Public Libraries: Preservation and Documentation of Cultural Heritage Resources in Prof. Kenneth Dike State Central E-Library, Awka

Public Libraries: Preservation and Documentation of Cultural Heritage Resources in Prof. Kenneth Dike State Central E-Library, Awka

Florence Amaka Nwofor¹, Hope Chinyere Ilorah Chikaodi²

¹Senior Lecturer, Department of Library and Information Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

²Associate Professor, Festus Aghagbo Nwako Library, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.70813

Received: 30 June 2023; Accepted: 17 July 2023; Published: 15 August 2023

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike state central e-library, Awka. A case study research design was adopted for the study and the population consist of thirteen respondents which are all librarians. No sampling technique was adopted for the study. The instrument employed for collection of data is observation checklist and questionnaire. Frequencies, percentages and mean were used in analyzing the data collected. The data analyzed were presented in tables. From the data analysis, the following findings amongst others were gathered: there are various types of cultural heritage resources available in the public library. The study showed that, inadequate funding, absence of preservation policies, ignorance of the importance of cultural heritage resources and low level of awareness of the existing cultural heritage resources are the major problems militating against effective preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources. It was recommended that: the library should create awareness, engage and meet with custodians of local heritage in the community for approval for collecting cultural heritage resources. Also the library should take into consideration other methods like heritage walk and award to create awareness of cultural heritage resources in the library. The public library should develop innovative approaches geared towards collection of heritage resources by creating spaces or corners for their display.

Keywords: Culture, Cultural Heritage, Preservation, Documentation, Public Library

INTRODUCTION

The way of life and the heritage of a given society is critical to its existence because it is their distinctive way of life that distinguishes them from one another. Their culture serves as the identity, pride and significance of their existence as a society. This way of life is known as culture. Okpoko (2011), sees culture as a way of life acquired within the society and transmitted through generations. He also opined that culture consists of both material and non-material aspects. Material culture is all the concrete realities made and utilized by man in society. This includes the products of industry, technology, arts among others. Non-material culture deals with aesthetics of all nature, belief systems, cultural expressions appropriate to roles, rules and norms.

Society as we know it has been built up over generations with each adding its knowledge and experiences to the store already amassed by earlier generations. These are cherished characteristic features of a society passed down from generation to generation through conscious preservation and are known as heritages. Heritages refer to the riches of extinct and extant aspects of societies which are of historic, educational, recreational and economic importance, preserved and handed over from one generation to another. Heritages are categorized into two based on their sources namely ecological/natural heritages and cultural heritages. The focus of this study is on the cultural heritages (Onyima, 2016).

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that is inherited from the past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations (Wikipedia, 2018). The sum total of the people’s cherished arts, customs, festivals, sacred or worship sites, norms, values, ideologies, dress and dress-patterns, traditional monuments and architectures, technology and technological sites and other artifacts which are cherished and conserved for their historical, political, educational, recreational and religious significance is seen as cultural heritages. Cultural heritage can also be categorized into two namely material/tangible and non-material/intangible cultural heritages.

It is important to note that cultural heritages whether tangible or intangible needs to be preserved due to threat of extinction, human activities, natural forces, biological and chemical agents among others (Okpoko, 2011). Therefore, preservation according to Eluyemi, (2002) is defined as the promotion of cultural property whether of concrete or non-concrete nature, past or present, written or unwritten/oral. He further pointed out that preservation also involves the identification, documentation (appropriate registration) and proper storage of cultural objects whether in private hands, in museums or in the libraries.

Preserving the cultural heritage of various world nations had been a long term commitment of library and information centers. The major task of these institutions has been collecting, documenting and dissemination of information on the cultural heritage of their communities. However, in most communities, the public library is the only neutral public institution accessible on equal basis to everyone in a society regardless of their status, race, nationality, religion, gender, sex, language and educational qualification. According to Akanwa (2010), the public library is a library that provides information resources, services and recreational outlets for the generality of the citizenry namely the young, the old, literate and illiterate.

One of the obligations of the public libraries among others, is to collect and preserve cultural heritage for posterity. Public Libraries are meant to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities. If public libraries do not document cultural heritages, they will be lost and this implies the loss of national identity. Public libraries are to preserve culture in order to show support for the cultural identity of the community. As public libraries collect and document cultural artifacts they are helping their communities to archive their past to be used in the future. Public libraries must document cultural heritage so that researchers may access it as they conduct their studies. It also preserves these cultural heritages to enable library users who are interested to use the library and appreciate knowledge that relates to their local culture to access and retrieve the resources.

The public library serves as one of the custodians of the cultural heritage of the host community by preserving the intangible cultural resources of the community   and ethnicity by organizing and participating in some cultural activities. One of such activities is the commemoration of World African Heritage Day celebrated on 5^th of May every year as mapped out by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Major stakeholders come together to foster the growth and continuity of the cultural uniqueness of Igbo land. This also features some rich cultural display by participating staff, students and pupils. There are also print and e-copies of oral history research records emanating from the Department of Library and Information Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (Nwofor, 2019).

