Brief History

The Department of Library and information science accepted its first students in 1968. It was the second library school to be established in Nigeria and the first to offer the Bachelor of Library science as its basic professional programme. The Bachelor of Library science (BLS) is a single honour degree programme in Library science which hitherto used to last for three years and includes the study of two other subjects at subsidiary level. However, with the introduction of the Course Credit System (CSS) in 1988/89 the Bachelor of Library science (BLS) programme was modified to fit into the new system which is now a four year degree programme in line with the new National Policy on education in regard to the 6-3-3-4 system. Students whose entry qualifications require that they complete the programme in three years are admitted in the second year (200 level) of the 4-year BLS programme. This category includes those with NCE/IJMB/A-level and Diploma results. All candidates with GCE/0-level and WASC with UME are accommodated at 100 level. Apart from the various Library science courses, students are expected to register in ONE academic subject area outside the Faculty of education in which they have demonstrated competency in their NCE/A-level results. Diploma holders are admitted at 200 level and are also expected to register for ONE subject that they can pursue in any of the following programmes within the university; Social sciences, Art and Humanities, Science and or Applied sciences. This is inline with the goals of the department in training students who can cope competently and confidently and under any situation with resources and services in libraries and information centres in atleast ONE particular discipline of knowledge.
The Department currently offers three Masters Degrees in Library Science, Information Science and Archives and Records Management respectively. It runs a single PhD degree programme in Library Science. The master degree in Library Science started in 1975/76 session while the Master Degrees Information Science and Archives and Records Management commenced in the 2008/09 academic session. The PhD programme was started in 1983/84 academic session. Both programmes i.e. Bachelor, Master and the PhD are run in accordance with the Course Credit System (CSS).
The evolution of information profession in to realm of information technology necessitated a change in nomenclature of the department and consequently, the restructure of the entire programmes in the department. This was approved by the Faculty Board of education, the Senate and NUC and in 1989 the department was changed to Library and Information Science, with the degree awarded also changed to Bachelor of Library and Information Science (BLIS).
In line with the NUC directive to Nigerian universities the Diploma programmeme in the department was scrapped in 1993 along with other diploma programmemes run by the university. In 2004/2005 and 2007/2908 respectively the department introduced a Postgraduate Diploma in Information Management and a professional master degree in Information Management to cater for graduates of other disciplines wishing to come in to Librarianship and Information work. In due course the department may soon start a master degree in Publishing and Book Trade. The department, which started with 9 students, has a total number of over Five hundred students today.

Philosophy

The philosophy of the training provided by the Department is to impart basic knowledge and skills of library and information work to students while focusing on the needs of the society and technology use in acquiring, organizing, preserving, and disseminating information. To achieve its objectives the department recognizes that students require understanding and skills of other disciplines hence made it compulsory for students to take courses from other disciplines outside the department. This is to widen the horizon of the students to be independent thinkers and to be able cope with the challenges in the society. The Department has also introduced courses with I.C.T components so that students can be technology compliant in line with the modern trends in library and information work.

Registration Guidelines

The starting point of the student's registration is the Department. Here, new students meet the Departmental Registration Officer who screens their academic credentials before releasing their admission letters; which are issued and signed by the Academic Secretary of the University. The Registration Officer also issues the student with his/her matriculation number. Upon receipt of the letter and Matriculation number a student should proceed to the bank to pay his fees. After paying the necessary fees, the student waits for 24 hours before his transaction entered the university record. After the waiting he then accesses the university Web site to do the course registration. On the web he filled three forms as follows
1) Payment details form,
2) Student Information Form, and
3) Course Registration form.
The student will print the forms and bring to the Departmental Registration Officer who after checking the entries will sign the course registration form to certify that the registration has met the requirement of the department. The faculty and academic secretary also conduct screening and registration for fresh students. All returning students must also register at the beginning of each session to update their records and to pay their fees. At the beginning of the second semester students are not expected to register on return but can do add and drop of the courses they want to drop or pick in the semester. The Faculty, the Department and the Academic office have to be notified when a student add or drop a course. After Add/Drop Registration exercise, no further registration is allowed within a Semester.

Academic Programmes