Search results

A study was conducted to find out the types of CD products in Nigerian libraries and information centres, and the uses to which they are being put. The study also tried to find out the sources of funding of such products, information about users, hardware configuration, and training facilities available in the country. Of the 157 questionnaires sent out, 85 usable returns (a 54% response rate) were received. The analysis revealed that 44 libraries had at least one PC with only nine of such centres having at least one CDROM workstation. There are 62 copies of 43 CD titles in Nigeria. Information on the discs is classified as bibliographic, full text, statistical, or general information. The subjects they cover in descending numeric order are agriculture, general reference, medicine, science and technology, social sciences, and education. Areas of applications include information retrieval, bibliographic compilations, current awareness services, library acquisition work, and downloading and uploading to local online databases. In general, CD use was minimal in most libraries as opposed to information centres where CD applications were well used by patrons, especially where the mass media was employed to advertise them. Most libraries funded their CD projects with their local budgets. The most frequently used computers are IBM or compatibles. Recommendations are also outlined.

Our survey of 728 questionnaires covered all types of libraries in the following countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. At the end of April 1997, this study identified 29 software packages from 22 per cent useable survey returns. The first set of off‐the‐shelf packages in the region has come a long way since 1982, when Musiker identified one or two such packages.

The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources and research and computer skills related to retrieving, using, and evaluating information. This review, the twenty‐first to be published in Reference Services Review, includes items in English published in 1994. A few are not annotated because the compiler could not obtain copies of them for this review.

Fresh catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is highly perishable. This paper aims to investigate the drying characteristics and quality of body-mass dehydrated catfish to determine the effective dehydration parameters for preservation.

Brine concentration (3-9 per cent), brining time (30-90 min) and drying temperature (90-130°C) interacted using the response surface methodology. Preliminary experiments were conducted to select treatments. Moisture content and ratio and drying rate were determined and fitted into five thin-layer drying models; the goodness of fit was evaluated by average grade ranking of the regression parameters. Proximate compositions and microbial load of dehydrated catfish were determined using standard methods.

Treatments with 110°C gave initial higher drying rate (0.034-0.043 kg H₂O/kg solid/h) and shorter drying time (20-21 h). Drying occurred at two falling rate periods. Midilli model ranked first in fitting the drying data. It explained up to 99.6-99.7 per cent of the total variations in the independent variables with low values of error terms; RMSE was 0.02131-0.01794 and χ² was 0.00037-0.00043, indicating good predictive quality. Processing parameters positively and significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the proximate compositions of dehydrated catfish. Treatment: 6 per cent brine, 90 min and 110°C presented the most effective dehydration parameters for quality preservation of body-mass catfish.

The dehydration technique used in this study could enhance nutritive quality and storage stability of body-mass dehydrated catfish that could serve as a useful and convenient tool for commercial application.

Hygienically processed dehydrated catfish of good quality could be used as a source of nutrients to ameliorate malnutrition and reduce post-harvest losses of catfish.

The effective processing parameters established is an important step to harness the high nutrients and economic values embedded in catfish.

The purpose of the article is to investigate readiness of academic librarians toward the use of robotic technologies in Nigerian university libraries. The article provides further insights on the following areas: •What are the levels of readiness of university libraries in Nigeria towards robotic technologies in terms of digital infrastructure, policy framework and human development for the adoption and use of robotics in the libraries? •What services are available in the university libraries that can be handled by robotic technologies? •Are academic librarians aware of the potential benefits of robotics in library operations? •What are the potential challenges that university libraries may face in the adoption and use of robotic technologies?

The study is a survey research anchored on positivism paradigm. The questionnaire was used as data collection instrument. Furthermore, 100 academic librarians were selected from the ten purposively selected ten universities. Snowballing sample technique was used to select ten academic librarians from each of the university libraries.

The findings of the study revealed that the readiness of university libraries in Nigeria towards the adoption and use of robotic technologies in Nigeria is nothing to write home about. It indicates that university libraries in the country are not ready to adopt the use of this technology despite the high benefits they have to offer in library operations.

The limitations of the study lay on the fact that very few librarians from each of the selected university libraries were selected; and at the same time, it covers only ten university libraries in the country.

The study is very important to university library management on the necessary steps that need to be taken for the effective adoption of robotic technologies. This research can be a guide to them. In addition, the empirical analysis of the study contributes to social informatics development in Nigeria.

The purpose of the study was to highlight the nutritive values and evaluate the safety level of beverages formulated from selected cereal filtrates in Nigeria.

The cereals that were used for the formulation of the beverages are: 100 percent white maize, 100 percent yellow maize, 50:50; white: yellow maize, and 100 percent sorghum bicolour. All the cereals were purchased from Odo-Ogbe market in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

The results showed that the level of the minerals present in the cereal filtrates ranged from 39.1 to 43.6; 236 to 303; 362.4 to 462; 23.6 to 68.3; 26 to 41.5; 0.66 to 2.37; and 0.5 to 2.2 mg/100 g for sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and manganese (Mn), respectively. Microbial load ranged from 2.0 to 3.0×10−3 cfug. Results of nutritional composition such as percentage moisture, protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash and crude fibre ranged from 91 to 93, 1.5 to 1.75, 0.03 to 0.040, 0.25 to 1, 1.48 to 1.70 and 3.33 to 5.31 g/100 g, respectively, while the energy value ranged between 66.60 and 75.56 kcal. The values obtained for vitamin C and thiamin ranged from 0.30 to 0.40 and 0.56 to 0.70 mg/100 g, respectively.

The micronutrients in the formulated beverages met the minimum recommended daily allowance and also possessed antimicrobial activities. However, the results showed that the proximate composition was high in water and low in other nutrients but still compared favourably with previous findings. It was concluded that the beverage produced from selected fermented cereal filtrates waste was safe and rich in micronutrients.