ABSTRACT

There has been observed, an upward trend in the publication efforts of librarians and a perplexing unavailability ofthe same publications in academic libraries. Against this background, this study was carried out to determine the publications output oflibrarians in South East Nigeria between 2002 and 2012 and also to determine the extent ofavailability ofthe publications in selected academic libraries in South East Nigeria. Eight specific objectives and research questions and seven null hypotheses were raised to guide the study. The null hypotheses were tested at 0.5 level ofsignificance, using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression Analysis. The study tested for relationship between size, types, physical quality, scope, currency and relevance of the publications and the extent of availability ofthe Library and Information Science publications in selected libraries in South East Nigeria. The instruments for data collection were the researcher developed questionnaire, a check list and an observation score card. The questionnaire was validated by experts three (3) in the fields of LIS, Educational statistics (Test and Measurement) and Educational Research. The reliability was obtained using the Cronbach Alpha statistical technique and an index of .76 was determined. In the review of related literature, S.R Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science, Claude Shannon’s Information theory, Shannon-Weaver Communication theory and the concept of feed back as well as the sub-constructs of the independent variable and several related empirical literature were reviewed. The population of the study comprised 400 librarians. All the population was totally enumerated for the study. The results indicated non-significant and low significant relationships between the indices ofLIS publications and the extent oftheir availability in the selected libraries. The findings further revealed that the size of the LIS publications outlets of librarians in South East Nigeria is 146 titles, while the extent of availability is ofthe LIS publications is low at 12.8%. Based on the results, it is recommended that management of academic institutions and libraries should exploit strategies to collect the publications output oflibrarians in their employ. This will not only enhance the extent of availability ofthe publications in the relevant libraries, but also enhance the research visibility status of and robust bibliographic base of the institutions and libraries.