film or any record in respect of the work

 Distribute to the public, for commercial purpose, copies of the work by way of

rental, lease, hire, loan or similar arrangement

 Broadcast or communicate the work to the public by a loudspeaker or any

other in similar device

36
  Make any adaptation of the work

The copyright Act also provides that copyright is not infringed if a work is performed, copied,

reproduced or adapted for:

 Research or private study

 Criticism or review or the reporting of current events if an acknowledgement is

made

 Reproduced and/ or performed for judicial proceeding.

Plagiarism or academic dishonesty

Hornby (as cited in Gama, 2008) described plagiarism as an act of taking somebody else’s ideas

or words and using them as if they were one’s own. This act is considered as an offence in

scholarship. Plagiarism is a literary theft or misrepresentation (Aina, 1996). He explained that the

term is derived from Latin word for kidnapper and refers to the act of signing ones own name to

words, phrases, or ideas which are the literary property of another, in a conscious or unconscious

attempt to deceive the reader. Aina further cites the document as stressing some example of

academic dishonesty bordering on plagiarism as:

 Unacknowledged copying- a situation in which the writer fails to

indicate the sources of his ideas either by using quotation marks or

citations.

 Paraphrasing another person’s writing either partially, completely or in

its entirety without citing. Paraphrase is a detailed restatement, in your

own words, of all a sources important ideas but not your opinions or

interpretations of those ideas.

37
Referencing

According to American Psychological Association (2001) describes referencing as a

standardized method of acknowledging sources of information and ideas that you have used in

your assignment in a way that uniquely identifies their source. Further explained that, direct

quotations, facts and figures as well as ideas and theories from both published and unpublished

works must be referenced.

Why reference?

Referencing is necessary to avoid plagiarism, to verify quotation, and to enable readers to follow

up and read more fully the cited author’s arguments.

Citation style

There is a large number of citation styles that are used by publishes and authors. Although some

of them are constant, others such as the APA keep on changing from time to time. The following

are some of the style in use:

 American Psychology Association (APA) style

 Modern Language Association (MLA) style

 Council of Biology Association(CBA) style

 Chicago University Press style

 Harvard Style

 Turabian style

 Oxford style

38
All these and other styles share a lot of things in common and differ in certain areas. However,

Ugwuanyi (as cited in Gama, 2008) observes that APA and MLA have in recent years been

increasingly growing popular among authors, especially in the sciences and social sciences. For

constraints of space, will discuss only the APA style:

 APA style

Steps involved in referencing using (APA) style

 Note down the full bibliographic details of the sources from which the information is

taken. Include the relevant page number (s)

 In the case of a book ,bibliographic details refers to author/editor, year of

publication, title, edition, volume number, place of publication and publisher

as found on the front and back of the title page. (Not all of these details will

necessarily be applicable).

 In the case of a journal article the details required include: author of the

article, year of publication, title of the article, title of the journal, volume and

issue number of the journal, and page numbers

 For all electronic information, in addition to the above you should note the

date that you accessed the information and database name or address (URL)

 Insert the citation at the appropriate place within the text of the document(see example

below)

 Provide a reference list at the end of the document (see examples below)

39
In –text citations

Use the surname of the author, followed by the year of publication when citing references within

the text of an assignment. Where authors of different references have the same family name,

include the author’s initials in the text citation i.e. (Hamilton, C. L, 1994) or C.L. Hamilton

(1994). If two or more authors are cited at the same point in the text then they are included in the

same in text citation, separated by a semicolon, e.g. (Brown, 1991; Smith, 2003). They are

presented alphabetically by author. When directly quoting from another source, the relevant page

number must be given and double quotation marks places around the quote (APA, 2001).

How to create a reference list

A reference list only includes books, articles etc that are cited in the text. In contrast, a

bibliography is a list of relevant sources for background or for further reading. The reference list

is arranged alphabetically by author. Where an item has no author it is cited by its title, and

ordered in the reference list or bibliography alphabetically by the first significant word of the

title. The APA style requires the second and subsequent lines of the reference to be indented as

shown in the examples, to highlight the alphabetical order. Page numbers should only be

included in the in text citations when directly quoting from another source.

What is a reference/citation?

