Bibliographic control in Nigeria

ht. mr. Rev. (1979) 11, 77-91

Bibliographic PATRICIA

Control in Nigeria*

H. SHOYINKAt

My concept of the term “bibliographic control” as it relates to Nigeria concerns : Control of national publications by production of a national bibliography based on legal deposits regulations and catalogued according to international codes; Access to national collections through union lists; Library automation in Nigeria (as related to bibliographic control). I. NATIONAL

PUBLICATIONS

Nigeria is the first country in Africa South of the Sahara to have a national bibliography. Although the National Library of Nigeria was not officially established until 1964, the national bibliography was published from 1950 by the Ibadan University Library. (a) Legal deposit Nigeria is fortunate that the first librarian of the oldest university in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan (founded in 1948), was vitally interested in collecting and preserving Nigerian publications as part of a wider interest in the bibliography of the country and of Africa as a whole. Because of his influence, the Publications Ordinance of 1950 was made law, stipulating that two copies of every book published in Nigeria should be deposited with the University of Ibadan Library. Until 1970, Ibadan remained the national depository. It was only in 1970 that the National Library Decree moved the national depository from Ibadan to Lagos and instructed that three copies of all books published should be * Paper present&l to the Joint Program Meeting of the Asian-African Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, International Relations Committee and International Relations Round Table, American Library Association Annual Confkrence, 27 June 1978, Chicago. t Medical Librarian, Uniwrsity of Ibadan Library, Ibadan, Nigeria. 0020-7837/79/010077+

15 $02.00/O

0 1979 Academic Press Inc. (London) Limited

78

P.

H.

SHOYINKA

deposited with the National Library, with one of these to be re-directed to the University of Ibadan. The legal deposit scene in Nigeria has been continually complicated by the viewpoints of regional and later state governments. Before the 1970 decree, three regional laws and one applicable to the Federal Territory (Lagos) only were promulgated. Of these, the Northern Region law of 1964 changed the depositing library for regional publications from Ibadan to Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria (this law apparently is still in effect) and another of the same date changed Ibadan to the University of Lagos for publications of the Federal Territory. Curiously enough, although the three regional laws repealed the national Publications Ordinance of 1950, the National Library Decree of 1970 did not. Furthermore the national decree clearly stated that the national law was “additional” to any state decree. Since 1970, at least seven state library edicts have been issued with most having the primary object of providing a state library service. The trend of depository obligations in these state edicts seems to be to designate both the State Library and an academic library located within the state as a depository. For example, a publisher in Kwara State must deposit two copies each to the Kwara State Library, the University College, Ilorin, Library, and the Kwara State College of Technology Library. Adding these to the three copies for the National Library, the publisher must reserve nine copies to fulfil legal deposit obligations.1 (b) coverage How does this legal situation affect coverage? Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell exactly what is being missed; sometimes only a fortuitous inquiry for an item not deposited may disclose a gap. It is clear, however, that some publishers may honor state over national laws, or, less than the three required national deposit copies may be sent to Lagos and Ibadan will get none. Contrarily, some publishers in the Ibadan area (the main center of commercial publishing in the country) send direct to the University of Ibadan, continuing a long established practice. 1 A summary of major library legislation in Nigeria follows : Public Ordinance, 1950; Publications Act (Cap. 7 to Constitution of the Federation (L.N. 112 of 1964) [Federal Territory]; Eastern Region of Nigeria Publications Law, 1955; Western 1956; Northern Nigeria Publications Law, 1964; Region of Nigeria Publications Law, National Library Act, 1964; National Library Decree, 1970 (no. 29 of 1970); Mid-West Library Board Edict, 1971 (no. 4 of 1971); East Central State Library Board Edict, 1971 State (no. 17 of 1971) ; Rivers State Library Board Edict, 1971 ( no. 23 of 1971); South-Eastern Library Edict, 1973 (no. 16 of 1973); Library Board of Kaduna State Edict, 1976 (no. 11 of 1976) ; Imo State Library Board Edict, 1977 (no. 12 of 1977) ; Kwara State Publications Edict, 1977.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC

CONTROL

IN

NIGERIA

79

But as John Harris stated in 1967,r the legal deposit law is ineffective without heavy persuasion and actual on-the-spot collecting. Harris has detailed the many publications that were scanned to discover missing titles when Ibadan was the only national depository. Also, publishers in the nearby area were visited continually. The National Library continues some of these practices, and has added some, such as continual reminders in the press, establishing good relations with the Nigerian Publishers Association, making weekly trips to the Federal and State government printers in Lagos and occasional nationwide promotional trips to government and commercial publishers, and soliciting similar aid from the two currently established branches of the National Library in Enugu and Jos. s It is clear, however, that the most effective method would be a national network of local collecting centers that would make personal visits to the publishers, and which would receive funding for that purpose. As state branches of the National Library are established (Port Harcourt is the next planned) they of course can assist. Co-operation between the two national centers in Lagos and Ibadan might include a comprehensive monitoring of titles missed by either (Ibadan University has issued its Public Ordinance list in the monthly Library Record since February 1973).s (c) Scope The Public Ordinance of 1950 defined a “book” to include also newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets, music, maps, etc. In actual fact, material collected was confined to monographs, periodicals and newspapers. The 1970 decree broadens the type of material to include “all forms of documentary or oral records” which is interpreted by the National Library to include all non-book materials. In fact, however, collection is limited as before to monographs and periodicals, due to lack of space and personnel. Evidently, only the University of Lagos systematically collects audio-visual materials produced in the countryespecially sound recordings-but purely on an ad hoc basis and mostly by purchase.4 The state edicts passed since 1970 have, in the main, also broadened in a similar manner the scope of depository materials. 1 John Harris (1967). National Bibliography in Nigeria (In The Bibliography qf Afticca: Proceedings and Papers of the International Conference on African Bibliography, Nairobi, 4-8 December 1967, pp. 34-44; appendices: pp. 349-52. Ed. J. D. Pearson and Ruth Jones, London : Class). 2 Beatrice S. Bankole (1978). National Bibliographies: the .Nigeria ,?@erieace, paper presented at the ISBD/ISDS Seminar, Lagos, 30 January-3 February 1978. 19p. (unpublished). 3 Library Record (University of Ibadan Library) 1, no. 1, 1949. (ISSN 08468436). Public Ordinance acquisitions listed as of 24, no. 8, February 1973. 4 Sam 0. Odcrinde (1976). Cataloguing of National Materials: Problems of Compiling Nigeria’s National Bibliography. International Cataloguing 5, no. 3, 7-8.

80

P.

H.

SHOYINKA

Within the limits of the type of material actually collected, however, the scope aimed at is all-inclusive and includes publications from schools, trade organs from banks, etc., as well as regular trade and government publications. At first glance the scope may seem too broad. However, in the Nigerian context, what may seem to be ephemera now may later be much in demand, as confirmed by the Afi-icana Librarian of the University of Ibadan. The Library’s Public Ordinance collection is widely used and services inquiries such as early works by the renowned playright, “Wole Soyinka”, in the University of Ibadan’s one-time student magazine, The Horn. Aguolu gives detailed reasons for inclusion in the legal deposit sphere of such “ephemera” as the Onitsha market literature.1 (d) .YVutionaZbibliogrufihy The Public Ordinance law of 1950 stipulated only that books should be deposited; it did not require that these titles be listed in any way, nor did it require that the titles be preserved. Nevertheless, under the initiative of John Harris, the University of Ibadan took upon itself to preserve the items collected and to list them in the national bibliography, .Nigeriun Publications, from 1950 to 1970. These activities were entirely voluntary and the Library received no special financial assistance. The National Library, which started in 1962 and officially opened in 1964, did not take over its proper responsibility until the decree of 1970, which listed the publication of the national bibliography as a chief responsibility of the Library. In 1973 the title was changed from Ngerian Publications to the .National Bibliography of Ngeria. Statistics The annual issues of the national bibliography give a variety of statistics concerning publications. The table in the appendix shows a summary of the periods 1950-70 and 1970-76. From 1950-70, a total of 9767 monographic items were received at the University of Ibadan and listed in Nigerian Publications. From 1970-76, the National Library received a total of 4119 items, making the total received, from 1950 to 1976, 13 886 items.2 Over the 26-year period, English language publications received 1 C. C. Aguolu (1975). Bibliographical Services in Nigeria: a Study in the Humanities and Social Scknces, Zntemational Library Review 7, 109-12. * Nigerian Publications (University of Ibadan Library) 195sJune 1970; (National Library of Nigeria) July 1970-1972. National Bibliography of .Nig&a (National Library of Nigeria) 1973- .

