Enite A. Urhefe-Okotie, Victoria N. Okafor and Osaze Patrick Ijiekhuamhen
This study is aimed at comparing library services and job performances of personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria.
Abstract
Purpose
This study is aimed at comparing library services and job performances of personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a descriptive survey design using 107 personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria. The total enumeration sampling technique was used for this study. All 107 personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria were considered appropriate for this study. The instrument used to elicit data from the respondents was a self-designed questionnaire and oral interview, 103 respondents answered to the questionnaire.
Findings
Library services such as recreational services, community information services, career information services, information alert services, services to prisoners, mobile library services and adult literacy education programs are not carried out. The result also revealed that factors such as poor funding by government, insufficient staff strength, lack of interpersonal skills and untrained staff hinder adequate job performance of personnel. In the final analysis, the result from the study amongst others shows that there is no significant difference between the six states on the types of job performed in the different state public libraries in South-South Nigeria. Meanwhile, there is a significant difference between the extent of job performance of librarians and paraprofessional librarians in public libraries in South-South Nigeria.
Originality/value
To the best of the researchers' knowledge, this research is the first to ascertain library services and job performance of personnel in all public libraries in South-South Nigeria.
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Samuel Egbetokun, Evans Osabuohien, Temidayo Akinbobola, Olaronke Toyin Onanuga, Obindah Gershon and Victoria Okafor
Interaction between environmental pollution and economic growth determines the achievement of the green growth objective of developing economies. An economy turns around the…
Abstract
Purpose
Interaction between environmental pollution and economic growth determines the achievement of the green growth objective of developing economies. An economy turns around the inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) when pollution is effectively dampened by social, political and economic factors as such economy grows. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the EKC considering the impact of institutional quality on six variables of environmental pollution (carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), suspended particulate matters (SPM), rainfall, temperature and total greenhouse emission (TGH)) using the case of Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
The EKC model includes population density, education expenditure, foreign direct investment and gross domestic investment as control variables, and it was analysed using the autoregressive distribution lag (ARDL) econometric technique, which has not been applied in the literature on Nigeria.
Findings
The results, inter alia, indicate that there is EKC for CO2 and SPM. This implies that the green growth objective can be pursued in Nigeria with concerted efforts. Other environmental pollution indicators did not exert significant influence on economic growth.
Practical implications
Therefore, it is recommended that Nigeria’s institutional quality be strengthened to limit environmental pollution in light of economic growth.
Originality/value
Previous studies are yet to apply a more developed econometric method, like the ARDL, to estimate the EKC model for Nigeria. This study fills this observed knowledge gap.
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Scholastica Chizoma Ukwoma, Ngozi Eunice Osadebe, Victoria Nwamaka Okafor and Chinwe Nwogo Ezeani
This study aims to show that digital literacy can serve as a tool for effecting social change and highlights the achievements of an academic library in digital content creation…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to show that digital literacy can serve as a tool for effecting social change and highlights the achievements of an academic library in digital content creation using the Wikipedia platform.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted qualitative research method, Interview and document analysis were used for data gathering. Data gathered were analysed using content (conceptual) analysis.
Findings
Findings showed that the library has created or edited digital content for various categories of women, such as women in academia, industry and politics. These entries have received more than eight million views over a period of two years, which shows that the entries are being utilised. However, the editing exercise had been confronted with challenges such as accessing reliable citations in terms of the notability and verifiability policy of Wikipedia amongst others.
Practical implications
Currently, people rely more on online resources for their research, leaving physical library resources unused. Even, more students start their research online using Wikipedia. Thus, libraries could create visibility for their physical material using regularly visited sites like Wikipedia and its sister projects such as Wikidata; otherwise, these physical materials will remain invisible to the people that needed them.
Originality/value
Contributing to Wikipedia by creating a new entry or editing an existing one can help students to deepen their knowledge about a subject; Wikipedia editing may serve as an avenue for improving information literacy skills. Drawing from the theory of cyberfeminism as used in the study, information and communications technology has the potential to empower women and transform gender relations.
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Anthony Ikechukwu Obike, Wilfred Emori, Hitler Louis, Godwin Ifeanyi Ogbuehi, Paul Chukwuleke Okonkwo and Victoria Mfon Bassey
The purpose of this paper is to study the adsorption properties of a proven traditional medicine of West Africa origin, Alstonia boonei with an attempt to evaluate its application…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the adsorption properties of a proven traditional medicine of West Africa origin, Alstonia boonei with an attempt to evaluate its application in the corrosion protection of mild steel in 5 M H2SO4 and 5 M HCl.
