Disaster management in university libraries: Perceptions, problems and strategies

The ultimate aim of this paper is to explore disaster management in terms of its perception, problems and strategies in University libraries in South Eastern Nigeria. This paper employed a survey research design to gather information from libraries in selected University libraries in South Eastern Nigeria. Questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection and the data collected were analyzed using percentages, mean and standard deviation. The study has revealed that while some librarians are aware of disaster management, some others have low level of knowledge of it. The level of their knowledge on disaster management, notwithstanding, the respondents were of the opinion that University Libraries in South Eastern Nigeria should prepare for disaster management. Certain problems that affect disaster management were identified from this study and the most striking ones are lack of disaster preparedness and recovery plans. The study revealed a number of strategies that could be put in place to ensure effective disaster management which include training of firefighting equipment in offices and raising awareness of libraries on the need to protect documents from disaster. The paper concludes with a clarion call that University libraries the world over should take the issue of disaster preparedness and management very seriously.