Problems In Managing Government Publications In scholastic Libraries In Sierra Leone

Introduction

In Sierra Leone the terms 'official publications', official documents', and 'public documents' are synonymous with government publications. Government publications, naturally put, are documents created by government and local and quasi-government bodies explaining and integrating views and polices. They report the historical and current development authorities of government and supply data on a wide range of subjects to include Political Science, Economics, Finance, Statistics, Labor, Industry, History, International Relations, Agriculture, Geology and Meteorology. Katz (1997) classed these publications into: (1) records of government supervision (2).research documents for specialists together with a indispensable whole of statistics and data of value to science and business (3).popular sources of information. Their physical form being whether a book, pamphlet, magazine, report monograph or electronic, especially Cd-Rom (p.387).

Bibliographic operate in many parts of the world is seemingly unsatisfactory due largely to lack of awareness of the significance of bibliographic tools in explore in government publications. The United States of America, for example, was for a long time a pioneer in this field. As far back as 1895 the Printing Act of January 12 of that year (28 statute, 601-624) not only established centralized printing and distribution of federal documents but also instructed the Superintendent of Documents to supply thorough tools for bibliographic operate of the documents published. Great Britain is an excellent exception for as far back as 1807 collections of parliamentary papers were printed. Countries such as Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Germany and Japan began separating government document bibliographies mainly in the 1920s and 1930s (Palic,1975). Any way a great need for the use of government publications was felt following World War 11 (1939-1945), when there was an increased interest in the authoritative data contained in such publications as posited by child's (1942) in his initial notes that 'more and more the significance of government documentation is being recognized despite the refractory nature of some of these materials'

In parallel the emphasis made on the usefulness of government publications in Sierra Leone is related with the development of printing which can be traced as far back as the founding of the Colony of Sierra Leone in 1787. Although the industry didn't survive the French attack of 1794 the foundation stone of what later became known as the Government Printing department was laid in 1925 when it was charged with the production of small notices for official use. Currently the department prints all government publications and supplies stationery and office tool of government departments. It also undertakes a fair whole of industrial printing as income generating measures.

Government publications ordinarily have the advantage of being among the best in their subject fields often not categorically available to others (Smith, 1993). In lieu of the extent and complexity of government activities there is a need for the comprehensive dissemination of data about these activities and for favorite integration of government policy. No wonder why government publications have extra value to schoraly library collections and their authority is permanent. In schoraly libraries in Sierra Leone these publications are put aside into a extra range manned by a curator as at Fourah Bay College Library. Some are kept in vertical files; others are placed in pamphlet boxes, while those like maps and surveys are given specialized storage. These publications are acquired mainly by purchase, deposit, donation, transfer and photocopying. The Government Printing department is responsible for their publication

Divisions Of Government And Their Publications

The expansion of government in Sierra Leone's post-war reconstruction era at local, national and international levels has resulted in expanding her affect on the life of the citizenry. Simultaneously with this expansion is the proliferation of official and semi official agencies, commissions and bureaus which continue to release works such as directories, regulations, reports, bills, Acts and technical literature which many a researchers, educators, communal service functionaries, welfare recipients and the unemployed can not do without reference to such publications. Since librarians serve as interface between users and government they have for long recognized the problems which such a plethora of range can pose and have been making sizable strides to address the issue. The essence here is to supply systematic controls to avoid the disappearance, into oblivion, of indispensable official publications.

In Sierra Leone government publications fall within three normal classes: Executive, Legislative ands Judicial. The menagerial publications include those issued by the Offices of the President and the Vice President, and discrete independent offices and establishments such as National Commission for communal action (NaCsa), National income Authority (Nra), Anti Corruption Commission (Acc), National Commission for Privatization (Ncp) and the Office of the Ombudsman. Also included are government ministries such as the Ministries of defense; Education, Youth and Sports; Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation; Tourism and Cultural Affairs; Local Government and community Development; Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security; Trade and Industry; Internal Affairs; labor and industrial Relations; and development and Economic Planning.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry, for example, is responsible for both internal and international trade and the promotion of exports. It has powers over customs and excise, tariffs, insurance, patents, trademarks, standards, weights and measures. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is responsible for Sierra Leone's relationship with foreign and Commonwealth countries while the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food protection is responsible for administrating government procedure on agriculture, horticulture and food security. This Ministry offers practical advice to farmers, industrial producers of horticultural crops and research.The Ministry of Internal Affairs deals with the maintenance of law and order, the Police and Fire Forces, supervision of the prisons and the treatment of offenders. Other miscellaneous matters dealt with by this ministry include explosives, firearms, hazardous drugs, prisons, shops, communal safety, entertainment, cremation, bylaws and good rule and formal business. The aforementioned functions and similar ones carried out by other ministries need the creation and maintenance of publications. There is also documentation of press briefings given by the discrete heads of ministries and newsletters, which are channels for respective ministries there-by making them more public-relations conscious.

