Globalization, information revolution and Higher Education in Nigeria: The challenging roles of library professionals

Abstract

The influence of globalization and information revolution on higher education in Nigeria was investigated through the authors’ structured questionnaire. The design of the study was descriptive survey. Fifty-three professional librarians from Nnamdi Azikiwe Library University of Nigeria Nsukka, lecturers from Department of Library and Information Science University of Nigeria, Nsukka and librarians in Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) library were surveyed. The instruments for data collection were questionnaires and observation. Findings from the investigation reveal that globalization and information revolution have positively impacted on higher education in Nigeria in terms of access to information, collaboration and contact among faculty members, better and faster scholarly communication among researchers as well as students throughout the world. The implication of these revelation is that professional librarians in this environment should try to embrace these new technologies through retraining, retooling and then adopt new strategies which would improve information services delivery that would meet international best practices. Key words: Globalization, information revolution, higher education, libraries, librarians information professionals, Nigeria.