BIBLIOGRAPHIC

CONTROL

IN

NIGERIA

81

(both government and trade) amounted to 84.6% and those in Nigerian languages 15.4% of the total. From the table it would seem that there is a decline in Nigerian language publishing. The apparent lack of such publications, however, may be more an indication of the difficulty of collecting same. Format From 1950 to 1975 the national Works in Works in Nigeriana Nigerian

bibliography

was arranged

as follows :

the English language: trade, government Nigerian languages published outside the country periodicals and newspapers.

With the January 1976 monthly issue, and after several National Library staff had visited the Bibliographical Services Division of the British Library and had attended the IFLA/UJVESCO sponsored International Congress on National Bibliographies in Paris, September 1976, the format was changed to conform with that of the British National Bibliography. The full entries are arranged by the Dewey Decimal Classification, and there is an index by author, title and series. If the national bibliography could be issued quickly enough to be an acquisitions tool, this format might be the most satisfactory. Since this is not yet the case (see below) and since Nigerian publishing is multilingual, the former arrangement usefully illustrates the different types of publishing as well as the variety of languages published in. The National Library might make a use survey to see which arrangement is preferred and to discern the general utility of the publication, both within and without Nigeria. Is it, for example, used primarily for acquisitions or for cataloguing? In the 1950-52 through 1973 annual issues, a summary of the Nigerian publishing scene was given, highlighting the major publications of the year, introducing new publishers, and in general giving an interesting summary of the year’s output. This summary was discontinued with the 1974 annual by the National Library. The University of Ibadan Library issued in 1977 a 20-year cumulation of the national bibliography, covering the years in which the library was the publisher. This useful cumulation has an introduction summarizing the 20-year publishing output, but this summary does not replace the information contained in the annual introductions. A statistical section gives a 20-year statistical summary, but this also does not replace the annual statistical summaries which give annual totals for the current and preceding ten years of official and non-official publications,

82

P.

H.

SHOYINKA

Nigerian language and serial publications, main centres of publication, and Nigeriana published outside the country.

Frequency and currency of publication From 1950 to 1970 the national bibliography was published weekly, with quarterly and annual cumulations. From 1973 it has been published monthly, with half-yearly and annual cumulations. Although issues may be ready for publication within a reasonable length of time, the production and distribution time is lengthy, e.g. the monthly issues arrive four to six months late, and the 1976 annual, published in 1977 (preface signed July 1977), arrived at the University of Ibadan Library only in May 1978.