In addition, it serves the host community by creating a cultural space tagged cultural heritage corner for works on oral tradition of the host communities, because these cultural heritages are threatened by various factors such as natural hazards, vandalism, urbanization, and aging. Their eternality cannot be guaranteed and each moment there is the danger of their loss. Thus, there is the need to ensure proper documentation which in event of their loss the documentation and recorded archives are passed on to the future generations for reconstruction purposes.

Therefore, this study provides an opportunity to examine the preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in this library.

Statement of the Problem

Cultural heritage resources in Nigeria, are faced with a lot of challenges such as the influence of urbanization, Christianity, commerce, civilization, change, development, looting, among others. It can be adduced that cultural heritage resources in Nigeria are seriously endangered with the rate of negligence and lukewarm attitude of Nigerians toward preservation of tangible cultural heritages.  Typical examples of this onslaught are the cases of developmental projects like road constructions, buildings, and large-scale agricultural activities which destroy cultural heritages, artifacts, and historical sites. Most times construction engineers do not embark on cultural or environmental impact assessment (EIA) before carrying out any construction. There are so many other challenges endangering the existence of cultural heritage resources. There is a projection that by the year 2025, some ethnic groups’ language will become extinct like the Igbo language which has been projected by UNESCO. This spells doom and calls for action to check the impending consequences.

Consequently, the study intends to ascertain the pivotal role of public libraries, especially Kenneth Dike State central e-library, Awka as one of the institutions saddled with the responsibility of documenting and preserving these cultural heritages of the communities it serves.

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of the study is to examine the role of public libraries in documentation and preservation of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-library, Awka.

The specific purposes of the study are to:

1. identify the cultural heritage resources available in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library;
2. ascertain the methods of collection of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library;
3. find out how the staff creates awareness of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library;
4. determine the documentation methods used for cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library;
5. determine the methods adopted for preserving cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library;
6. identify major problems militating against effective preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library;
7. determine strategies for ameliorating the problems associated with the preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1. What are the types of cultural heritage resources available in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library?
2. What methods are employed in collecting cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library?
3. How do staff create awareness on cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library?
4. How are the cultural heritage resources documented in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library?
5. What are the methods adopted for preserving cultural heritage resources by staff of Kenneth Dike State central e-Library?
6. What are the major problems militating against effective preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike State central e-Library?
7. What strategies could be adopted to ameliorate the problems associated with preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources by staff of Kenneth Dike State central e-Library?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Types of Cultural Heritage Resources in Public Libraries

Lately, it can be adduced that the definition of cultural heritage is quite contentious and has so many concepts from different scholars. That notwithstanding, cultural heritage can be defined as the function of passing on the knowledge to the next generations, resulting from the oral or nonverbal traditions, the types of traditional production, performance arts, applications in social life, rituals, festivals, and, most importantly, experiences created by the past generations (Vecco, 2010). Cultural Heritage is broadly divided into tangible and intangible forms.

Tangible cultural heritage, refers to physical entities, artifacts that can be physically experienced and stored. It can be further divided into two types, Immovable tangible cultural heritage consists of monuments, sculptures, buildings, cave, inscriptions and city centers, archaeological, etymological, historical and underwater sites, cultural landscapes, geographic spot, natural wealth, wildlife, domestic birds and animals, activity and aesthetic values. Another one is Movable tangible cultural heritage consists of artifacts such as sculptures, paintings, collections and objects; media such as audio, video, music, books, plays and consumer and manufacturing goods. Tangible Cultural Heritages presents a solid basis for historical studies, authenticate memories and it is vital for validating the past and providing proof in history. Preserving Tangible Cultural Heritages reveals our identity as different from that of other communities (UNESCO, 2017).

Intangible Cultural Heritage is very delicate and vital in sustaining cultural diversity in the fast changing modern era. It consists of art expressions, drama, acting, literature, language, martial arts, livelihood cultures, food habits, traditional practices, folktale, folksong, folklore, folkdance, oral records, etc. Intangible cultural heritage aids in intercultural discourse, promote shared respect among different communities. The most important element of intangible cultural heritage is the transmission of tacit skills that is passed down from generation to generation. It is important to note that preserving the cultural heritage of various world nations; and their thorough presentation has been a long term commitment of library and information centres. Libraries all over the world are the repositories of the records of human civilization and culture. Libraries contain the heritage of humanity; the record of its triumphs and failures, its intellectual, scientific and artistic achievements and its collective memory (Gregorian, 1998, cited in Omekwu, 2003). Therefore, the library is the gateway to cultural heritage information. To fulfill this cultural responsibility, the library has the daunting task of acquiring, organizing, disseminating and preserving a variety of cultural materials, reflecting the plurality and cultural diversity of the society and the richness of our heritage.  .