Legislative publications include the records and debates of Parliament and the reports of hearings of the discrete Parliamentary Committees. Included here also are multiple procedure statements in reply to parliamentary questions. The Hansard is an additional one rich source for communal matters as it provides official data and views about parliamentary debates.

Publications from the Judiciary subject of government consist mostly of reports of government decisions by the Magistrate, Appeals and supreme Courts. Found in this arm of government are law books, 'annual registers', state trials and rulings, the constitution, international treaties, protocols, peace accords, Acts, bills and digests of local newspapers. These publications supply the judiciary with pertinent data on multifarious legal matters. Such data is required to be factual and politically impartial.

The City and District Councils, being quasi-government institutions, supply documents classified as government publications. These include construction codes, educational development, health and sanitation, regulations on waste disposal, use of firearms and fire machines. Also there are government departments which supply statistical data on a vast range of economic, industrial and communal demographic data. Of central significance are Statistics Sierra Leone (formerly Central Statistics Office-Cso), responsible for national habitancy census and home surveys; the Office of Births and Deaths which registers and produces yearly statistics of births and deaths in the country; the Office of the Registrar normal responsible for statutory registration of marriages, patents and trademarks; the accommodation of industry which specializes on business information. These offices bring together prominent economic and communal statistics supplied by government departments. Other prominent government departments are the Meteorological Office, which continues to give pertinent weather information, and the National Archives, which serves as repository of all non-current government publications inclusive of national newspapers. The afore-mentioned government publications vary in size and length. Written by experts in the subject, government publications are not only authoritative but also timely published and deal with topics of current interest. Their purpose, according to Katz (1969), is to supply data and reply questions and not to provoke conference or organizational cataloging and administration. They are beneficial traditional reference sources.

Academic Libraries In Sierra Leone

Academic libraries in Sierra Leone are those in the constituent units that form the country's two universities, namely the University of Sierra Leone and the University of Njala. These libraries report the bibliographic foundation of the nation's explore interest. They partake actively in the distribution and transfer of book and non-book materials to sister institutions all over the country. Collectively these institutions serve students, faculty, scholars and researchers that are engaged in work in the sciences and humanities as well as the normal public. These libraries have combined resources of over 500,000 volumes, most of which are of unique scope and quality. Included in these immense collections are government publications such as treaties, Acts, statistical tables and compilations, conventions and records of gentle relations, reports of government departments, committees, bureau and commissions, census schedules, proclamations and laws. The maintenance, preservation and development of these publications are responsibilities shared by schoraly librarians as their libraries continue to serve as national resources.

Justification For The development Of Government Publications In schoraly Libraries

Varied reasons have been advanced for the inclusion of government publications in schoraly libraries in Sierra Leone. The purposes of the country's universities are teaching, service, explore and interpretation and dissemination of research. community views government as a trustworthy and impartial source of authoritative data that should be accessible to its citizens through its numerous publications. Since schoraly institutions deal with students who in turn will be future citizens these should be informed accordingly. Government's stance should be known when there is communal conference on health, international relations, education, agriculture, communal protection and trade, to cite a few examples. Thus the need for the development of government publications in schoraly libraries as such materials could speak for the government in discrete activities. Additional schoraly libraries have the objectives of preservation, conservation and service. And government publications form part of society's cultural patrimony which need conservation and preservation not only for explore purposes but also for posterity as tangible traditional sources of data which academics can permanently refer to. Exiguous wonder why as a quantum of bibliographic operate of these publications librarians continue to supply catalog's, checklists, guides, indexes, accessions lists and premium normal bibliographies containing sizable data on government publications.

1991-2001 was a period of doom in Sierra Leone as it marked the civil war. Fought as a ensue of bad governance, nepotism and immense corruption it led to the un-wanton destruction of lives and properties. indispensable government buildings0 destroyed to reckless abandon included the National Treasury, Sierra Leone Police premises, law courts and the offices of the Freetown City Council all of which housed prominent documents permanently consulted by researchers, government functionaries and the public. Not withstanding the country is slowly recovering with the re-establishment of local government, multi-party democracy, improved human, women and child rights, the provision of a conducive climate to investment, and a new system of schooling (6-3-3-4), to cite but a few developments, the effective doing of which requires constant use of government publications.