Cumulations The University of Ibadan Library has issued cumulations of the national bibliography as prepared at the Library: Ngerian Publication-s, 1950-1970 (1977), referred to above, which includes all monographic titles received during those years, and A’igerian Periodicals and Jvewspapers, not only on new but also 1950-1970 (1971), which gives information ceased and continued serial titles. This latter list has been supplemented for the years 1971-1974 (1975) regarding new titles only, although the Library no longer officially prepared the national bibliography after 1970.1

Cataloguing of entries From 1950 to 1970, the choice and form of entry and description followed in a general way the ALA rules. The fullest form of the author was used (information was obtained direct from the author) giving, for example, the maiden name of married women authors. The names of the state-level governments gave particular trouble; for example, the names 1 Nigerian Publications, 1950-1970 (1977). Compiled in the Ibadan University Library. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1977. xxvii, 433~. Nigerian Periodicals and Jvewspapcrs, 1950-1970 (1971). A list of those received by Ibadan University Library under the country’s various deposit legislations from April 1950 to June 1970. Ibadan: Ibadan University Library. v, 122~. Nigerian Periodicals and .Newsfiapers, 1971-1974 (1975). A list of works received at the Ibadan University Library under the country’s various publications laws from January 1971 to December 1974, compiled by Gbadegesin Abiodun Alabi. Ibadan: Ibadan Univasity Library. 26~. (Mimeographed).

BIBLIOGRAPHIC

CONTROL

IN

NIGERIA

83

of the states established in 1966 were listed under Nigeria (see the 1950-1970 cumulation for the resulting complications) .1 Since 1970 the National Library has given fuller cataloguing information. Choice of entry has been made according to AACR I (British text), ISBD(M) has been used since 1975, and entries have been assigned Library of Congress subject headings and classication, as well as Dewey Decimal numbers. By way of explanation of the use of LC, the National Library was initially set up by a group of Ford Foundation consultants, all of them American, headed by Professor Carl M. White. In this way, the use of LC was introduced to the National Library. The University of Ibadan, however, assigned no subject headings before 1970 and did not start classifying by LC until 1975, hence the apparent lack of interest in subject classification for the national bibliography in those years.

International standah The National Library has been a leader in sub-Saharan Africa in adopting international standards, and is playing an ever increasing role on the international library scene. Mr S. B. Aje, the Director of the National Library, who recently was elected Chairman of the Intergovernmental Council of UJVESCO and who also presided over the International Congress on National Bibliographies referred to earlier, has been the chief motivating factor in such adoption. Through his influence, two regional conferences for the promotion of use of the ISBD in Africa have been held, one in Ibadan, in 1975, and the other in 1978, in Lagos.2 ISBJV The National Library has been issuing International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) to Nigerian publishers since 1974, when the national ISBN Centre was established. As of February 1978 seventy-two publishers had been issued ISBNs. Nigeria, being a multilingual society, has chosen the country (978) rather than the language code. The problem of foreign publishers in Nigeria, which since 1974 have been required to be incorporated in Nigeria, using blocks of “0” (English language) ISBNs rather than the Nigerian ISBN, still exists, although it seems the practice is slowly dying out. IS&V. The National Library has been officially a member of the International Serials Data System (ISDS) since December 1977. As 1 For further treatment of these entries see: Patricia Shoyinka (1976). State-level governments of Nigeria as author entries and subject headings. Library Resources and Technical Services 20, 157-166. s For background see: S. B. Aje (1977). ISBD application to African National Biblioraphies. U.ESCO Bulletin for Libraries 31,2 16-96.

84

P.

H.