Public libraries also ensure the provision of cultural materials for all sections of the host community; not only the largest or most powerful, hence the provision of cultural products from various ethnic minority groups. Presentation of lectures and seminars to disseminate information on political, economic and cultural events in the society; take records of the cultural heritage of the community it serves. The resources should include valuable collections of the local history, tales; riddles, traditional technologies and traditional pharmacopoeia which can be used by the public in collective listening sessions.

It has been observed that the cultural heritage resources available in public libraries include: songs, crafts, morals, artifacts, folklore, monographs, paintings, Photographic albums, household traditional cooking utensils (plates earthen wares, pots, mortar, pestle), realia, traditional myths and legends, traditional dances, farm tools (hoe, cutlass), sculpture, clothing, books on various cultural topics, journals on various cultural topics, images from various cultural books, videotapes of heritage/day celebration (Ola & Adegbore, 2015). Other cultural heritage items include drums, animal skin/hides, basket, ichaka, handfan, local carrier baskets, wine jar. They also contain printed and electronic resources emanating from oral history research of students in Department of Library and Information Science on various cultural and social aspects of various communities.

Methods of Collecting Cultural Heritage Resources

The means by which cultural heritage resources are obtained is a subject of interest. Articulated strategy is often required for effective collection development of any resource material worth preserving. (Anasi, Ibegwam & Oyediran-Tidings, 2013).

Setshwane and Oats (2015) in their study, suggested that the committee members in the library should come up with a plan which will guide on how to collect the resources from the community. Among the items in the plan is a suggestion to meet with key people in the community to discuss the idea. Consultation with community culture custodians like the chief should be done to get approval to collect, document and seek for support. This was found fit as key people in the community know where, and who can assist with specific cultural content.

Another method public libraries acquire cultural heritage resources is through exchange. The library can collaborate with other stakeholders like museums and other cultural heritage institutions to acquire some cultural heritage resources to enrich their collection.

Cultural heritage resources can be acquired through gifts and donations. Anasi, Ibegwam & Oyediran-Tidings, (2013) in their study concluded that most cultural heritage resources in libraries of some selected universities in Nigeria are acquired through gifts and donations from well – meaning citizens, the community and the society at large because these resources are best safeguarded and effectively preserved by public libraries.

Some cultural heritage resources can also be acquired in the library through direct purchase. Here, the library buys some artefacts, paintings, artworks to enrich their cultural heritage collection.

Cultural heritage resources can be bequeathed to the library by some individuals that understand the importance of their preservation with the library. The library is one of institutions deemed worthy of the preservation of cultural heritage resources in the society.

Methods of Creating Awareness of Cultural Heritage Resources

Awareness is the ability to directly know and perceive, to feel, or to be cognizant of events. More broadly, it is the state of being conscious of something (Wikipedia, 2018). Awareness has received considerable academic attention in the contexts of environment and place, education, emotions, interpersonal relationships and health care, with an overwhelming suggestion that people have different levels of awareness and that a wide range of stimuli, included personal experience with people, places and events, are critical in the formation of individual, cognitive awareness.

UNESCO (2003a) observed that: the heritage which has been left behind by our ancestors is of great value. No one in the world would question just how important is the task of protecting them. But, when we look into the details of issues despite noble intentions, we encounter many obstacles based on ignorance. Many people are not truly knowledgeable about cultures and this problem of ignorance is further compounded by questions of morality, tradition and world vision.

Shankar and Swamy (2013) also touched on the awareness of cultural heritage in their study. They pointed out that the awareness of cultural heritage is an important factor in terms of protection and administration of the cultural heritage. Creating awareness takes time, and it needs local support. It was also stressed that awareness is generally the most well-known and emphasized component of the cultural heritage administration and this is one of the most effective ways of providing the respect of public towards the cultural heritage and protecting it.

Therefore, Cultural heritage awareness is one of the operational ways of providing the esteem of the cultural heritage to the public. On the other hand, cultural heritages are of importance for their environments. As a result of the increasing awareness of cultural heritage, so many tourists will want to visit these places (Ratanakomut, 2006). Again, in the cases where there is lack of enough consciousness for intangible cultural heritages, these intangible cultural heritages are on the risk of being extinct. When there is not sufficient awareness for tangible cultural assets, these assets could not be protected and threatened with possibility of being damaged (Unesco, 2003a).

One of the basic reasons for damage of cultural heritage resources is the lack of awareness to the public. Due to the above mentioned reasons, the levels of awareness of the cultural heritage stakeholders must be improved. Awareness is an important component both for the protection of cultural heritage and for transforming the cultural heritage to a gain factor (Dümcke & Gnedovsky, 2013). Therefore, creating awareness and promotion of the cultural heritage is a decisive subject to make the general public understand the pressing need for cultural heritage knowledge acquisition, promotion and its dissemination.

