Acquisition, Preservation and Accessibility of Indigenous Knowledge in University Libraries in South East Nigeria

Abstract

In the recent past, indigenous knowledge (IK) has become a global term because people from different cultures have indigenous knowledge and skills that are unique to them. Such knowledge and skills could be innovations as well as sources of livelihood. The IK is an age-long knowledge which has been passed on from generation to generation. However, the knowledge of these skills is fast fading away owing to the death of practitioners. The inability to acquire, preserve, and access this knowledge by future generations is gradually becoming an illusion. There are compendiums of indigenous knowledge that have had land-breaking impacts in several places but have yet to receive much attention. Indigenous knowledge of Africans has yet to have a place in Nigerian University Libraries, particularly in South East Nigeria. This study was undertaken to examine the different indigenous knowledge available in Nigeria; ascertain the methods of acquisition, preservation and accessibility of indigenous knowledge in Nigerian University Libraries; and identify the challenges of acquisition, preservation and accessibility of indigenous knowledge in University Libraries in South East, Nigeria. The study, among others, found that IK is acquired, preserved and made accessible at a low rate. This may be a result of a lack of unified policies in IK collection development in libraries, ignorance and misconceptions about IK knowledge that exist in different environments. This implies that reasonable and practical policies should be put in place by the government