Don calls for proper documentation of African culture
NAN-H-34
Culture
By Aminu Ahmed Garko
Minna, Oct. 14, 2017 (NAN) Prof. Juliana Udensi of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, on Saturday stressed the need to preserve and document African culture in library to pass the knowledge of the continent to future generations.
Udensi made this call when she delivered the 55th Inaugural Lecture of the University, titled: “Cultural Information: A Gateway to Sustainable Development in Africa”
Udensi is a Professor of Library and Information Technology, School of Information and Communication Technology in the institution.
He described culture as “a collective human activities and general principles that tend to guide ideas of a group of people with shared traditions, which is passed on and instilled into generations and reinvigorated or sustained by members of the group.”
According to her, the documentation, preservation and dissemination of the African culture in our libraries is a task that must be done.
Highlighting the effects of western civilization on African culture, the don said that the arrival of white-man in Africa brought huge distortions to the well established and organised African culture.
She said the colonialists disorganised African natural boundaries and indigenous institutions.
The lecturer advised Information professionals to apply specialised knowledge and skills to collect, record, organise, store, retrieve and disseminate printed or digital information.
“Information professionals work with the intent to get the right information from the right frame in the format most suitable for use to which it is to be put and at a cost that is justified by its use.”
Udensi also took a look at the influence of users’ discipline on the utilization of Africana Resources in Nigerian University Libraries.
She called on Library Management to create awareness in the usage of the resources by both Arts and Science users.
She recommended that University Librarians should endeavour to send qualified and experienced professionals as unit heads, equipped with ICT retrieval tools such that staff in the unit are trained and retrained in the use of ICT.
Also, that new arrival of literature in Africana should be displayed at strategic places so as to attract more users.
She further stated that semi open access should be considered for the Africana resources, while calling on parents to teach their children cultural norms and values by ensuring that children know their roots.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Musbau Akanji acknowledged the array of traditional institutions present at the occasion as well as other dignitaries.
He described the lecture as food for thought and a reawakening of cultural heritage.( NAN)
AAG/AFA
Edited by Felix Ajide