TECHNICAL SERVICE IN LIBRARIANSHIP

Introduction

          Without any doubt, all the scholars in library and information science profession have agreed and concluded that technical service department of any library can be regarded as independent and dependent center which other department make their survival i.e The technical department is usually called behind the scene due to its important to all other departments, functions it perform in the library and the technicality it involves.

          Therefore, Technical service department in academic library especially the University of Ilorin, Library could be used to demonstrate how TSD is central to day to day operation of a library in relation to the work or topic of investigation.  According to Issa, (2003), He postulated that the Library is a social instrument created to form a link in a communication system that is essentials to any society or culture. So, it can be deduced from this definition that technical service department creates a link and a communication system that is very essential and central to the other departments in the library, for it due functions to the university community.

          Furthermore, the technical service department of university of Ilorin library has four (4) units which make all other departments rally round it for their operations.  These units include cataloguing and classification, Acquisition, serials, Binding units.  All these units make a library especially university of Ilorin, library due to the fact that the library cannot effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily provide the needs of the community it serve without being relying and take it to cognizance the importance of these units.

Haven described the library has been described as a subordinate to education enhancement and development institution that is charged with the responsibility of collecting, preserving and disseminating information to their users without an iota of doubt, the technical Service Department of any Library can be said to be central to the day to day operation of the library is a department upon which we can say other departments depend. The Technical Service Department generally sees to the processing and maintenance of a library’s physical collection which include the identification, selection, ordering, acquisition, organization and preparation. All these functions are explained thus:

Identification: This is the locating potentially worldwide items to be added to the existing collection of a library. 

Selection: Deciding which of the identified items to be added to the existing collection of a library.

Order: Ordering is the function of the technical service which is the request for the supply of the selected Library materials by recognized publishers.

Organization: Indexing and Cataloguing the items acquired in a manner that will assist the end users to locate the materials in the recollection

Preparation: Preparation has to do with the spine labeling of the information materials to allow for easy retrieval.

Technical Service may Maintenance of online catalogue and Creation and maintenance of MARC Record in the catalogue, labeling, covering, securing processing and or destruction of material.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Cataloguing and Classification Unit

          Cataloguing and classification unit is a unit in technical department that see to the cataloguing and classification of any information materials the library possess this unit is usually headed by professionals at least with master degree in library and information science and having many subordinates answerable to him/her in an ideal situation.  Therefore cataloguing is a central operation in the day to day activity  in university of Ilorin library base on the fact that catalogue in library is a list of books and other reading Information  materials in the holding of a library or a group of libraries.  This list contains entries of books, arranged according to some definite plan; it also a list which records, describes and indexes the resources of a collection, a library or group of library or group of libraries in a locality or country.  However Olanipekun and Ifabiyi (2003) in their article title the organization of library they opined that Technical unit “is the heart of the library such that without the card catalogue, the book or information materials in the library collection will not accessible to users’ i.e catalogue help the users to identify information materials which the library has. Moreover, classification could be seen as a process of sorting library materials in to groups according likeness or unlikeness.  In other words it entails all the activities involved in arranging library materials by dividing them into different groups or class according to their similarities.  Wynar (1967) opined that classification is arrangement of library materials according to some system.  It’s observed that books in library can be categories or classifies in many ways, however, the most logical and widely used method of classifying books and other library materials is by their subjects.  Subjects’ classification leads that all books on the same subject will be placed together in one section of the library and books on related subject will be on the same shelves by.  Those who use the library will find this type of arrangement the most convenient and useful because they do not have to look for several places for their needed materials.

          More importantly, Charles  Ammi Cutter in 1876 described how classification and library catalogue regarded as central of day today operation of university of Ilorin, library:  He postulated that.

1.       To enable a person to find a book of which

(a)      The author

(b)     The title, or is known

(c)      The subject

2.       To show what library has

(a)      By a given author

(b)     On a given subject

(c)      In a given kind of literature or form of materials However, it serves as a finding list for groups of documents.

3.       To assist in the choice of a book

(a)      As to its edition (bibliographically)

(b)     As to its character (library or topical)

          This simply explains the role of library catalogue in the choice of document by providing enough information about its distinctive features.

