The new look Cross River State Library.
By Ogar Emmanuel Oko
To eat an elephant, first start from the ear— Yala proverb.
To hunt an elephant, firstly, learn how to catch rats. This is what Ayade and Ivara failed to understand.
The penultimate administration was manned by two erudite and ebullient scholars — both are professors of soil science and environmental microbiologist. Prof. Ivara Esu was at a time, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar. Prof. Ben Ayade didn’t toil in the academy like his deputy. But, they’re well-known. Sadly, under their watch, the state library became a soft ground for rodents to burrow.
Thank God the current administration has restored its lost glory. The glory is glowing. Governor of Cross River State, Prince Bassey Otu deserves accolades, however, beyond the aesthetic, a modern library should have traditional library functions and digital technology.
On that note, we believe the remodeled library should provide the following: digital resources like e-books, e-journals, audiobooks, videos, databases, open access and subscription-based content.
Feature like online access like user-friendly websites, mobile apps, advanced search engines and filters, metadata and indexing for efficient retrieval.
Modern libraries use integrated library management system (ILMS) for automated cataloguing and users management.
Hopefully, there’s cloud computing and storage features in the library. Finally, security and access control are important. Without the aforementioned features, the beauty of the library in question is in vain.
Comrade Oko is a Social Critic and Activist. He writes from Calabar.