The University Librarian, Dr. Mulikat Salaam, has observed that University libraries remain the pivot on which academic activities rest in achieving the ivory towers’ mandates of teaching, research and community development. Speaking at a two-day Information Literacy Training Workshop for postgraduate students of the University, organised by the Automation Department, ‘Nimbe Adedipe Library, Dr. Salaam said starting first in the series information literacy workshops, with the postgraduate students, was necessary, since serious research work usually began at the postgraduate level, which required the use of specialised information sources, noting that students who were interested in going into academics, would gain tremendously from attending the workshop.
The University Librarian, who was represented by Dr. Fehintola Onifade, a Principal Librarian in the University Library, added that the workshop would help the postgraduate students to easily recognise when information was needed, how to navigate the computer and the library to locate credible sources of information and how to effectively use the skills gained and that this was part of efforts at increasing the level of computer literacy for members of the University community.
The Dean of the Postgraduate School, Professor Ololade Enikuomehin, explained that the selection of participants was done through an open and transparent process with representatives drawn from all Colleges and Departments, involving both fresh and old students. He admonished participants to make good use of the opportunity by listening attentively at the workshop and putting all that were required to pass and transfer the knowledge gained to their colleagues.
Dr. Fehintola Onifade, who was also a resource person at the workshop, spoke on “The Role of the Library in Research”, describing the library as a systematic collection of information resources in a variety of formats, organised and accessible to users with the purposes of educating, informing, stimulating learning and advancing the society in general. She added that the library was enriched with several books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, films, maps, prints, documents, microform, compact discs, cassettes, videotapes, digital videos, e-books, digital materials and others, which would help the researcher in carrying out his/her research.
According to Dr. Onifade, there was a strong link between library and research, as the library remained the first point of call for a researcher and a learning zone where the researcher collects facts and information that would help him/her in carrying out active intellectual investigation.
She noted that librarians always study the needs of their users by selecting, organising and disseminating informative materials to researchers, they also train them on how to use the resources for
richer information, adding that information was the building block of research. Mr. Oyintola Amusa, a Librarian also spoke on “Literature Review/General Evaluation of Information Sources”. He observed that literature review cannot be over-emphasized because it creates the context from the past for which the new study is to be conducted,
adding that it also provides insights and limitations into the previous
studies, thereby assisting the researcher to avoid repetitions through further investigations.
Mr. Amusa, however, warned participants to be wary of plagiarism and intellectual dishonesty, but be focused, guard against being unnecessarily influenced by the views of earlier researchers, provide critical review of earlier studies, arrange reviewed materials in chronological order and have a good grasp of library procedures.
Other resource persons at the workshop include Mrs. Abosede Oladeinde, who took the participants on the “Use of Basic MS Word Package Feature for Research”, Mr. Emmanuel Ogunlana, who delivered the talk on the “Use of Latest Information Technology to Retrieve and Manage Information: A Focus on Mendeley” and the Deputy Dean, Postgraduate School, Dr. Adebayo Shittu, who spoke on “Sourcing, Analysis and Interpretation of Research Data”.
Similarly, Dr. Abiola Abioye’s presentation was titled,
“Copyright and Plagiarism: Social, Legal and Ethical Impact in Research”, as Mrs. Bosede Akintola took participants on “General
Introduction to Citation and Referencing”, while Mrs. Bosede Ajiboye, gave a presentation on “The Use of Referencing Features of MS Word Package for Research”.