A reference or citation consist of the elements that allows the reader to trace the original book or

article you have read or cited from. When citing a book you need the following elements in this

order:

40
Author (year of publication): book title. City of publication: name of the publisher. For example,

if you looked at a book with these elements:

Author: Mack, Charles

Year of publication: 2005

Title: introduction to computer

Place of publication: London

Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Your citation would look like this:

Mack, C. (2005). Introduction to Computer. London: Taylor and Francis

For a journal article, you need the following elements:

Author (s) (year of publication); title of article. Title of journal, volume number (issue number):

page numbers.

Authors of article: Labonte, R. and Schrecker, T.

Year of publication: 2007

Title of article: Globalization and social determinants of health

Title of journal: Globalization and health

Volume: 3

41
 Issue: 7

Pages: 190- 200

Your citation would like this:

Labonte, R. and Schrecker, T. (2007). Globalization and social determinants health.

Globalization and Health. 3 (7), 190-220

For information citing from electronic journals, see the examples in the table below

Electronic journals In text example Reference list

Full text from an (Madden, 2002) or As Madden, G. (2002). Internet policy: an

electronic database Madden (2002) states Australian perspective. Economic Record-

78,343-58. Retrieved October i6, 2002 from

ABI/INFORM. Global database

Database resources

A computer database can be said to be electronic set of information, record or literature housed

in computer system, in computer network or in a computer readable format usually organised,

stored and accessed using computer application software. In other word, on- line database is a

collection of electronic books, journals and other study materials available through the internet.

Some can be accessed free of charged (open access scholarly publication OASP) while others

are paid for before access is granted (closed access scholarly publication CASP).

The infusion of information and communication technology in to the library and information

services delivery has altered the nature and presentation of requests. It has drastically reduced

42
search and response time in reference work. It has reduced the entire global information arena to

look like a small media resources centre found in a community primary school. The challenge

before present day library users, educator, and students is to be aware of what is available and

the benefits derivable there from. The benefits of online databases to educators and the educated

who seek to improve their capacity in a wide range of disciplines cannot be over estimated. The

fact that the researcher can access them at the comfort of his home and convenience of time is a

great benefit to academic endeavor.

Some common databases

Some of the common databases found useful for use for academic and other purposes include:

 Access to global online research in agriculture (AGORA). It enhances a library’s ability

to deliver services because over one thousand, two hundred and seventy eight core

internationally published journals on agricultural information are available to AGORA

users. AGORA database provides agricultural journals to developing countries and

because full text articles can be downloaded, it has strengthened the intellectual base of

the users. It has enabled scientist to conduct researches that have the same quality level

with those of their peers in industrialized countries. AGORA can be accessed at

www.agiiternetwork.org and email at [email protected].

 Health inter network access to research initiative (HINARI). It is ranks among the top

ten institutional users of science Direct. With HINARI, public institutions in developing

countries receive free online access to major journals in the biomedical and related social

science field. Over four thousand, two hundred and ten journals are available through the

HINARI access. Elsevier contributes thirty three percent of these. HINARI enables easy

43
 and quick access to references and peer- reviewed articles which may be downloaded if

desired. The most important journal of urology is available in HINARI. It can be

accessed at www.who.in/hinari and email at [email protected].

 Bio One : this is to serve the needs of students of biological science and related

disciplines and accessed at www.bioone.org

 EbscoHost research databases(http://web.ebscohost.com

 Directory of open access journals, DOAJ. This service covers full text, quality controlled

open source scientific and scholarly journals. use http://www.doaj.org

 Google scholar (www.scholar.google.com

 Oxford online dictionary: it is accessed at www.oxfordreference.com

 E- journals.org: a researchable and browsable list of full text electronic journals is found

here. This site is coordinated and maintained by the producers of the world wide web

virtual library at : http://www.e-journals.org

 African journal online (AJOL): this database provides access to abstracts African

published literature. Full – text articles are available for purchase. Click on :

htpp://www.ajol;.info/

 Online access to research in the environment (OARE). Has greatly improved scientific

environmental research in developing countries and contributed to more effective polices

and actions to safeguard natural resources. This is because, research is provided in a wide

range of disciplines such as biotechnology, botany, climate change, ecology, energy,

environmental engineering and planning, environmental law and policy, environmental

toxicology and pollution, geography, geology, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography,

44
 urban planning, zoology and many other areas still emerging. To access OARE, like the

earlier databases discussed, the following steps should be followed:

 Enter the website: www.oarescience.org

 Click on “log in” (click continue)

 Enter the user ID and password

 Select the scheme (here the scheme is OARE)

 Click “sign in”

 A default menu will appear. Please click “Y” or “continue”

Open Access Journals

Open Access (OA) literature comprises of free online copies of peer-reviewed journal

articles and conference papers as well as technical reports, theses and working papers. In the

view of Suber (2005) OA literature ensures free availability on the public internet, permitting

users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full-texts of these articles,

crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any lawful purpose

without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to

the internet itself. The primary goal of OA is therefore to maximize the accessibility of the

research publications that forms the basis for future scientific development.

