Digital Preservation Strategies for Long-Term Accessibility of Collections in Academic Libraries in North-Central, Nigeria

The study investigated the digital preservation strategies for long-term accessibility of the collections in academic libraries in North-central, Nigeria. Three research objectives guided the study. The study adopted survey research design. The population of the study was 400 librarians in university libraries in North-central, Nigeria. The sample size of the study stood at 136. Multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted to stratify the university into Federal, State and Private universities. Questionnaire and observation checklist served as instruments for data collection. The data collected for this study was analysed with the use of descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistical tools in form of percentages, frequency, mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions. The findings of the study revealed among others that storage media used to preserve digital collections in academic libraries in North-central, Nigeria was high with the highest mean score of 3.13 on the library use computers in the preservation of digital collections. In conclusion, the study shed light on the digital preservation strategies employed by university libraries in North-central, Nigeria, and offers valuable insights for ensuring long-term access to digital collections. The study made recommendation based on the findings which include: the management of university libraries in North-central, Nigeria should provide adequate digital collections such as e-newspapers, research data, e-seminar papers, e-theses and dissertations and e-magazines in order to enhance access to digital resources by users timely and remotely. This increases the library’s reach and supports research and learning, allocate adequate funding for digital preservation initiatives and provide regular monitoring and evaluation of digital preservation strategies necessary to ensure their effectiveness.