In the light of this, informing the people to the persuasive requirement of promotion of the cultural heritage, awakening the mindfulness and interest of people to make them feel apprehensive by the promotion of the cultural heritage can be done in different ways such as; heritage festivals/day celebration, heritage walk, heritage awards and promotion of heritage in education. This can be undertaken under stringent supervision (Shimray & Ramaiah, 2019). Ezenagu and Iwuagwu (2016) also agreed that, to ensure the preservation of cultural heritage resources there is need for cultural education and awareness. This could be achieved using the mass media, cultural seminars, workshops and conferences, school curriculum etc. through this medium the people will be enlightened concerning the significance of cultural resources which they destroy at will. Once the people understand that it is their cultural identity and national pride they will be willing to protect it and also patronise art works.

Above all, cultural heritage awareness is equally important as the cultural heritage resources itself. Awareness in cultural heritage is like an eye opener, an advertisement to the abundant importance, risk factors and need for preservation of cultural heritage resources in the society (Shimray, 2019).

Methods of Documenting Cultural Heritage Resources

The main purpose of documenting cultural heritage resources most especially the intangible cultural heritages is to preserve the past and provide access to it in future. It involves the process of identifying, collecting and making publicly available existing records of cultural heritage resources. The first step of documenting intangible heritage is to highlight it while protecting its ownership. Here, special preference is given for traditional indigenous knowledge.

In this digital era, there are so many methods to capture the tacit knowledge. If not captured, one day this knowledge will vanish without keeping a footprint for future generation. Each cultural heritage resources has its own unique characteristics and it is according to the physical condition, time, and the amount of accuracy needed and other requirements of the project that the preservation librarians decide what specific documentation approach or tool is more applicable.

The documenting of cultural heritage resources most especially the intangible cultural heritages are easily done by using multimedia technologies such as film strips, slides, audio, video and audio-visual storage devices such as cassette, video cassette, compact disc etc. (McDonald, 2006).

Recording is one of the methods employed in documentation of cultural heritage resources. It is used to document the intangible cultural heritages by capturing the voices and proceedings of various cultural practices such as ceremonies, deity worshiping, initiations, festivals, folklore etc. With the use of some multimedia gadgets such as digital cameras, video recorders, etc. These resources are stored in CD, CD-ROM, Laser disc, Videotapes. Public libraries must employ new information and communication technologies such as DVD, CD, CD-ROM, Laser disc, Videotapes and other multimedia gadgets for documenting our cultural heritage especially the intangible oral traditions before they disappear with the wind of globalization.

Recording helps to preserve undocumented intangible cultural heritage mainly, expressions, social rituals, daily rituals, performing arts, oral traditions, knowledge and are practices etc. from dying with the few that has the knowledge and preserved for posterity and also kept in air-conditioned room under controlled temperature in order to ensure that the audio cassettes do not get wrapped in the library (Ola & Adegbore, 2015).

Cultural heritage resources can be documented with the use of image based technique. In image based technique, photography is a basic tool for documentation of cultural heritage resources. Tangible moveable and immovable cultural heritage resources can be photographed with a digital camera, these pictures are put in photo albums with album label and shelved appropriately on the cultural heritage resources space in the library.

Digitization is a method of documenting cultural heritage resources in the library. Therefore, Digitization primarily is the process of converting analogue data to digital data. Manaf (2006), rightly observed that developing high quality digital content is central to improving and enhancing public access to cultural heritage information, as well as to promoting teaching and research. Karekar and Mudhol (2014), both agreed that digitization is the only long term solution for preservation of cultural heritage materials especially manuscripts. Chigbu and Ezema (2011) argued that the digitization of Nigerian cultural materials will increase the lifespan of the documented information on Nigerian culture. They also stressed that digitization will make cultural information resources available and easily accessible to everyone. The preserved collections can be accessed locally and remotely via Internet by students, teachers, researchers and common public from the digital repository of the library. These collections could be uploaded to the institutional repositories of the libraries and accessed through various means including the use of social media.

Cataloguing and classifying or creating metadata for these resources is important for its documentation process. These intangible cultural heritage resources recorded and stored in videotapes and audio cassettes are labeled with serial number similar to accession number for easy location and retrieval. It also includes creation of metadata for the digitized cultural heritage resources to enable users have easy access to items of interest, record essential information about them, and share that information with others.

Methods Adopted for Preserving Cultural Heritage Resources.

The cultural heritage resources of any society must be protected and preserved for posterity purposes. Even in the primary definition of cultural heritage, it pointed out that it is a continuous process that must be passed on from one generation to another. The need has emerged, becoming even more intense after the recent man provoked or natural catastrophes associated with cultural heritage resources. The importance of preserving them has become apparent, now more than ever, to designated authorities at all levels, that cultural heritage resources are important and therefore, all needed measures should be taken in order to ensure their preservation for future generations.

Libraries preserve cultural heritage resources, bridge the past and the present and shape the future. The library as one of the institutions that undertake the daunting task of identifying, collecting, documenting and preserving cultural heritage resources should have sound methods that is effective and efficient in accomplishing this erroneous task that is of great importance to the society it serves. Some preservation methods adopted by public libraries to preserve library materials, especially cultural heritage resources are dusting and cleaning, use of vacuum cleaner, lamination, shelving, installation of air-conditioner, fumigation, microfilming, security, De-acidification, curation and conservation (Olatokun, 2008).

