NLN develops National Repository to salvage, preserve information resources

The National Librarian/CEO of the National Library of Nigeria (NLN), Prof Chinwe Veronica Anunobi, has said as a result of their activities on digitization, the library has developed the National Repository of Nigeria (NRN).

The NRN is about 70 per cent complete, with the hope of achieving completion and commissioning for public use by November 2022.

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Prof. Anunobi, who stated this while briefing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday on some of the reforms she brought in last year, said they embraced digitization and development of the National Repository of Nigeria to salvage and preserve information resources that have weakened and deteriorated over the last 57 years of the library’s existence.

“We engaged in the digitization of this weak heritage with the aim of preservation, increased availability and wider accessibility, leveraging on information and communication technology,” she said.

According to her, the NRN houses in electronic form, all Nigerian heritage that has been deposited from inception to date by authors, printers or publishers, in compliance with the legal deposit law and will be accessible by every Nigerian and beyond, regardless of status, qualification, or location.

“In leveraging technology, we have designed and developed a virtual library that is fully ready for deployment. The virtual library will provide the reading public anywhere in the world, access to our operations and services.

“This effort will enhance visibility and use of the rich National Library heritage as well as globalise our operations,” she said.

She noted that they are yet to meet the growing and evolving diversity of library information resources with their limited resources, which has constrained them to limit acquisition to print monographs.

She said they are exploring a collaborative window with the TETFund for subscriptions to online databases that will help enrich their collections for teaching, learning and research.

The national librarian, however, noted that indigenous languages are fast declining and disappearing, and that NLN has made moves to halt and reverse the trend, saying this was motivated by the realisation that there is a paucity of literature in indigenous languages.