Open access therefore becomes a useful means of circulating knowledge. In other words, the

authors, or creators of knowledge grant permission for unrestricted use of their content with due

acknowledgement and essentially, not for commercial purposes.

Institutional repository (IR)

An institutional repository can be defined simply as the digital preservation of the intellectual out

of scholars in an institution that is accessible to enquirers and researchers world wide. In other

45
hand, institutional repository as a set of services that the University offers to the members of its

community for the management and dissemination of digital materials created by the institution

and its community members.

E- Learning

e- Learning is commonly referred to the intentional use of networked information and

communication in teaching and learning. A number of other terms are also used to describe this

mode of teaching and learning. They include online learning, virtual learning, distributed

learning, network and web-based learning. Fundamentally, they all refer to educational processes

that utilize information and communication technology to mediate asynchronous as well as

synchronous learning and teaching activities. In other words, the term e- learning comprises a lot

more than online learning, virtual learning, distributed learning, networked or web- based

learning. As the letter “e” in e – learning stand for the word “ electronic”, e- learning would

incorporate all educational activities that are carried out by individuals or groups working online

or offline, and synchronously or asynchronously via networked or standalone computers and

other electronic devices.

E- Learning could be synchronous and asynchronous

e- Learning may either be synchronous or asynchronous. Synchronous learning occurs in real-

time, with all participants interacting at the same time, while asynchronous learning is self-paced

and allows participants to engage in the exchange of ideas or information without the

dependency of other participant’s involvement at the same time.

Asynchronous learning: this is simply refers to the use of technologies such as e- mail, blogs,

wiki, and discussion boards, as well as web supported textbooks, video courses, and social

networking using web 2.0. Asynchronous learning is particularly beneficial for students who

46
have health problems or have child responsibilities and regularly leaving the home to attend

lectures is difficult. In other hand, asynchronous learning mode of delivery is where participant

access course materials on their own schedule and so it is more flexible. Students are not

required to be together at the same time. Mail correspondence, which is the oldest form of

distance education is an asynchronous delivery technology, others include message board

forums, e-mail, video and audio recordings, print materials, voicemail and fax.

Synchronous learning: involves the exchange of ideas and information with one or more

participants during the same period of time. A face to face discussion is an example of

synchronous communications. Synchronous communications include online real time, live

teacher instruction and feed back, Skype conversation, or chartrooms or virtual class rooms

where every one is online and working collaboratively at the same. In other words, synchronous

learning technology is a mode of delivery where all participants are “present” at the same time. It

resembles traditional classroom teaching methods despite the participants being located

remotely. It requires a timetable to be organised. Web conferencing, video conferences,

educational television, instructional television are examples of synchronous technology, as are

direct- broadcast satellite (DBS), internet, Radio, live streaming, Telephone and web-based

VoIP.

E-learning modalities

 Individualized self paced e- learning online

 Individualized self paced e- learning offline

 Group based e-learning synchronously

 Group based e- learning as asynchronously

47
Individualized self paced e- learning online: refers to situations where an individual learner is

accessing learning resources such as a database or course content online via an intranet or the

internet. A typical example of this is a learner studying alone or conducting some research on the

internet or a local network.

Individualized self paced e- learning offline: refers to situations where an individual learner is

using learning resources such as a database or computer assisted learning package offline (i.e.

while not connected to an intranet or internet). An example of this learner working alone off a

hard drive, a CD or DVD

Group based e- learning e- learning synchronously: refers situations where groups of learners

are working together in real time via an intranet or the internet. It may include text based

conferencing, and one or two way audio and video conferencing.