One of the primary methods of preserving our cultural heritage resources especially the tangible moveable ones is dusting and cleaning. Dusting and cleaning is one of the good housekeeping activities which Alegbeleye (2002) referred to as element of minimal level of preservation in library and archives. It is the act of removing dirt, stain or dust particles from something. Dust accumulates quickly in our climate, so it is necessary to remove it regularly. Sekiete (2004) advocated that, a team of cleaners who are trained to perform their duty should be employed for this purpose.

Dusting cannot be done properly with cloth and broom, because particles of dust rise into air and again settles down in some other part of the room or in other materials in the library. To overcome these problem, public libraries should use vacuum cleaners.

Vacuum Cleaner, is a device that causes suction in order to remove debris from floors, upholstery, draperies and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven (Wikipedia, 2019). Vacuum cleaner also helps in saving a lot of time otherwise spent on brooming and cleaning of the collections in the cultural heritage resources space in the library.

Another method for preserving fragile documents of history in public libraries is lamination which is the process in which a document is embedded between sheets of synthetic plastic film or tissue.

Shelving, which is one of the preservation techniques is seen as organizing library collections both book and non book materials by call numbers and placing them in their correct locations. Cultural heritage resources, properly shelved will allow easy accessibility and proper preservation in the library.

Installation of air conditioner in library space, is another technique employed in preservation of cultural heritage resources in the library. Nwalo (2003), recommended that air-conditioner should be installed in the library to check dust and it’s effect on the information materials. Air-conditioning equipment that is able to effectively cool and dehumidify the air must be chosen and installed in the cultural heritage resources space in the library.

Fumigation, this involves removing insects and rodents that might be harmful to the cultural heritage resources especially the tangible ones in the library with toxic chemicals in a gaseous form. The library should be fumigated from time to time in order to prevent rodents and insects infestation of the cultural heritage resources in the library.

Microfilming, Ritz (2004), defined microfilming as the continuous reproduction of roll of film containing photographs of documents at greatly reduced size. Microfilming is one of the essential techniques employed in preservation of image based cultural heritage resources in the library.

Security, is another preservation option. Some of the cultural heritage resources in the library are priceless and rare. In order to avoid theft of these resources, adequate security measures must be employed by the library and librarians can also assist in securing these resources in the library and not only the security personnel employed. This can be done by ensuring that library users don’t come inside the cultural heritage resource centre with their bags and carefully checking them when they are leaving the centre to avoid theft and loss of priceless cultural heritage resources.

      De-acidification, neutralizes acids on books and non-book materials. Cultural heritage resources in the library can be de-acidified by adding alkaline and allow it buffer to withstand future acid attack. Popoola, (2003), stated that acids eats up paper and other documents containing information materials in libraries if de-acidification measures is lacking. Curation is the action or process of selecting, organizing, and looking after the items in a collection or exhibition. This can be employed as a preservation technique for some tangible cultural heritage resources like artefacts, artworks etc.

Conservation, there is no preservation without conservation. This technique involves preserving, guarding priceless collection of cultural heritage resources in a safe place. Conservation can be employed to preserve some fragile tangible cultural heritage resources for posterity. These are the methods adopted by public libraries in preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources.

Problems of Preservation and Documentation of Cultural Heritage Resources

It has been understood that preservation and documentation are essential for cultural heritage resources, because without preservation and documentation, there will be nothing left to be called cultural heritage resources and also, the generation yet to come will have nothing about the past. As important as it is, it is also noteworthy to know that preservation and documentation also has their own perils. Literature has established that institutions saddled with the preservation of cultural heritage resources, most especially public libraries, are currently facing the problem of effective preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in Nigeria.

Anasi (2010), pointed out that there were a number of factors bedeviling the preservation of valuable heritage in Nigeria. These include the absence of preservation policy. As a result of this, UNESCO (2003a), maintained that, the formulation and implementation of appropriate cultural policies can assist in the quest to preserve intangible cultural heritage, drawing on the power of dialogue. Cultural policies must empower local communities by way of negotiation between cultural agencies and community people. Cultural policies must also include capacity building. To ensure that cultural heritage resources are effectively managed, provision must be made for education and training to enhance capacity and develop competence in cultural heritage resource preservation and management. Also to encourage cultural creativity as an individual and community process.

Another challenge is ignorance and low level of awareness of preservation practices. Akussah (2002), agreed that ignorance and low level of awareness constitute obstacles to preservation and conservation of library and archival materials in Africa. This means that most librarians and graduates from the field in Nigerian Universities are unaware that preservation of the Cultural Heritage of their host communities is part of their responsibilities as librarians in those communities. Again most people are unaware of what cultural heritage is, its value and economic importance. So they destroy it at will.

