By Kunle SHONUGA
The National Librarian, Prof. Lenrie Aina, says 70 per cent of publications from Federal MDAs deposited with the National Library of Nigeria do not carry International Standard Book Number(ISBN) or International Standard Serial Number(ISSN).
Aina disclosed this during at a ‘‘Sensitisation Workshop on International Standards for Publishing and Legal Deposit Compliance in Nigeria’’ organised for Federal MDAs on Thursday in Abuja.
He said in most cases, the library received publications in which bibliographic details such as ISBN, year of publication, publishers address were not properly placed on the right pages of the books or serials.
Aina said the Act establishing the National Library stipulates that all publications emanating from Nigeria must comply with international standard through the issuance of ISBN for books and ISSN for journals, newspapers and magazines.
He, however, said that the law was hardly complied with, adding that the Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), were the biggest culprits.
‘‘We believe it could be as a result of ignorance on the part of the MDAs on the importance of obtaining ISBN or ISSN, hence the purpose of this workshop.
‘‘It is in our interest to partner with the MDAs who are major producers of information resources on regular basis.
‘‘They, in a variety of research activities, policy formulations and enlightenment activities produce a lot of publications, which are expected to be made available for public consultations and also to serve as basis for research and information activities,’’ he said.
The library boss said failure by the MDAs to get the ISBN/ISSN is affecting the operations of the national library because the National Bibliography of Nigeria could not be updated and circulated.
According to him, the latest bibliography we have is 2014 and we are in 2018 and we do not have anything to publish, there is money for us to publish but what to publish is not there.
He, therefore, urged all participants to help ensure complete and sustain compliance with the legal deposit law and strict adherence to international standard for publishing.
‘‘I will, therefore, enjoin participants at this workshop to take the lectures seriously and focus on every detail of the guidelines of the legal provisions.
‘The expected outcome is expected to concretise our collective effort aimed at the preservation of our published materials for future generations’ research benefits,’’ he said.
Aina said the objective of the workshop was to ensure that all MDAs obtain ISBN/ISSN for all their publications, as well as deposit 25 copies of all their publications with the national library in compliance with the legal deposit law.
President, Nigerian Library Association, Dr Umunna Opara, in his remarks, said lack of awareness by publishers, weak deposit law and insufficient budgeting were responsible for lack of compliance with the law.
Opara expressed the hoped that the workshop would help address the issues being identified.
He stressed the need for the federal government to increase budgetary allocation to the National library to enhance its operations.
Library Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN), Prof. Michael Afolabi, said the council would continue to churn out qualified librarians who would effectively handle all legal deposits.
Afolabi, represented by Mrs Ngozi Oboh, Deputy Director, Office of the Registrar, said the LRCN had registered 5829 librarians and trained over 6000 librarians.
He assured the chief librarian that the council would continue to work with the National Library of Nigeria.