Study skills

The main aim is to make your study more rewarding by approaching study in a methodical

manner. This involves the following key variables:

 Note taking/making

 Evaluation of information resources

 Time management

 Note taking/making: the main purpose of note taking is to summarize the

content of a lecture or a written text in to its most important points with

the aim of reading and evaluating the substance of the note at a later stage.

The need to take/make notes helps to force concentration and ensure

active study. Therefore, acquisition of some skills is essential if we must

take good and appropriate notes. Knowing the necessary skills is one

48
 thing, acquiring them is another. Some of the essential skills involved in

note taking/ making are:

 Listening attentively to a lecture/talk

 Reading a written text, actively and constructively

 Recognising/ understanding the major divisions of a lecture/text

 Distinguishing the major points from supporting point from supporting

details

 Using intelligible abbreviations and symbols

 Summarizing the content of a lecture/ text in graphic forms

Basically note taking is in three parts:

 The preparatory

 Note taking activity

 Re organisation

Many students’ note taking habits are poor. Some take too little notes during lectures; most

attempt to take too much, which is often incoherent and is consequently incomprehensible.

Neither of these is good enough. Although there are some conditions which are not conducive to

listening and understanding a lecture or a talk and which students can not do any thing about, (as

overcrowding, poor acoustics) good and adequate preparation will assist a student in the

comprehension of lectures, talks, and the note taking process.

 Preparation: to derive maximum benefits from a lecture, a learner must be physically,

psychologically, and mentally prepared.

49
  Physical preparedness demands that you are suitably dressed and well seated in a

vantage position to see and hear the lecturer.

 Emotional stability is important if you must follow the train of the lecturer’s

thought, otherwise your mind would continue to wander. Try to put your problem

aside, if you have any before attending a lecture. The psychological state of your

mind will certainly affect how much you understand and the notes that you take.

 To be mentally prepared for a lecture you should attempt to familiarize your self

with the topic for the lecture by pre reading the topic in your textbooks. This

practice will also enable you to familiar with terms, expressions and ideas in the

subject. You should also have the advantage of looking up any particular difficult

concepts or words before the lecture.

 Note taking activity: a good note taking activity begins with writing the details of the

lecture before it commences. Do the following:

 Start a lecture note on a fresh page

 Write the date, topic of lecture and other related information

 Use abbreviations and symbols as appropriate

 Attempt to recognize and note down the major divisions of a lecture from the

opening statements of the speaker

 Try to distinguish between major points and supporting details

 Pay attention to speaker’s use of cue words (therefore, however, in addition,

on the contrary, let’s take a look at; etc.)

Do not do the following:

 Do not write your note on scraps of paper

50
  Do not attempt to write everything the speaker says

 Do not use abbreviation you will not remember

 Re-organisation: immediately after your lecture or as soon as practicable endeavor to

take a second look at the notes you have taken in the light of your total understanding of

the lecture. Unconventional abbreviations which have been invented in the rush to catch

up with the speed of the lecturer should be reviewed properly written. Incomplete

statements which you are unlikely to be able to complete several days after should be

completed. Finally you must make certain that points which remain vague, ideas that are

still incomplete and areas in which you have doubts are marked for further investigation

from textbooks or your lecturer. This of course makes your note a reliable source of

information.

Note taking/making techniques: these techniques will assist your note taking activities

among which are:

 Using abbreviation/ symbols

 Using diagrams, and charts

 Using outline.

 Abbreviations: good notes can hardly be take/made without abbreviations. To be able to

follow a talk and write fast covering the substance of what is said, you only have to write

few words, many of them have to be abbreviated. You can abbreviate virtually every

word except a single letter. Words that occur every often in a text should be abbreviated.

Below are three main types of abbreviations:

 Conventional abbreviations e.g. i.e., NB, etc.; no.;km, cm,kg

 Subject area abbreviations- CO2 , H2O

51
  Personal abbreviations- this would vary in type and number

 Symbols: the use of symbols in note taking/making has the same purpose as

abbreviations. Most symbols are mathematical in origin but are widely used in other

disciplines. A particular symbol could carry a variety of meanings which however are not

opposite. Here are some of the most widely used symbols

 + plus, and

 _ minus, less, remove

 = identical with, equal, is

 # number

 .. therefore

 .. because, since

 > is greater than

 < is less than

 @ at

Time management

As a student, there are some basic principles of time management that you can apply.

