ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS’ PERCEPTION ON ACCREDITATION PRACTICE IN SELECTED NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Abstract

Every university is set up for teaching and learning, research, and community service or development. This triad mission forms the basis to determine the quality and standard of university education. As a measure of the quality of university education delivered or received, accreditation exercise is carried out regularly. In the process, the quality of library services provided is a huge determinant of the overall quality of university education, and should this be below expectation, a university stands the risk of being denied full accreditation with its implications. Against this backdrop, this paper investigated academic librarians’ perception on accreditation practice in selected nigerian university libraries. Survey research design was used for the study. The population comprised of 64 academic librarian in the study area. The purposive sampling technique was used to select 64 academics in four university libraries. Total enumeration or census method was adopted for this study.  This is because the researcher considered the population as not too large to manage and that the use of the total enumeration can eliminate any potential bias that may occur if a sample is selected and allowed for the generalization of the findings from the study. The questionnaire was validated, tested for reliability, and administered to the sample. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed some challenges which were ranked in order of priority. Against the challenges, prospects were identified and discussed with appropriate recommendations made.