Dim and Osadebe (2009), emphasized the lack of skilled and trained manpower; in a situation where the products of library schools in Nigeria are not exposed to preservation and conservation techniques for cultural heritage resources. The training of practicing librarians and archivists has been in the curriculum of core librarianship but their knowledge of digital technology is limited. Except they have understanding of the potentials of new technologies they will not appreciate the importance of digital preservation of cultural heritage information.

Inadequate funding of cultural institutions is another challenging factor. It is crystal clear that funds remain one of the most difficult challenges facing libraries in Nigeria. Of all public institutions in Nigeria, the public library remains one of the most poorly funded institutions in the country. Funds are needed to carry out traditional library services as well as other services required of the library. More often than not, the fund is not available or when available, not accessible. For libraries to effectively perform its role it must be adequately funded. Asogwa and Ezema (2012) also affirmed that under-funding of libraries, absence of professional librarians who are adept in preservation and continuous changes in computer hardware and software are the greatest threats to preservation practices in the electronic environment.

Another problem bedeviling preservation of cultural heritage resources is protection of Intellectual property right which has been a problem in most African countries especially in Nigeria. It is a common occurrence to see fake copies of peoples work on sale in the markets and nobody pays any serious attention to it. As a result, most of our cultural heritage especially in area of traditional agricultural practices and medicine are guided jealously by their owners to avoid losing them. As a result of this, information and works on these areas are not readily made available for inclusion in library cultural heritage resources spaces.

Another challenge that hinders effective preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in Nigeria is the issue of taboo: A lot of taboos are guiding people’s belief system in Nigeria. Most rural communities find it very difficult to divulge information to researchers for the fear that they might commit one taboo or the other or even offend the gods. Most of them believe that giving out their cultural heritage for preservation in the library will mean exposing it to the outside world which they believe will eventually leave them with nothing Dim and Osadebe (2009).

Strategies Adopted to Ameliorate the Problems Associated with the Preservation and Documentation of Cultural Heritage Resources.

The problems associated with the preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources listed above can be ameliorated by some of the following strategies.

Anasi (2010) in her own perspective suggested that there is need for the establishment of a National Council on Preservation and Conservation of cultural heritage which will address the challenges of preservation policies and provide guidelines for the preservation of cultural heritage. On the issue of lack of awareness, she opined that all information professionals, librarians, archivists etc must be aware of the cultural diversity and promote strategies for cultural heritage preservation. She also recommended that, at every forum, information professionals should advocate and champion the campaign for the digitization of cultural information resources.

Workshops, seminars, conferences etc should be organized regularly to train and retrain librarians to create awareness of cultural heritage resources, preventive and curative measures that will prolong and safeguard our cultural heritage resources. Ekwelem, Okafor and Ukwoma (2011), in their study also agreed that with the sporadic changes in the information network, it is absolutely imperative that continuing professional development of librarians should be given priority. Since these librarians serve divergent needs of users in their respective libraries, it is important that these professionals should be conversant with how to preserve and access relevant information. So management should consider this important function of developing their personnel to ensure effective service delivery. With this, the problem of lack of skilled manpower in respect to this will be ameliorated.

The government through the Ministry of Education, should liaise with the National library of Nigeria which is the controlling body of library services in Nigeria, to ensure that libraries are well equipped financially especially public libraries.

Librarians should also know that library services in the present day differ a lot from that of the previous years; as a result they should devise innovative and creative sources for generating revenue internally to sustain them. Here, Ekwelem, Okafor and Ukwoma (2011), agreed that for the library to function effectively, adequate fund is needed especially to get the best out from the two other factors (human and material resources). Where adequate fund is provided, training of librarians and equipping of the library will be effectively achieved and this will enhance the whole process of digitization of library materials.

Public libraries should liaise with traditional rulers, elders, women organizations and cultural organizations for appropriate information gathering through the use of advocacy to cultivate them to give out these resources for preservation with modern technological equipment.

It was observed that most cultural heritage materials are not patented. The library should help the owners of such Heritage to patent them. There should be a cost also for the use of such materials. This will help boost the confidence of the owners of such materials, by this way intellectual property right is protected.

Lastly, Librarians serving in places where there is cultural diversity should endeavor to maintain cultural diversity committees to ensure that no culture in that area is relegated to the background and at the same time ensure that the interest of each culture is protected (Dim & Osadebe, 2009).

METHODOLOGY

A case study research design was adopted for the study and the population consist of thirteen respondents which are all librarians. No sampling technique was adopted for the study. The instrument employed for collection of data is observation checklist and questionnaire. Frequencies, percentages and mean were used in analyzing the data collected. Frequency and percentage was used for research question 1, 2, 3 and 5, while mean was used for research question 4, 6 and 7.

The mean average of the individual score for response on a 4 point rating scale was assigned values as follows: Strongly Agreed (4), Agreed (3), Strongly Disagreed (2), and Disagreed (1). The criterion mean was placed at 2.50. Based on this, any mean score from 2.50 and above were accepted while any mean score below 2.50 were rejected.

RESULTS

The results of the study were presented and discussed in line with the specific objectives of the study:

Table 1: Types of cultural heritage resources available in Kenneth Dike State Central E-Library.