 Identify “Best time” for studying: every one has high and low periods of attention and

concentration. Are you a “morning person” or a “night person”. Use your power

times to study; use down times for routines such as laundry others.

 Study difficult subjects first: when you are fresh, you can process information more

quickly and save time as a result.

 Use distributed learning and practice: study in shorter time blocks with short breaks

between. This keeps you from getting fatigued and “wasting time”. This type of studying

52
 is efficient because while you are taking a break, the brain is still processing the

information.

 Make sure the surroundings are conducive to studying: this will allow you to reduce

distractions which can “waste of time”.

 Make room for entertainment and relaxation: university is more than studying. You need

to have time to have social life, yet, you need to have a balance in your life.

 Make sure you have time to sleep and eat properly.

Tips on how to be successful in examination

If we must excel as students in our academic endeavors, we should learn to pay attention to the

following tips:

 Learn that there is no great mystery or short cuts to academic excellence. It is a matter of

“academic due process”.

 Start your study early with the correct zeal, reading habit, prayers, plays and continue

with them to the end of your programme.

 You should know exactly what you will be required to do and when to do them by each

course lecturer.

 You need to have a copy of the course outline for the all the courses you registered for.

 You need to know how you will be examined

 Draw a personal study time table

 You need to know the recommended textbooks for each of the courses and where to

locate them.

 You need to have a copy of past examination papers for personal revision and group

discussion

53
  Make the best use of the library, internet facilities that are abound in the campus

 You need a strong and positive motive to successes. Be a positivist, an optimist.

 Be self disciplined and you must activate a good study habit bearing in mind that your

primary need is to study hard so as to be become a successful student.

Information and communication technology (ICTs)

The current information revolution and the increasing impact of information and communication

technologies (ICT) has gone a long way in “modernizing the process of teaching, learning and

research” in most universities. In other words, the exponential growth in information and

knowledge and the corresponding increase in users needs have stimulated a greater degree of

technological inventions and strategies towards the management, transmission/dissemination,

organisation and use of information.

ICTs have attracted various definitions from different people in literature. According to Gambari

and Chike – Okoli (2007) ICTs are computer based tools used by people to work with

information and communication processing needs of organisation. ICTs is simply defined as the

range technologies that are applied to in the process of collecting, storing, editing, retrieving and

transferring of information in various forms. ICTs also defined as electronic gadgets in a gamut

of sophisticated technologies, which facilitate learning or research through the gathering,

processing, storage and retrieval of information content in the new ways. In other word, ICTs are

the electronic means of capturing, processing, storing and dissemination of information. On top

of all, ICTs refers to systems of producing, storing, sending and retrieving digital files.

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Types of ICTs facilities

 Computers

 Printers

 Scanners

 Photocopiers

 Telephone

 Fax machines

 Internet connection/ email

 Video conferencing

 Radiophones

 Local area network

 Modern digital and organsational websites

Relevance of ICTs in Academic environment

Eyon (2006) observed that ICTs are used for teaching because of the astronomical number of

students’ enrolment in tertiary institution. In other word, ICTs enhance the quality of teaching

and learning, sharing of knowledge and information. ICTs, makes institutions more efficient and

productive, thereby engendering a variety of tools to enhance and facilitate teachers’ pedagogical

activities. Contributing on the usefulness of ICT in education sector, Yusuf (2005) stated that: In

research, ICT provides opportunities for students and faculty to communicate with one another

through e-mail, mailing list, chart room etc. it also provides quicker and easier access to more

expensive and current information and can be used to carry out complex mathematical and

statistical calculations. It also provides researchers with steady research reports and findings.

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Impediments to the use of ICTs in academic environment

There are various problems affecting the utilisation of ICT in Nigerian tertiary institutions and

other places. Such problems are:

 Epileptic power supply

 Poor communication

 High cost of ICT facilities and other peripherals

 Inadequate knowledge of how to use ICT facilities among the academic community

 Poor ICT policy among others.

Internet

Internet is describes as a global network of computers communicating and sharing the maze of

information available in its database (Ozoamaka). It is that monumental force which is bridging

the vast population of the earth’s inhabitants in to small global village resulting in the shrinking

of the earth in to a smaller sphere. By way of illustration, we can imagine a room filled with

many spiders, each spinning its own web. The webs are so interconnected that the spiders can

travel freely within the maze.