SHOYINKA

with the ISBN Agency, the Nigerian National Serials Data Centre (NSDC) has been established within the framework of the National Library. The Centre has started its own serial of an annual cumulated listing and semi-annual supplement of Nigerian ISSNs. The maiden issue of the Nigerian File of International Standard Serial Numbers appeared in January 1978. It lists 343 registered titles. The current number of registered titles as of June 1978 is 480.1 Current Nigerian serials are thus listed in two mediums: new titles only are listed in the JVational Bibliography of Nigeria, and each is registered with the National Serials Data Centre and listed again in the Nigerian File. The NNSDC keeps track of changed titles and ceased titles. Co-operation between the two sections concerned with recording serials (NNSDS and NBN) is facilitated through both being located in the Bibliographical Services Division of the National Library. African character set. Nigeria has also, in a modest way, contributed to international standards. The draft proposal for an African character set for interchange of bibliographical information in machine-readable form to encompass those letters needed in the orthography of African languages and not a part of the basic character set for Roman orthographies (IS0 646), came to the attention of the speaker in 1976. The draft standard was circulated to members of the University of Ibadan’s Dept. of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, who replied with a few changes applicable to the orthography of Nigerian languages. These suggested changes were transmitted to the IS0 Working Group on Character Sets and most were incorporated into the final version of the draft proposal.2 C’ataloguing problems Problems in cataloguing national publications have been detailed by Aje, Bankole and Oderinde. 3 These problems include identifiring the author’s name, difficulty in determining the name of the publisher, the date of imprint, price of publication, etc., in titles issued by some local publishers. The National Library has, with the backing of the Nigerian Publishers Association, distributed to publishers the IS0 Standard 1 The .Nigerian File of International Standard Serial Numbers; a list of serials registered by the .Nignian JVational Serials Data Centre, National Library of Nigeria, 1, no. 1, January 1978(ISSN 0331-2348). 2 Draft Proposal: African Character Set. Miinchen, 2 Jan. 1978. (ISO/TC 46/SC 4/N 112 (E)) 8 P3 S. B. Aje (1977). Ofi. cit., p. 220. Beatrice S. Bankole (1978). Op. cit., p. 11-12. Sam 0. Oderinde (1976). Op. cit., pp. 7-8.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC

CONTROL

IN

NIGERIA

85

“Title-leaves of a Book” (IS0 1086-1975) and has also held meetings with several publisher’s representatives to encourage use of the proposed standard. JVume aut/zorit_y. The National Library has compiled a list of about 4000 personal names drawn from the 1950-1970 cumulated Nigerian Publications and the Library’s own annual through 1977. This list, to be published sometime this year, will be arranged in two sections, one with full names established and another listing those names lacking complete information.1 Publication of this list should be a major bibliographic event in the country. Publication should also encourage interest in solving the occasional conflict between a very full form of entry and the form used on the title page as preferred by AACR. Documentation on Nigerian names was sent to the British editor for AACR II in 1975.2 Nigerian language publications. Although Nigerian language publications have accounted for only 15.4% of the total received, they perhaps consume the most time in cataloguing. There are two main problems here: (1) identifying the language of the publication in order to determine the author and do descriptive and subject cataloguing and (2) determining the correct name of the language. The real difficulties are more apparent when it is realized that Nigerians speak a total of 394 languages, out of which about 106 have been written in, in some form or another. Out of these 106, 61 have been represented in the national bibliography. It is of course impossible to gather in one place enough persons able to identify the languages, as well as to catalogue the publications. As Oderinde has also suggested,3 a network of collecting and preliminary cataloguing centers in the areas where the languages are spoken seems the only effective way of treating these publications. This of course presupposes either a branch of the National Library in each of the 19 states (as noted above, only two exist now and a third is planned) or a system of co-operating centres. It is hoped such a network could be formulated in spite of the difficult task of co-operation entailed. The problem of choosing the correct name of the language has been alleviated by the recent publication of An Index of Nigerian Languages, by Keir Hansford, John Bendor-Samuel and Ron Stanford (Studies in Nigerian languages, no. 5) .4 This publication is of course important also 1 Personal communication with Mr H. 0. M. Iwuji, National Library of Nigeria, Lagos, 9 June 1978. s Monica A. Greaves et al. (1974). Nigerian Personal Authors and the Application of the AngloAmerican Cakaloguing Rules, 1967 : a Guidefor Catalogucrs. Ibadan, Cataloguing and Classification Section, Nigerian Library Association. 9 p. (Mimeographed). 3 Sam 0. Oderinde (1976). Op. cit., p. 8. 4 Keir Hansford, John Bendor-Samuel and Ron Stanford (1976). An Index of .Nigeriun Languages, Accra, Summer Institute of Linguistics. (Studies in Nigerian Languages, no. 5). 204 PP.

