The purpose of the project discussed in this article was to set up a computerized catalog and distribution database of alternative materials for visually impaired people in Nigeria. The project was based on the need to open wider the gates of information resources, nationally and internationally, to this category of information users by identifying the location and availability of resources throughout Nigeria and creating a database for access and retrieval. Another purpose was to create a template for database entry, which could be replicated by other developing countries. A state-by-state survey of educational institutions, state libraries, and nongovernmental organizations serving the visually impaired in all of the thirty-six states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was conducted. Three sets of data were gathered from a template for data entry of alternative materials and two questionnaires for institutions and the blind and visually impaired students. A database was designed and created using Microsoft Access. An American Disability Act (ADA) compliant Web site was designed, which has a "text-only" version for browsing by visually impaired persons (see www.alvi-laris.org).

The authorship of AJLAIS over seven years was subjected to analysis by gender, collaboration and institutional affiliation. A total of 95 research articles contributed by 118 authors were analysed. Results indicated male dominance of single‐authored articles, 83.2 per cent to 16.8 per cent. Of the 16 co‐authored articles nine (56.25 per cent) were co‐authored by men only, one article (6.25 per cent) was co‐authored by women only, and gender mixture was found in six (37.5 per cent) of the articles. A cross‐tabulation of institutional affiliation with gender revealed that no woman contributed any article from special and public libraries while there was a relative gender mixture in academic libraries and library schools. There is a need to encourage female publication output in all sectors of librarianship and information science in Africa.

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting Online Public Access Catalogue provision (OPAC) and sustainable use in two University libraries in Ogun and also a relationship between undergraduates ICT skills and OPAC use. Based on the findings, there are implications for theory, research and practice. For theory and research, the findings suggest the use of principle of least effort model in the study of OPAC design. In the area of practice, the findings highlight the importance of OPAC use, ways of improving OPAC provision and sustainable use and providing individual -level related training to ICT skills so as to help undergraduates harness the full benefits of OPAC.Keyword: Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), Academic libraries, Undergraduates and Nigeria. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 1-07-2017 Date of acceptance: 20-07-2017 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. IntroductionLibraries were traditionally known to provide access to library information materials through card catalogues and book catalogue as the primary information locating tools. Following advancement in ICT and subsequent development of Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), the traditional concept of access to library resources which many scholars identified to be prone to numerous challenges has changed. OPAC has brought a changing relationship between libraries and their users in the changing ICT environment. Library OPACs first emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s and have gone through several cycles of change and development all geared towards improvement. The library OPAC as an automated catalogue system was developed as a tool to locate those information resources that had been acquired and stored by the library itself. In this environment, the user is both the primary searcher of the searcher of the system and the user of the information. [1] posits that the online or digital catalogue is a library catalogue consisting of collection of bibliographic records in machine readable format, maintained on a dedicated computer that provides uninterrupted interactive access via terminals or workstations in direct continuous communication with the central computer. Most online catalogues are searchable by author, title, subject heading, and keywords, and allow users to print, download or export records to an e-mail account.[2] describes an OPAC as "knowledge access system whereby the catalogue is both a finding and access tool". According to him, with user expectations becoming more demanding in terms of access to electronic information, the OPAC reflects an organised collection of databases and web. An OPAC is considered to be the heart of the library operations and the gateway of library services as it facilitates the patrons to the various services of the library and acts as "an instrum...

Examines the relationship between accessibility to information technology and research publications among users of agricultural libraries in Nigeria. A self-constructed questionnaire, which had a reliability coefficient of 0.90, was used to collect data. A total of 150 questionnaires were distributed and a response rate of 78.7 per cent was obtained. Data were analyzed using the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and the student t-test. Results showed that there was no significant association between accessibility and research publications. The finding is discussed in the context of information technology benefits in developing countries generally. Suggestions are proffered on how to improve the benefits of IT access. Electronic accessThe current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

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