Design/methodology/approach
Phytochemical screening and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis were used to characterize the methanolic extract of the plant. Gravimetry, gasometry and electrochemical techniques were used in the corrosion inhibition studies of the extract and computational studies were used to describe the electronic and adsorption properties of eugenol, the most abundant phytochemical in Alstonia boonei.
Findings
The extract acted as a mixed-type inhibitor in both acidic solutions, with improved inhibition efficiency achieved with increasing concentration. While the efficiency increased with temperature for the HCl system, it decreased for the H2SO4 system. The mechanism of adsorption proposed for Alstonia boonei was chemisorption in the HCl system and physisorption in the H2SO4 system, and the adsorptions obeyed Langmuir isotherm at low temperatures. Computational parameters showed that eugenol, being a representative of Alstonia boonei, possesses excellent adsorption properties and has the potential to compete with other established plant-based corrosion inhibitors.
Research limitations/implications
As opposed to pure compounds with distinctive corrosion effects, plant extracts are generally composed of a myriad of phytoconstituents that competitively promote or inhibit the corrosion process and their net effect is evident as inhibition efficiencies. This is, therefore, the main research limitation associated with the corrosion inhibition study of Alstonia boonei.
Originality/value
Being very rich in antioxidant properties by its proven curative and preventive effects for diseases, the interest was stimulated towards the attractive results that abound from its corrosion protection of metals via its anti-oxidation route.
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Mumbi Maria Wachira and David Mutua Mathuva
Over the last few decades, corporate environmental reporting (CER) has received substantial attention due to complex societal and ecological challenges experienced at a global…
Abstract
Over the last few decades, corporate environmental reporting (CER) has received substantial attention due to complex societal and ecological challenges experienced at a global scale. While there has been growth in CER research across the world, we know very little of the state of CER research in Africa. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive literature review of CER in sub-Saharan Africa to demonstrate its current state, uncover gaps in extant studies and identify areas for further research in the region. We perform a metasearch on the Financial Times Top 50 journals in addition to wider analyses using African Journals Online (AJOL) and Google Scholar between 2008 and 2020. Though there is some progress in interrogating CER in the region, there is much leeway for further research into how public and private corporations provide an account for their interaction with nature. Extant studies have examined how CER is often subsumed within corporate social responsibility initiatives while other studies explore ways in which CER can provide accountability mechanisms in the mining sector of select countries. Important areas of future research include the influences of legal, cultural and political systems on the level of CER, the tensions between economic development driven by multinational corporations and the necessity for ecological protection. Finally, further research could investigate the role CER can play in encouraging specific corporate disclosures around GHG emissions, especially given global efforts being undertaken to mitigate the effects of climate change.
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Esther Oluwatayo, Evans Osabuohien, Victoria Okafor and Romanus Osabohien
Digital technologies have become significant as organisations, including financial institutions, attempt to adopt enhanced and more efficient approach for service provisions to…
Abstract
Digital technologies have become significant as organisations, including financial institutions, attempt to adopt enhanced and more efficient approach for service provisions to customers. Despite the obvious shift to digitalised methods of service delivery, some financial institutions argued that though digitisation may increase financial efficiency and profitability, it also poses new risks and potential threats with significantly unanticipated side effects, especially, with respect to employment. Against this background, this study examined how the following cashless policy instruments: Mobile banking, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) and Point of Sale (POS) Terminal, influence financial transactions in Lagos, Nigeria; using Zenith Bank PLC as a case study. Structured Questionnaire was administered to 100 Zenith bank customers. The study applied the logit regression method and findings showed that 54% respondents use mobile banking daily, 39% respondents use ATM daily, 25% respondents use POS daily. On an overall scale, mobile banking is widely used and mostly preferred. Also, results showed that while POS has a significant relationship with financial transactions, Mobile banking, and ATM both have an insignificant relationship. Results from the study encourage the management of CBN to create more awareness of these instruments, and likely increase the number of these instruments.