86

P.

H.

SHOYINKA

for the setting up of subject headings for the languages and for the cross reference structure between dialects and languages. Subject analysis of Nigeriana (and Africana). A recent survey showed that most of the academic and research libraries in Nigeria use the Library of Congress classification and subject heading list.1 Since that survey was made, seven more universities and university colleges have been established. All of these are adopting LC. The problems in adopting a foreign system have been described for the University of 1badan.s These problems are perhaps felt most keenly by the National Library which often finds the need to set up new subject headings and finds it difficult to classify Nigeriana materials. The common use of LC in Nigeria has made analysis of the inadequate provision in LC for Africana and Nigeriana subjects imperative. In December 1974, at the annual Nigerian Library Association meeting, the Cataloguing and Classification Section set up a Subcommittee on Modifications of LC for Africana Subjects. Its first task was to tackle African history (class DT) since that was an area of deep concern and one it was thought that could lend itself to co-operative effort. Since then the Sub-committee has met several times and has produced a very preliminary list of historical periods for each African country. These “schedules” have been distributed to libraries in the African countries concerned as well as to foreign libraries in the U.K. and U.S.A. with an interest in Africa, and of course, to the Library of Congress. So far we have received considerable feedback, and we hope at some point to develop concrete co-operation with the Library of Congress, similar to that developed by the National Library of Canada. Our object is to develop a scheme for use not only by the National Library (particularly in the National Bibliography) and all libraries in Nigeria using LC, but also, hopefully, to be used by LC itself, or at least to be accepted by LC as an alternate. We would later like to tackle the schedules for African languages and for African literature in English and French. Whatever happens on the international scene, it is important for us nationally to establish the principle that where we modify LC, we must all accept and use the same modifications. Regarding subject headings for Africana, the speaker has replied to LC’s request for suggestions for changes of existing subject headings by a list of names for Nigerian peoples.3 1 Patricia Shoyinka (1976). Preliminary cataloguing survey of Nigerian libraries. ~V&rian Libraties 12, (in press). 2 Patricia Shoyinka (1975). Adoption of the Library of Congress Classification at the University of Ibadan : Decisions and Practices Nigerian Libraries 11,65-85. 3 LC to Review Subject Readings (1978). U: Infonation Bulletin 37, no. 10, 10 March, 158-g.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC

CONTROL

IN

NIGERIA

87

(e) Retrospective national bibliografihy Although John Harris in 1967 lamented the lack of bibliographies of works about Nigeria, this lack is being filled by persons such as Ita, Aguolu, Stanley and others. 1 There remains, however, the slightly different problem of a retrospective national bibliography of works published in Nigeria. The National Library has set up a committee to review bibliographies covering Nigeria in order to discern titles published in Nigeria before 1950. So far, however, this project is only in the planning stage. (f) National legal deposit collections Not only is the role of state versus national legal deposit collections not clarified, the roles of the two national collections are yet to be determined. Although the 1970 National Library Decree stipulates that the two copies deposited with the National Library are for “permanent preservation”, the one copy sent to Ibadan has no such explicit restriction. The legal deposit collection at the University is heavily used,2 such use does bring about loss of these items. Furthermore, the role of the pre-1950 collection at Ibadan has not been defined or discussed. II.