From table 1, the checklist indicated that 90% of the items on the observation checklist are available in the library while 10% of the items on the checklist are not available. This implies that there are various types of cultural heritage resources in the library.

Table 2: Methods employed in collecting cultural heritage resources in the library.

Table 2, shows that most common methods employed in collecting cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike state central e-library are through gifts and donations from individuals, communities and societies (92.3%), through direct purchase from individuals and exhibition (84.6%) while the least methods employed are through bequeaths from individuals, societies (76.9%), Library committee meeting with key people in the community who are custodians of the culture to get approval to collect cultural heritage resources (46.2%) and exchange with other cultural heritage institutions (46.2%)

Table 3: Creating awareness of the culture heritage resources in Kenneth Dike state central e-library

Table 3, shows that the most common way librarians create awareness of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike state central e-library are through heritage festivals/day celebration (92.3%), through Cultural Workshops, seminars and conferences (92.3%), and through mass media (92.3%), through the promotion of heritage in education and inclusion in school curriculum by the Ministry of Education (69.2%) while the least ways of creating awareness of cultural heritage resources by librarians are through heritage walk (84.6%) and through heritage award (69.2%).

Table 4: Documentation of cultural heritage resources are in the library

The data presented in table 4 above shows that all the three items on research question 4 had an overall mean rating score of 2.92 and above. All the three items on this research question were accepted as ways by which cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike state central e-library are documented.

Table 5: Methods adopted for preserving cultural heritage resources in the library.

From table 5, the most commonly used methods in preserving cultural heritage resources in the library as indicated by most respondents are cleaning and dusting, security, and fumigation with cleaning and dusting (92.3%), securing  (92.3%) and fumigation 84.6%. While the rarely methods adopted for preserving cultural heritage resources in the as indicated by some respondents are De-acidification (92.3%), lamination, (92.3%), installation of air conditioner (84.6%), use of vacuum cleaner 76.9%, shelving (61.5%), microfilming (61.5%), conservation practices (61.5%), curation (53.9%) as method adopted for preserving cultural heritage resources in the library.

Table 6: Problems militating against effective preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in the library.

The result presented in table 6, shows that items such as 57, 55 and 54 have the

highest mean score rating, which means they are the most of the problems militating against effective preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike state central e-library while others rating shows that they are not really effective.

Table 7: Strategies that could be adopted to ameliorate the problems associated with preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in the library.

The data presented in table 7 above revealed that all the items on research question 7 had an overall mean score of 2.50 and above which means that the respondents accepted all the items as the strategies that can be adopted to ameliorate the problems associated with preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in Kenneth Dike state central e-library.

DISCUSSION

The result obtained for Research Question 1 reveals that there are different types of cultural heritage resources available in the library under study. This is in line with the idea of Ola and Adegbore (2015), which enumerated types of cultural heritage resources in public libraries to include songs, crafts, morals, artefacts, folklore, monograph, paintings, photographic albums, farm tools (cutlass, hoe), household traditional cooking utensils, realia. Others include drums, animal skin/hides, baskets, ichaka, handfan, local carrier baskets and wine jar.

The result obtained for Research Question 2 indicates that there are some methods employed for collecting cultural heritage resources. The respondents indicated that the best method employed in collecting cultural heritage resources are through gifts and donations from individuals, societies and direct purchase from individuals and exhibitions. This supports the view of Anasi, Ibegwam & Oyediran-Tidings (2013) who opined that most cultural heritage resources in libraries of some universities in Nigeria are acquired through gifts and donations from well-meaning citizens, communities and the society. However, the findings also pointed out that the library should also improve its collection development policy by trying out other methods of collection. Setshwane and Oats (2015), agreed that the library committee should meet with the key people in the community like the chiefs who are custodians of the culture to get approval to collect cultural heritage resources. Other methods such as bequeaths from individuals & societies and exchanges with other cultural heritage institutions are some considerable methods of collecting cultural heritage resources.

The result of Research Question 3 reveals that awareness of the cultural heritage resources in the library are created through the following ways, such as heritage festivals/day celebration, cultural workshops, seminars & conferences and the mass media. The findings lay credence to the position of Ezenagu and Iwuagwu (2016) who observed that, to ensure the preservation of cultural heritage resources there is need for cultural education and awareness. This could be achieved using the mass media, cultural seminars, workshops and conferences, school curriculum. Through this medium the people will be enlightened concerning the significance of cultural resources which they destroy at will. The respondents also indicated that heritage walk and heritage awards are methods that are rarely used in creating awareness of cultural heritage resources in the library. This was as a result of the respondents not fully aware of the inherent benefits of heritage walk to awareness of cultural heritage resources. Saad (2018) affirmed that a heritage walk has developed to be one of the greatest ways to create awareness amongst the inhabitants of their heritage because it enables one to obtain knowledge on one’s culture, customs, philosophy, traditions and rituals.

