An Assessment of Academic Librarians’ Knowledge about Resource Description and Access (RDA) in Selected States in South-western Nigeria

This study investigated the knowledge of academic librarians about Resource Description and Access in selected states in South-western Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research design method using the descriptive approach. A purposive sampling technique was used in determining the sample size while total enumeration of the sample was used. One hundred and thirty-two copies of the questionnaire were administered out of which 90 (68.2%) were retrieved and certified to be valid for the analysis. The data of the study was collected with a structured questionnaire and interview designed by the researchers. Frequency counts and percentages were carried out using SPSS. The findings from the study revealed that the majority of academic librarians were aware of Resource Description and Access but were not familiar with RDA concepts, rules and vocabulary. It was therefore recommended that academic librarians should always visit the Joint Steering Committee for the development of the RDA (JSC) website for updates on RDA, they should also in addition, subscribe to the RDA online toolkit to familiarize themselves with RDA concepts, rules and vocabulary since it is free. Moreover, the umbrella bodies of information professionals in Nigeria such as the Nigeria Library Association, the Society for Information Science and Technology of Nigeria and the Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria should embark on workshops, conferences, seminars and other training programmes for library professionals to have broad knowledge of RDA.