ACCESS

TO THROUGH

NATIONAL UNION

COLLECTIONS LISTS

(a) Monographs The National Library started compiling a National Union Catalogue of monographs in 1965. This catalogue consisted of cards submitted by contributing libraries and filed in the National Library. The catalogue was not weeded of duplicate and withdrawn items, nor did it include all libraries: the major library in the country-the University of Ibadan Library-did not start contributing until January 1975, due to fear of a run on its collections. As of January 1978, 49 libraries contributed cards. The number of cards already filed is equalled by the number remaining to file. Until 1 Nduntuei 0. Ita (1971). Bibliography of Ngeria: a Survey of Anthropological and Linguistic Writings from the Earliest Times to 1966. London: Cass. 273 pp. C. C. Aguolu (1973). Ngeria: a Comprehenrivc Bibliography in the Humanities and Social Sciences, 1900-1971. Boston, G. K. 620 pp. Janet Stanley (1975). Ngerian Government Publications, 1966-1973: A Bibliography. Ile-Ife: University of Ife Press. 193 pp. 2 For example, Ikrnth Lindfors (1975). A Bibliography of Literary Contributions to Nigerian Periodicals, 1946-1972. Ibadan University Press, was compiled primarily in Ibadan through use of the legal deposit collection of Nigerian serials.

88

P.

H.

SHOYINKA

the benefits of automation can be made apparent, a published, date National Union Catalogue remains an uphill task.

up-to-

(b) Serials The situation relating to serials is more encouraging. The National Library has at the printers the first edition of a union list of serials and is already at work compiling a second edition. The list has been compiled manually from cards and serials lists received from contributing libraries. It will be the first published national list of general titles. The first union list to be issued in the country was the Union List of SelectedScientijc and Technical Periodicals in Ngerian Libraries, prepared at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, in 1970. This edition which covered, as its title indicates, a prescribed subject area, contained 1350 titles held in eleven libraries. The second edition was issued in 1973 and contained 4000 titlesin eighteen libraries.1 The subjects covered included all scientific and technical fields, including medicine and engineering. It also included library science and documentation and applied aspects of the social sciences, e.g. agricultural economics. What it lacked was coverage of titles held in libraries in the Eastern states which could not send in serials lists and could not be visited by the editors. The editor, S. M. Lawani, and associates, in some cases compiled the title holdings on location in those libraries in Ibadan, Lagos and Ife which lacked adequate serials catalogues of their own. A third edition of this list is due and may be issued either by the IITA or the National Science and Technology Development Agency in Ibadan. The National Library and IITA lists have been manually prepared. The University of Ibadan, however, is working on a machine-readable union list of serials in academic and research libraries in Nigeria. This project is sponsored by the Committee of University Librarians of Nigerian Universities. The University of Ibadan as of 1975 had its own machine-readable file of ca. 5300 currently received and 1600 ceased titles.2 The mimeographed lists of serials received from other libraries are currently being matched against this file. In the next phase, titles not held by Ibadan will be keyed. At this stage, the holdings of 17 libraries are being matched. 1 Union List of Selected Scientific and Technical Periodicals in N’gerian Libra&s (1970). Ibadan International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. 17 1 pp. (Mimeographed). Union List of ScientiJic and Technical Periodicals in Nigerian Libraties (1975) (Ed. S. M. Lawani.) 2d edn. Ibadan: Library and Documentation Center, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. 5 pp. (Mimeographed). z University of Ibadan Library (1975). Catalogue of Serials in the Library. Ibadan. 558 pp.

:

BIBLIOGRAPHIC

CONTROL

IN NIGERIA

89

At the same time, however, several other university libraries are themselves converting their serial files (e.g. Ahmadu Bello University, University of Nigeria, Nsukka). These conversion projects are unique to each university and are not being centrally co-ordinated; hence all files will be incompatible. It is of course commendable that union lists have been and are being prepared. Central co-ordination, however, would eliminate duplication of effort and make possible consideration of the use of machine-readable files in internationally accepted formats already available, e.g. the MARC serials file, including CONSER records, as well as the International Serials Data System file.

