COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AMONG ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES LIBRARIES IN NORTH – CENTRAL NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated collaborative research among academic librarians in public university libraries in Nigeria. The descriptive survey method was employed for this study. The purposive sampling method was used to select 6 public universities in North central Nigeria. The random sampling method was employed to choose five (5) academic librarians from each of two universities in six states, making a total of sixty (60) librarians. A questionnaire was used to gather data from respondents. Sixty (60) copies of the questionnaire were administered, and 50 were retrieved, giving a response rate of 91.7%. The data were analyzed using simple frequency counts and percentages. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the academic librarians engage in research collaboration with colleagues within and outside the university and have collaborated with their colleagues in the last two years. The study revealed Google+ and Whatsapp as the major tools for collaborative research. The study also revealed that collaborative research has helped to increase the number of publications, and increase the rate of research, problem of access to internet connectivity and lack of collaborative research funding were the significant challenges facing academic librarians in collaborative research. The study recommended that academic librarians should double their efforts and engage in collaborative research both within and outside the country; reliable internet facilities with fast bandwidth should be provided for collaboration.

Keywords

• collaboration
• Research
• Academic librarian

References

1. Reference Adegbaye, S. I, Okunlaya, R. O, Funom, B. C, & Amalahu, C. (2011). Collaborative authorship among academic librarians from federal university libraries in Nigeria. International Journal of Library Science, 6(1), 9–17.
2. Aiyebelehin, A. J. (2022). “Add-my-name” as a parody of research collaboration among Nigerian researchers. Accountability in Research, 29(1), 45-54. Atkinson, J. (2019). Collaboration by academic libraries: What are the benefits, what are the constraints, and what do you need to do to be successful?. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 25(1), 1-7.
3. Bahr, A. H., & Zemon, M. (2000). Collaborative authorship in the journal literature: Perspectives for academic librarians who wish to publish. College & Research Libraries, 61(5), 410-419.
4. Bako, S. (2005). Universities, research and development in Nigeria: time for a paradigmatic shift. Proceedings of the 11th General Assembly of CODESRIA, on Rethinking African Development: Beyond Impasse, Towards Alternatives, 6-8.
5. Bansal, S., Mahendiratta, S., Kumar, S., Sarma, P., Prakash, A., & Medhi, B. (2019). Collaborative research in modern era: Need and challenges. Indian journal of pharmacology, 51(3), 137. Clowes, L., & Shefer, T. (2013). “It's not a simple thing, co-publishing”: Challenges of co-authorship between supervisors and students in South African higher educational contexts. Africa Education Review, 10(1), 32-47.
6. Enakrire, R. T., Chisita, C. T., & Adeyinka, T. (2020). Partnership among librarians: reflection on observations, interviews and research reports from three universities in Nigeria and Zimbabwe. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(5), 338-345.
7. Fari, S. A., & Ingawa, A. I. (2020). Analysis of factors influencing academic collaborative research in selected federal universities in Nigeria. MiddleBelt Journal of Library and Information Science, 18.
8. Jabeen, M., Imran, M., Badar, K., Rafiq, M., Jabeen, M., & Yun, L. (2017). Scientific collaboration of Library & Information Science research in China (2012-2013). Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 22(2), 67-83.

9. Levsky, M. E., Rosin, A., Coon, T. P., Enslow, W. L., & Miller, M. A. (2007). A descriptive analysis of authorship within medical journals, 1995-2005. Southern medical journal, 100(4), 371-376.
10. Melin, G., & Persson, O. (1996). Studying research collaboration using co-authorships. Scientometrics, 36(3), 363-377.
11. Moseley, C (2021) 7 reasons why collaboration is important https://blog.jostle.me/blog/why-collaboration-is-important
12. Oluwakemi, J., & Paul, T. (2012). Collaborative strength and pattern of authorship among agricultural engineers in Nigeria: A case study of the 2000 2010 NIAE proceedings. International Journal of Library and Information Science, 4(6), 115-120.
13. Onyancha, O. B. (2010). Mapping research areas and collaboration in the College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa. Inkanyiso: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(2), 86-97.
14. Prebor, G. (2010). Analysis of the interdisciplinary nature of library and information science. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 42(4), 256–267
15. Powell, R. R., Baker, L. M., & Mika, J. J. (2002). Library and information science practitioners and research. Library & information science research, 24(1), 49-72.
16. Shneiderman, B. (2016). Teamwork in computing research. Communications of the ACM, 59(8), 30-31.
17. Ultimo, C Nov 2, 2021, What is motivation https://blog.webex.com/author/cultimo/
18. Yusuf, A. K. (2012). An appraisal of research in Nigeria’s university sector. Journal of Research in National Development, 10(2), 321-330.