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Victoria Okafor, Ogechi Adeola and Afam Ituma
The Igbos are renowned for their success in business. This chapter traced the pre-colonial and post-colonial innovations among the Igbos to highlight salient factors that could be…
Abstract
The Igbos are renowned for their success in business. This chapter traced the pre-colonial and post-colonial innovations among the Igbos to highlight salient factors that could be responsible for their outstanding success in recent times. In the pre-colonial era, the Igbos made their livelihood through vocations such as blacksmithing, traditional medicine, farming, pot moulding, hunting, food preservation, and textiles, especially in cloth weaving. The post-colonial period which witnessed the Nigerian civil war, led to a disruption of their entire business structure. However, through the principles of apprenticeship and hard work, ingredients of success in the pre-colonial years, the Igbos were able to rebuild their business structure and became renowned for their success. They retained some of their pre-colonial crafts such as cloth weaving of which the Akwete fabric is a good example and has gained both national and international prominence in recent times. The chapter presented the case of the Akwete Weaving Centre of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AE-FUNAI), established to promote cultural heritage and enhance the entrepreneurial skills of students in the craft through modern apprenticeship. The chapter made recommendations on ways to enhance the Akwete Weaving industry and effectively harness its potentials.
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This paper aims to provide a bibliometric study of journal articles related to institutional repositories in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) between January 1993 and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a bibliometric study of journal articles related to institutional repositories in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) between January 1993 and August 2017. This study will provide researchers with a foundation for further research.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, articles published were analyzed; titles were searched using the term “institutional repositories.” The data were evaluated in response to four research questions on the following topics: publication trends, prolific authors, core journals and times cited.
Findings
The results indicate that 124 articles on institutional repositories were authored by 223 individuals. These articles were cited 722 times in 37 journals, and the h-index provided by the Web of Science was 14.
Research limitations/implications
This study only investigated articles titled with institutional repositories in the SSCI. Other items were not included.
Practical implications
This study shows that the implementation of institutional repositories has been limited to library and information science. If they can be used broadly in different disciplines, a better outcome can be expected.
Social implications
Based on the findings, the growth of institutional repositories as an academic subject is likely to continue. If such discussions can be conducted in other disciplines, institutional repositories may be able to provide a more promising outcome to academia.
Originality/value
This paper is valuable for researchers who wish to examine the trends of institutional repositories in the SSCI and seek possible areas for further research.
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Vincent Onyemah and Martha Rivera-Pesquera
This chapter compares and contrasts the application of cognitive ambidexterity by women entrepreneurs in Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, and the United States of America. It focuses on…
Abstract
This chapter compares and contrasts the application of cognitive ambidexterity by women entrepreneurs in Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, and the United States of America. It focuses on how women entrepreneurs exhibit entrepreneurial leadership during first customer acquisitions. Analysis of interview data showed that the reasons for venture creation, the choice of venture, and the environmental context faced by women entrepreneurs influence the relative emphasis placed on prediction logic and creation logic. While women entrepreneurs in Kenya, Mexico, and Nigeria thrive with creation logic, those in the USA place more emphasis on prediction logic but cycle between both logics to enhance selling to early customers.
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Annisa Abubakar Lahjie, Riccardo Natoli and Segu Zuhair
This study aims to examine the influence of corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firm value while accounting for the impact of information…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the influence of corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firm value while accounting for the impact of information asymmetry.
Design/methodology/approach
This empirical analysis is based on 1,079 observations from 83 listed Indonesian firms for the period 2007–2019. The authors applied simultaneous equation models with ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares.
Findings
The authors present empirical evidence of CG mechanisms that significantly contribute to low levels of CSR. Moreover, the authors identify a significant impact of information asymmetry on the relationship between CG, CSR and firm value.
Research limitations/implications
The results show that information asymmetry, CG and CSR do not necessarily result in improved firm value across boards. Moreover, the employment of a nonlinear Cobb–Douglas-type function indicated diminishing marginal returns.
Practical implications
The findings can help policymakers in developing countries in improving the monitoring and supervisory roles of CG mechanisms to provide more support to CSR, increasing regulatory pressures for improved CSR performance and reducing information asymmetry by adopting a standardized CSR reporting scheme.
Social implications
The suggested implications can contribute to more sustainable practices among Indonesian-listed firms as well as improving relationships with consumers and stakeholders toward the practice of CSR.
Originality/value
The adoption of a comprehensive CSR measurement tool to examine the value of CSR contributes to the extant literature, along with examining the impact of information asymmetry on the relationship between CG, CSR and firm value in a developing country context.