In nutshell, all the views above simply points to the fact that through the internet, millions of

computers world wide are interconnected and the information sources in each computer are made

available to all user who have access the internet.

Strategies for internet search

Internet searching can be faster and more efficient by choosing:

 Appropriate search engine

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  Controlling the terms that you search for and

 Using a few tricks

Search engine

Search engine is a searchable database of internet files collected by a computer program. In other

words, is a software program you can use to find web sites, web –pages and internet files. Web

site is a collection of web pages while web page is documentation on the internet that can

include text, pictures, sound, video, graphics etc. web browser: is a program that allows you to

view and explore information on the internet e.g. internet explorer

Search result

Different engines search different databases for the information you specify in your search query.

 They are sophisticated and more detailed than others

 The organisation of search results varies, depending on the search engine you are using.

For this reasons, one should never rely on just one search engine when you are conducting

research on the web. Try using more than one engine, doing so will likely yield better, richer

result.

Some search engines

 Google: http://www.com:

 Yahoo: http://www.com

 AltaVista: http://www.altavista.com

 Info seek: http://www.infoseek.com

 Excite: http://www.excite.com

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  Ask. Com

Domain Names

There are several top level domains (TLDs)

 Com- commercial enterprise

 e-educational institution

 gov- government entity

 org –usually non governmental organisation

Country domain codes

 uk- united kingdom

 ng- Nigeria

Basics of searching the internet

 prepare:

 Analyze your query- think

 Identify key concepts (keywords)

 Any other information

For instance: labour law in Nigeria

 Keywords:

 Labour (labor)

 Laws (regulations, rules, legal, statutes…)

 Nigeria

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  Select Boolean operators to connect search terms

 AND e.g. Rice AND Beans

 OR e.g. labour OR labor

 NOT e.g. computer NOT virus

However, you can also use mathematical signs when searching the internet as follows:

 You can you use plus (+) sign in place of AND or minus sign instead of NOT

 Others are quotations mark, bracket, or question mark.

In order to make your life easy, you can also search using publication date, author name, country,

title or else. Likewise, if you want get the required information from the net; you can also add

PDF in front of the keywords you are searching. Example :( Thesis statement PDF) press enter

key, you would be provided with exact information on thesis statement.

Concept of computer

A computer is define as any electronic device that accept data (as in put), process this data,

brings out result (output) and Stores this data for easy retrieval.

Computer system

The computer system is made up of two components: the hardware and the software.

Hardware component

The hardware components are grouped in to the followings:

 In put devices

 Out put devices

 Storage devices

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Input devices

Are those devices used to key in data in to the computer prominent among these devices are:

 Keyboard: is the most common input device for entering numeric and alphabetic data.

Therefore, if you are giving to use the computer efficiently, it is very important that you

learn to keyboard.

 Mouse: is a pointing device that rolls around on a flat surface and controls the pointer on

the screen. The pointer is an on screen arrow shaped object used to select text and access

menus. As you move the mouse, the “arrow” on the screen also moves.

 Scanner: a scanner is an input device used to translate pictures or text in to the computer.

 Modem: some devices perform both input and output functions. The modem is an

example. It is an input device when sender inputs an e-mail message to be sent to a

receiver. The modem is an output device when it sends the message.

Out put devices

Is used to display information from the computer to the user. The most common output devices

are:

 Monitor: are called video display screens because images are displayed on the screen.

They can be either monochromatic or color. A monochrome monitor screen has a one

color display. It could be white, green, or amber. Color monitors display thousands of

colors. Most monitors today are color.

 Printer: this is the most common out device which produce a permanent record in print.

There are various types of printers available and are differentiated by the quality and

method of production. Examples are dot matrix printers, laser printers and ink jet printers.

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Storage devices

The computer apart from processing data also saves or stores data for future use. The memory

within the computer is configured to save data, however, there are some external storage devices

that store data and this helps save the memory space in a computer. Besides, some of these

storage devices are portable and can easily be carried from one place to another without moving

with the computer. The computer storage capacity is measured in bytes.

 Hard disk drives: are used to store data inside of the computer. They provide two

advantages: speed and capacity. Accessing data is faster and the amount of data that can

be stored is much larger than what can be stored on a floppy diskette. The size of the hard

drives is measured in megabytes or gigabytes.

 Floppy disks. These are sometimes known as diskettes. They can hold a small amount of

data when compared with the hard disk and are relatively slow in terms of accessing data.