          In addition, Salman A.A (2006) described (7) seven functions on how library catalogue as a unit under technical service department is central to the day today operation of university of Ilorin library.

i.        To record each work in a library by author, translator, editor, illustrator, and commentator or by any other person, body or name under which a reader might look and which must be desirable for a particular library.

ii.       To employ cross reference by which a reader may be guided from one entry in the catalogue to another.

iii.      To provide a description of each book by giving title, imprint, and collation, also notes when necessary.

iv.      To list the call numbers by which materials could be located or obtained

v.       To arranged subject entries that the like topics will fall together and related topics will be correlated.

vi.      To arrange author entries in such a way that all the works of one writer will be found together under the same name, a procedure that makes it possible for readers to find a specific work or to survey the literary output of an author as represented in the library.

vii.     To record each work in the library, and even parts of a work under the subject of which it treats.

          Thus, It’s clear and obvious that cataloguing and classification unit under technical department of university of Ilorin library is central to day today operation  of  other departments because, it spelt out that no meaningful operations and activities can be happened in the library without being taking into consideration or without being processed in the technical department of the library.

          This is so, because, the reference unit, circulation unit and the rest cannot perform or make any impact in the library without the cataloguing and classification unit operation.

          Also, it is also deduced that no users of university of Ilorin, library can locate, access and make use of any materials in any departments without the operation and work of classification and cataloguing unit under technical department of the library.

ACQUISITION

          Acquisition is another unit under technical department of university of Ilorin, library.  This unit is under close door i.e the officials or Librarians here work behind scene and dictate the pace of the library operations and functions.  Acquisition librarian most be professional, highly experienced with at least masters degree in library and information sciences who arm to teeth in the profession.

          More importantly, the acquisition unit dictate the wheel of library because, the unit responsible for the acquiring of any information materials (resources) be it books or non-books material and printed or non-printed materials.

          According to Clarks, (1999) He said “Acquisition generally applies to the function of obtaining the library materials which make up a library collection. Moreover, Mark Stone (2006) defined Acquisition as a process of securing materials for the library’s collection, this may be through purchase, gifts, exchange endowment and legal deposit the process of acquisition has to do with obtaining these materials subsequent to their selection.

          More importantly, there are 6 methods according to Aliyu M.B, (2003) in her article called collection development in libraries, which include:

·        Direct purchase

·        Exchange

·        Gift/ donations

·        Legal deposit

·        Subscription

          All the aforementioned methods of acquiring materials to the library is very technical indeed because, in the market there are publication explosion  where by the acquisition librarian need to very aware in procuring the needed information materials into the library.  So, the technicality in gift acceptance of method of acquiring materials to the library, the acquisition librarian should make careful selection when taking gifts so as to eliminate dead woods, i.e materials not relevant to the needs of the library.

          In addition, acquisition activities which must handle and carefully done in order to bring about the needed information materials to the door step of users.  This activities include ordering for materials, checking for ordering slip, coalition of  selected materials for purchase, which at are all pre-acquisition process is the post acquisition process include checking for fault materials through scanning of the materials checking for the volume, the number of copies order for and the amount of the materials.  It’s important that, these materials must be process so as make it available for use i.e stamping given of accession number, preparing it for classification and cataloguing e.t.c.

          In conclusion, Issa, (2012) in his lesson not presented for students of library and information science boo level at university of Ilorin, he said technicality begins in acquisition” i.e the technical service department in the university of Ilorin, library.

SERIAL UNIT

This is another unit in technical departmental that central to the operation of the day to day activities of the university of Ilorin library.  In acquiring serials materials to the library, subscription is major way through which serials materials could be gotten and this serials resources like dailies, research paper, memories, conference preceding journals, newsletter, all the serials are very sensitive to the library in such a way that, serials librarian need to be knowledge on and how to make this materials available for any patrons that need it especially the academics professional who attaches important to the serials resource for research work.