Findings from Research Question 4 reveals that recording with digital cameras and video recorders, audio cassette recorder and storing in CD, videotapes, photography with digital cameras and storing in photo albums as well as digitization with multimedia gadgets like CD, CD-ROM, laser disc, videotapes and uploading in the library repository to be accessed through the Internet as the methods employed in documenting cultural heritage resources in the library. This is in line with the idea of Chigbu and Ezema, (2011) who remarked that digitization of Nigerian cultural materials will increase the lifespan of the documented information on Nigerian culture and make cultural information resources available and easily accessible.

Findings of Research Question 5 showed that the commonly employed methods of preserving cultural heritage resources in the library according to the respondents are dusting and cleaning, security and fumigation. Dusting and cleaning helps to remove dirt and dust from the resources in the library. Adequate security, ensure that these priceless collections of our heritage are safe from theft. Fumigation helps to ward off biological factors such as rodents and molds that are harmful to the cultural heritage resources in the library. However, the findings also indicated that the library should improve lamination, use of vacuum cleaner, de-acidification and installation of air conditioners in cultural heritage resources space in the library. Most respondents believed that there is no need for lamination of the available cultural heritage resources in the library, they also made it known that there is no use for air-conditioner in cultural heritage resources space because the space is well ventilated. This contradicts the view of Nwalo, (2003) who recommended that air-conditioner should be installed in the library to check dust and its effect on library informational materials. Use of vacuum cleaner was also indicated not to be relevant because they believed that cleaning and dusting can do what vacuum cleaner does. Moreover it is more expensive than simple dusting and cleaning. On de-acidification, they also believed that it will be toxic and harmful to the cultural heritage resources in the library. Popoola, (2003) disagreed with this when, he maintained that acids eat up paper and other documents containing information materials in libraries if de-acidification measure is lacking.

The result however showed that the methods not employed are more than the ones employed in the library.

The result of Research Question 6 reveals the various problems militating against effective preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in the library. The findings concluded that the most prominent problems that the respondents believe could hamper the preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources are inadequate funding of libraries, ignorance and low level of awareness on cultural heritage resources and absence of preservation policy in library. This finding is not at variance with similar studies by Olatokun (2008), Anasi (2010) and Asogwa and Ezema (2012), and numerous others who indicated that inadequate funding is a major challenge to the preservation of library resources. Also, Anasi (2010), aligned with UNESCO (2004) by observing that ignorance and low level of awareness are areas to confront fundamentally when considering solutions to the problems of collection and preservation of cultural heritage information. Other barriers of note that the respondents believe exert impact to a lesser extent are lack of skilled and trained manpower in libraries, lack of protection of intellectual property rights of owners of some intangible cultural heritage resources, issues of taboo by the community that owns the cultural heritage resources. On issue of taboos, Dim and Osadebe (2009) agreed that people in rural communities believed that giving out their cultural heritages for preservation in the library will mean exposing it to the outside world which they believe will eventually leave them with nothing or commit one taboo or the other that will offend the gods.

Findings of Research Question 7 indicates that all the strategies of ameliorating the problems associated with preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in the library were accepted by the respondents. The respondents accepted that developing preservation policies and providing guidelines for preservation of cultural heritage resources, Librarians creating awareness of the cultural diversity and promoting ways for cultural heritage resources information for communities, organizing workshops, seminars and conferences regularly to train and retrain librarians to develop on knowledge and management of cultural heritage resources, Ministry of Education liaising with the National library of Nigeria, to ensure that libraries are adequately funded while librarians devise an innovative and creative sources for generating revenue internally to sustain the library, the library helping owners of cultural heritage resources to patent them to prevent the problem of intellectual property rights, Libraries collaborating with traditional rulers, elders, women organizations and cultural organizations for approval on appropriate information gathering and prevent the problem of taboos. These strategies were appropriate for ameliorating the problems associated with preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in the library. All this strategies highlighted were all in support of Anasi, Ibegwam & Oyediran-Tidings, (2013) who opined that the problems militating against effective preservation of cultural heritages calls for developing appropriate strategies to confront them.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The library should strive to include diverse cultural heritage resources of other tribes
2. The library should also try out bequeaths from individuals, exchanges with other cultural heritage institutions and meeting with key people in the community to get approval to collect cultural heritage resources. These are considerable and useful methods that can also be adopted to collect cultural heritage resources.
3. The library should also consider creating awareness of cultural heritage resources through heritage walk and heritage awards, since they have been proven to be reliable ways through which people become cognizant and enlightened about the inherent benefits of cultural heritage resources as well as the need for preservation and documentation for posterity.
4. The recordings should be uploaded to the Internet for easy access.
5. There is still need for the library to improve in using other methods of preservation such as lamination, installation of air conditioners in cultural heritage resources space in the library, use of vacuum cleaner and de-acidification.
6. The problems militating against effective preservation and documentation of cultural heritage resources in the library include lack of trained manpower to man the heritage resources.
7. The strategies pointed out by the respondents to ameliorate these problems should be adopted.

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