The standard size is three and half inches and has a capacity of 1.44MB. However, the

floppy disk is fast getting obsolete because of its slowness in processing data and virus

attack that is often associated with them.

 CD- ROM: (Compact –Disc-Read-only-memory) drives are common in modern

computers. The CD-Rom has the capacity to hold 650MB of data. This compared with a

floppy contains so much more information and contains more than 600 times the

information in a floppy disk. There are very durable and are not easily open to virus

attack.

 The universal serial bus (USB) flash drive is another modern storage device. These can

store hundreds of times the information found in a floppy disk. They are small and can

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 be carried about with great ease. They contain information about three times the standard

compact disc (CD)

Software

Is instructions issued to the computer so that specific tasks may be performed. Another word for

software is program. In other words, the term software is applied to all those programs which in

some way can assist all users of a particular type of computer to make the best use of their

machine, as distinct from the specific programs written to solve the problems of any particular

user. Basically, there are two main types of software. These are:

 Application software: comprised of programs designed for an end user. Some of the

more commonly used application programs are: word processors, database systems,

presentation systems, spread sheet programs, and desktop publishing programs.

 System software: is a group of programs that coordinate many components of the

computer system to communicate.

Word processing

Word processing is the use of the computer system for text preparation (making use of an input

device known as keyboard). Editing, formatting, storing and retrieving and printing of

documents using an out put device called printer. Word processors are the computer software

that is used for word processing purposes.

This type of computer software can not perform any other function apart from document

preparation. In word processing, any completed document can be transferred to the printer any

number of time and or recorded on disks for future use.

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Functions of word processors

 Creating of documents

 Editing of documents

 Storing of documents for future use

 Printing of documents using out put device printer

 Spell checking of documents

 Formatting documents

Understanding Microsoft word screen and components of Microsoft word

The typing area is a blank screen with the cursor blinking. The cursor is “I” and signifies where

the next text will appear. Note that the main Microsoft word screen known as “WINDOW”.

You can now type your text from the key board.

 Title bar: the title bar is located at the top of the screen and it contains the name of the

program you open and the name of the current document.

 Menu bar: the menu bar is located directly below the title bar and contains the menu title

like: file, view, insert etc. The menu is a list of command available in the program

(Microsoft word).

 Tool bar: the tool bars contain Icons; drop down menus and other buttons to execute

various commands. The main functions of toolbars is to provides shortcut to the menu bar

 Ruler bar: the ruler bar shows you the margins and tells whether or not there are

columns and tables in your documents.

 Status bar: the status bar gives more information about a particular document you are

working on.

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  Scroll bar: these enable you to adjust your document when it is larger than what you can

view at a time i.e. it enables user to move to any part of the documents.

 Control buttons: these provide easy way to close programs and documents, reduce the

sizes, of programs and documents, under which we have the following minus (-) sign

which stands for minimize and the (x) sign which stands for close and middle box which

stands for restore.

Note that when you click a restore button, you program or document will become smaller. But

the place where the restore button normally stays would be replaced with maximize i.e. to

enlarge the widows size.

Creating a new document

 Click file menu

 Click new and click new blank document

 Click ok

 You can also press CTRL (N) to create a new document. To move through one open file

to another, to the window menu and click the file name of the document.

Saving documents

 Click file menu

 Click save as

 Type the name of the document to be save

 Click save in Box

 Press F12 key to save or press Ctrl + S to save

How to open an existing file

 click open on the file menu

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  click look –in box to change drive

 select filename and choose Ok

Selecting text

How to select with the keyboard: move the cursor to the beginning of the text. Hold down SHIFT

and press an Arrow key and move to cover the text another name for select are Highlight and

Block.

How to select with the mouse

 Setting a word:

 Move mouse to the beginning or end of text

 Hold down your left mouse button

 Drag to select the text

 You can also double click the word

How to change font

 Highlight text

 Choose from format menu

 Click font box and type “A”

 Use arrow keys to select (Up or Down Arrow)

 Click ok.

Note that the reasons why you type “A” is to go to the beginning of the fonts. The fonts are

arranged alphabetically i.e. A-Z.

How to apply underline

 Highlight text:

 Chose from the format menu

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  Click underline box (none) and select underline of choose e.g.

 Double, single, dotted, dash etc.