The broad programs in schoraly institutions include many areas of life with the teaching of historical and geographic concepts; scientific studies are undertaken for improved health and food security; international relations and inter-religious comprehension are fostered. Also contemporary community life and the philosophy of democracy, peace and conflict resolution, good governance, human proprietary and other ideologies are taught in order that inspiring decisions could be drawn. These designed educational programs bring enrichment and data to students in such fields as economics, government, health and sanitation, agriculture, international relations, human proprietary and diplomacy. In maintain of these discrete disciplines schoraly libraries supply huge collections to include local materials some of which are in the form of government publications whereby students, faculty and researches could share their experiences and interests and produce satisfactory personal adjustment with regard discrete government functionaries in society. By so doing students are provided the opportunity to grow in communal usefulness and produce their intellectual interests and capabilities in order to become responsible members of society. This in turn could help promote nationalism. In lieu of these factors schoraly libraries attempt to supply liberal collections to include books, serial publications, audio-visuals and government publications.

Problems

Government publications are among the most beneficial materials in schoraly libraries in Sierra Leone. Apart from the communal library, the national archives and parliament library which serve as repositories for such publications schoraly libraries continue to produce these publications in their huge collection. Any way such moves are not bereft of problems. These range from poor formats through lack of trade bibliographies to unsatisfactory methods of distribution. The basic qoute to all these libraries is the volume of publications received, much of which is nothing but raw data and statistics used to maintain arguments or gathered more for the sake of gathering rather than for any definite reasons. Since these libraries have Exiguous space to house their numerous collections the continued acquisition of government publications poses problems to staff.

Academic libraries accumulate government publications mainly by donations although a few are acquired by purchase, transfer and photocopy. Once these materials are received they are foreseen, to be processed and organized for use in the library. Sadly there has been no fixed pattern in classifying and organizing these materials in these libraries. Their assosication is whether by government ministry/department, subject or format which is often confusing to users. At Fourah Bay College library, for example, these publications are placed separately from the normal range which often constrains users in having to leave their reading area to consult these materials with Exiguous sitting accommodation. Libraries at Njala University College, produce of communal supervision and supervision (Ipam) and the College of treatment and Allied health Sciences (Comhas), which are relatively small in size couple the publications in their normal range thereby posing retrieval problems to users.

Keeping track of government publications is an additional one qoute as there are no trade bibliographies printed out to help trace them. Hardly are these publications mentioned in the national bibliography, Sierra Leone Publications, ready by the public/national library. Also the Government Printing department responsible for the production of government publications does not have any comprehensive lists of its publications. Most times these publications are whether returned immediately to the respective ministries/departments owning them upon completion or sent to the Government Bookshop for sale or sold by the Government Printing department upon completion, thus making it difficult to uncover retrospective publications. Worse still both the Government Printing department and the Government Bookshop are not interested in publicizing these publications and as such many customers together with schoraly librarians are not aware of the availability of relevant government publications for acquisition thus causing lapses in the development of these materials in schoraly libraries. In parallel one would expect schoraly libraries to compile comprehensive lists of such publications but this has not been the case due to the Exiguous whole of staff manning this range and the quantum of work they have to accomplish especially during peak periods when libraries are heavily used which is time consuming.

There are also problems of range development. schoraly libraries are under-funded and therefore librarians prioritize their range development needs. Purchasing government publications has not been a priority for schoraly librarians as they always look forward to the Government Printing department for donations which are frequently not forthcoming. Hence many relevant government publications are not found in schoraly library collections. What is more this Exiguous range is grossly misused and abused by users (especially undergraduate student users) in their schoraly pursuits. Thus most of these publications have dingy covers; others have a couple of pages whether written on or pilfered while some are intentionally mis-shelved to deprive colleagues of using them.

Conclusion

The incorporation of government publications in the mainstream of schoraly library services should be carefully a priority by university authorities and schoraly librarians in providing access to government-produced data in Sierra Leone. Representing a indispensable and integral part of the national resources government publications are major sources of data in roughly every field of attempt and are crucial to informed public-decision making. schoraly librarians should therefore enumerate their range development strategies and processing and assosication methods of these materials if they are to be persistently used by their numerous clientele. Especial conception should be given to increased funding, reserved supply sharing, compilation of lists and adequate staffing, sitting accommodation and storehouse space if they are to say standards in serving their numerous clientele.

Author Note

John Abdul Kargbo is Senior Lecturer at the produce of Library, data & transportation Studies at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. Mail can be sent to him on

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