III. (As

LIBRARY RELATED

TO

AUTOMATION BIBLIOGRAPHIC

IN

NIGERIA CONTROL)

In March 1977, the first Workshop on Library Automation in Nigeria was held at the University of Ibadan under the auspices of the Committee of University Librarians. At this workshop (the papers of which will be published in a special issue of Nigerian Libraries)1 reports of automation plans and activities in the six oldest universities were made. Most had set up automation planning groups and areas of concern centred on serials lists and circulation. The Workshop ended with a series of recommendations, including the setting up of a body to co-ordinate library automation activities in Nigeria. So far, however, this administrative step has not been taken. Furthermore, the actual happenings in each university indicate that individual projects are proceeding without regard to the national scene, as evidenced by the multiple serials conversions. Co-ordinated planning of serials conversion could, as noted above, investigate utilization of machine-readable files available elsewhere and in a standard format. Of potential significance on the national scale is the projected conversion of the complete monographic catalogue of the University of Ibadan, which is in fact a by-product of a reclassification project from Bliss’ Bibliographic Classification to LC. The implementation of this project, however, depends on funding in an area of extreme financial stress. The format of this file, however, would be LCMARC (the conversion and maintenance of the file would be done by an American 1 The Papers of the First Workshop published as a special issue of .Mgeriun printing schedule has been delayed.)

on Library Automation in Nigeria are scheduled Libraries 13, no. 3, 1977. (The Ibadan University

to be Press’

90

P.

H.

SHOYINKA

firm) and thus would be available as a basis of a national bibliographic data base, in a standard format, to which holdings could be posted and new titles added. As noted earlier, the University of Ibadan is the oldest, and its Library the largest, in the country. Of equal potential significance is a proposal to the National Library for development of a national MARC format which, when devised, can be used for the National Bibliography of Nigeria and translated into UNIMARC. The potential application of MARC in Nigeria has been explored and work on a national MARC format is one of the recommendations.1 A potential hindrance to the proposed automation efforts above may be the fate of IBM in Nigeria. Of the six universities now with computers, five have IBM (the sixth uses CDC). IBM, however, have refused to abide by the indigenization decree which requires 40% Nigerian ownership of large concerns. If IBM should persist in their refusal and hence leave Nigeria, supply, maintenance and servicing of IBM equipment would have to be done by a local agent. Whether or not such an arrangement would be satisfactory remains to be seen.

IV.

SUMMARY

In summary, Nigeria has a well established national bibliography following international standards. What is needed now is a refinement in the collection policies, in the cataloguing of Nigerian language material, and in the subject analysis of Nigeriana. These problems might be solved by ( a ) effi cient decentralization of the collecting and cataloguing activities as is done in Canada,2 and (b) by agreed national policies on modifications of LC classification and subject headings. Planning for the conversion of the national bibliography to machine-readable form will proceed apace. Access to national collections by way of union lists is in need of central co-ordination to eliminate duplication of effort and to enable utilization of already existing machine-readable files. This co-ordination is a responsibility of the National Library, being the national bibliographical centre, but the planning and implementation can be shared with other libraries in the country. 1 Patricia Shoyinka (1977). The Potential of MARC for Nigeria: the North American example. ZnfernationalCataloguing 6, no. 3,32-6. (Part 1) ; 6, no. 4,44-5 (Part 2). 2 For example, see: Canadian Catalogning in Publication Program (1976). .Nafionul Library Jvews 8, March/April 1976, 2-11; which describes decentralized CIP by university libraries with access points verified at the National Library of Canada.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC

CONTROL

IN

91

NIGERIA

APPENDIX University of Ibadan Library 1950-1970 % Official publications Non-official publications Nigerian language publications

National

Library

1970-1976

%

Grand Totals 1950-1976

%

3511 4577

35.8% 47-l y.

1277 2385

31% 57.9%

4788 6962

34.5% 50.1%

1679

17.1%

457

11.1%

2136

15.4%

9767 Total English Language publications : Total Nigerian Language publications :

4119 84.6% 15.4%.

13 a86