 Click ok

How to apply bold and italic

 Highlight text:

 Choose from the format menu

 Click italic or bold under font style and choose ok

How to apply double strike through

 Highlight text:

 Choose font from the format menu

 Click double strike through under effects

 Choose ok

Note that this command is used to apply naira sign. Before you can apply the command, you

must type “N” and highlight it.

Superscript and subscript format

This is used to type character on top or bottom of a line. Superscript is the character that appears

on top of a line e.g. x2 (The 2 appears in a superscript format), while subscript is one that

appears at the bottom of a line e.g. H2o (The 2 appears in a subscript format).

To do this:

 Select the text or character

 Click format menu

 Click on font

 Select superscript or subscript

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  Click ok

How to apply colour to your text

 Highlight text

 Choose font from the format menu

 Click colour box and select colour

 Choose ok

How to change font size

 Highlight text

 Choose font from the format menu

 Select size from the font size box and

 Click ok

The copy command

This command is used to duplicate text or object:

 Select the text or object

 Click COPY on the edit menu or press CTRL+C. you can also click the copy tool on the

toolbar

 Take the cursor to the insertion point where you want the text or object to appear

 Click PASTE on the edit menu or press CTRL+V. there is also paste on the toolbar

Make sure you paste before choosing another cut or copy command

The cut command

When you cut text, it is removed from its location, until you paste it. In other words, cut is used

to move text or an object from one place to another.

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How to find text

 Click FIND on the edit menu

 Type the in the find what box

 Click find text

 Repeat step 3 until you have found all repletion of the text

Page setup

Knowing how to change your page set up will help you manage your work efficiently. In order to

change paper size, orientation and margin, use the page setup command in the file menu.

Orientation is the changing of paper from vertical position, which is portrait to horizontal

position which is landscape.

How to change paper size and orientation

 Click page setup on the file menu

 Click paper size

 Choose a paper size from the paper size list box

 To change orientation. Click portrait or landscape under orientation

 Click ok

To set paper margin

Make sure you are on paper layout view by clicking page layout on the view menu.

 To set left or right margin, choose page setup from the file menu

 Make sure you are on margins not paper size and set left or right margin

 Click ok

Do same to apply top and bottom margins

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Printing your document

Make sure your printer is connected to your computer. Turn it on and correct paper type loaded.

On the file menu, choose print. In the print dialog box, enter the print range and number of

copies to be printed.

Choose to:

 All: prints the entire document

 Current page: prints a page where the cursor is located

 Pages: print the page (s) you type in the page box e.g. to print pages 2, 4, 5, 6, and to

print 1 to 5 type 1-5 in the page option box

 Selection: prints highlighted or select text(s) or object (s)

 Click ok

It is advisable to preview your document (s) before printing. This is because; print preview

displays each page of your document, as it will look when printed. You can preview by clicking

print preview from the file menu. You can also press Ctrl + F2 or Ctrl+Alt+1 to preview your

documents.

Case conversion

Ms – word allows you to change the case of your text either from lower to upper case or other

way round. The upper case is the capital letters, while the lower case is the small letters. To do

this:

 Highlight the text

 Click the format menu

 Choose change case

 Select either lower case or upper case

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  Click ok

Line spacing

This is the process where you select the line spacing of your choice for your text. Microsoft word

allows you to select the number of blank lines you want in between two lines (e.g. 1, 1.5.

double).

 Select or highlight the text

 Click on format menu

 Click paragraph

 In the line spacing window, select either single, 1.5, or double line spacing

 Click ok

Page numbers

Page numbering is all about numbering the page in your document. The page numbering can be

roman (capital or small). Alphabetic (capital or small) or numerical, depending on the choice you

made in the dialog box. To do this:

 Click the insert menu

 Click on page numbers

 Click the box under position

 Select top or bottom of page for the page numbers

 Click in the dialog box under alignment

 Select the position that you want (left, right or centre)

 Click ok

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Bullets and numbering

Bullets are special characters or symbols used for itemizing text. These bullets could be numbers,

roman figures or special symbols found in the bullets dialog box. To do this:

 Position the cursor before you type the first item

 Click on the format menu

 Click on bullet and numbering

 Select your choice

 Click ok

Press enter after each item for the re- occurrence of the bullet.

NOTE:

I WILL READ MORE IF I WHERE YOU!

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