Library Services Platform Path to Cloud Computing Adoption in Nigerian Academic Libraries: A Review

Idowu Adegbilero-Iwari and Saheed Abiola Hamzat

Abstract 

The library and Information science (LIS) profession have evolved over time taking advantage of prevailing technology. The arrival of computers and other communication technologies led to major changes in the ways library services are rendered and the profession practiced. Library Management Systems (LMS) is one of such earlier areas where ICT have been applied to the operations of the library during the library computerization era. The arrival of the renascent Cloud Computing is generating new areas of research in relation to librarians’ uptake of this new technology. Cloud computing is being leveraged by developers of library systems to facilitate the envisaged move away from ILS/LMS to a more robust system that can handle some of the shortcomings of the ILS/LMS. These new systems are called Library services platforms (LSP). While both established and new library systems vendors are turning out different products, libraries have begun to shift away to these new platforms. This paper reviews cloud computing in libraries and projects LSPs as the reliable path to its adoption in Nigerian academic libraries. Recommendations were made based on the outcomes of this study.

Keywords: Library services platform, Cloud computing, Library management systems, Integrated library systems, Academic libraries, Nigeria

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