Therefore, serials and periodicals are always use interchangeably to refer to materials in print (monographs) or non-print (microforms) formats that are produced serially or periodically: According to Adedeji (1984) serial is used inter-changeably in every day conversation to means magazines, journals, or any publication of that nature.  Serials in essence include journals, magazines, newspapers, bulletins news-letters, memoirs, proceedings of learn societies and professional bodies.  The serials published daily weakly monthly, quarterly, annually usually with volume number, issue number including month and year of publication.

In addition, serials unit of university of Ilorin, library performs tedious work known as technicality which makes it central in the operation of the day to day of activities of the library.

In conclusion, the following are reasons while serials unit is a central operation under technical department

-        It costs lesser than books.

-        They provide the text in a discipline

-        They have archival value

          It can be deduced from the above that the serials unit is an important unit under technical department because, librarian in serial unit deal with professional and specialized various discipline who are to using the serials materials for their professional activities.

BINDING UNIT

          This is a unit under technical department of university of Ilorin, library where the wear and tear material are bend i.e the unit design for conservation and preservation of newly acquire resources and the resources that need to be conserve for further years.  Thought the unit needs professional hands that can make materials durable for use and repackaging already mutilated one.

Therefore, Issa (2012) in a Technical Service lecture to 300 level students of the University of Ilorin opined that weeding is part of technical department of any library with view that, weeding is tedious work that need expert, highly skill profession and experience librarian who have knowledge of what library entails and know why library must always remain a living organism rather than dead soul.  So, weeding is highly technical because, librarian must put in place and mind all the necessary reason for weeding and this can be done by experience librarian therefore, with all and done if can justify that technical department is truly  a central operation of the day to day of the activities of the University of Ilorin library.

In summary the Technical Service Department is therefore central to the day today activities of any library because:

1.       It strengthens other departments in the library to perform expected functions of information delivery services. This is because it’s from the technical department that decision of what materials to acquired, how materials would be acquired and why materials should be acquired are taken.

2.       Even though both the Technical departments and other departments in the library work towards achieving the same goal of providing information service to the community it serves, the technical department serves as the bedrock of the information to be provided to users as these information materials require processing before they are forwarded to other departments for proper provision for their clients.

3.       For the fact that whatever requires technicality demands skillful minded people, the technical service department is therefore central to the day to day activities of every library as it brings together pull of professional skilled librarians to achieve its aim of making these required information materials ready for dissemination and use.

4.       The Technical department as a result of its indispensable functions in the library system, it therefore dictates the pace of performance of the other departments function. What we mean in this sense is that it’s this department that takes charges of selection, order, acquisition, shelving, weeding, record keeping and filing of catalogue cards. Therefore, all these processes have to be taken before other departments can take up their own functions. With this the technical service dictates the space at which other departments function.

·        The technical department contributes to the profiles of other library departments. This is because whatever achievement other departments are able to make would be as a result of the perfect preparation of technical department. Thus the technical department becomes the

·        It facilitates the growing nature of an organism as opined by Raganatan in the law of the library that “the Library is a growing organism”.

In conclusion, the technical department of the library is therefore central to the day to day activities of any library because for any library to function well in any community it has to take proper care of its Technical Department in ensuring that the required professionals’ minds that are needed to drive activities of the department are provided. The Technical Department is just like a tool in the hands of a farmer who devoted to feeding its nation.

REFERENCE

Adedeji (1984) “Serials and Library”, E. Mathus, Jide Publisher, pg. 66.

Aliyu, M. B. (2003) “Collection Development in Libraries”, Dee Root Publisher, Offa, pg. 23.

Clarks, D (1999) “Acquisition, the Role of Library”, London, Kinth Publisher.

Issa, A. O. (2003) “Beginners Text in Librarianship”, Wumi Publishers, Offa, pg. 62

Mark Stone (2006) “Education in Librarianship Berlin”, Thermolen Publishing Limited pg. 18.

Olanipekun and Ifabiyi (2003) “Organization of Library”, Dee Root Publishers, Offa, pg. 2

Salman, A. A (2006) “The Basis in Library and Information Science”, Dee Root, Publisher, Offa, Pg. 34

Wynar, E. (1967) “The Management of Library Resources”, Chicago, Eden Publishers, pg. 38