A Pitch for SPP's Generation Fund by a 2023 Fellow

Nigerian Morolake Omoya makes History as the first Black University of California Los Angeles Student to earn 3 Degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering

 According to a report by Matthew Chin for the UCLA Newsroom, Morolake Omoya, in March 2023, successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, becoming the first Black student to receive bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in civil and environmental engineering from the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. Supervised by Professor Henry V Burton, her Ph.D. Dissertation on Bayesian Methods for Modeling Post-Earthquake Damage and Recovery of Infrastructure was based on the 2014 Napa earthquake. Omoya’s approach uses more data — including detailed building and site information, as well as sociodemographic data — than previous models. And it incorporates a type of statistical analysis called Bayesian inferencing for more robust and real-time modeling. Ultimately, the goal was to develop a better blueprint to help communities in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake and throughout their long-term recovery.

Congratulating her, Associate Adjunct Professor Audrey P. O'Neal, noted that Rolake, as she is fondly called, is "a brilliant scholar, leader, role model, and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion", who is "guided by faith and her supportive family in Nigeria to be the change she wants to see."

Rolake herself opined that she has through her history-making 3 degrees earning years at UCLA's Samueli School of Engineering learnt vital life lessons "that we rise by lifting others and others are lifted because we rise".

Congratulations to this trailblazing Nigerian lady, Dr. Morolake Omoya, PhD Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Read more at UCLA Newsroom

How to Edit Sent Messages on WhatsApp

Did you make a mistake (spelling, context or what have you) in a sent WhatsApp message? Relax, don't delete. Just press and EDIT. Edit? Yes!

A new feature that lets users edit messages that have already been sent has been unveiled by WhatsApp according to Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

“For this, within 15 minutes of sending the message, you have to tap and hold that message for a while and then select the option of ‘Edit’ from the menu.” Receivers of the messages would be aware of the correction without seeing the ‘edit’ history.

So, follow these four steps to edit sent messages on WhatsApp:

1. Open your WhatsApp chat

2. Long-press on a sent message

3. Click on ‘Edit’ located at the top of your right hand, from the menu for up to fifteen minutes after.

4. Edited messages will display ‘edited’ alongside them.

Embracing Change: Rethinking Library Rules and Regulations for Enhanced Resource Utilization

 Azeez Adeoye

Library rules and regulations could be one of the impediments to the use of its resources. Students are concerned about the limitations they experience due to stringent library rules and regulations. In the 21st century, libraries have competitors in ICT tools. It's high time library professionals revisited the archaic rules that prevent users from maximizing the potential benefits offered by libraries.

One such rule is the prohibition of eating and drinking in the library.

Reading is a mental exercise that drains and dehydrates library users during the process of studying. Therefore, users need to stay hydrated to sustain concentration while reading. But in a situation where library users travel the extra mile to drink water, this obstructs the flow of information and truncates comprehension.

Though Western libraries provide water dispensers within the library and sometimes coffee corners and microwaves, among other gadgets to ease light consumption, concentration, mental stability, and constant use of library resources. This is the trend in 21st-century library services, and African libraries need to decolonize themselves and embrace change.

By offering more flexibility in our library rules and regulations, such as allowing food and drink within designated areas, offering extended hours, and implementing more relaxed noise policies, we can create a more comfortable and welcoming environment for our patrons. 

This, in turn, will make our library more attractive compared to our competitors, such as ICT tools. We believe that by meeting the changing needs of our users, we can entice and endear them to use our resources, which will help us to maintain our relevance in the 21st century.

Passion and Purpose: The Essence of Librarianship Beyond Monetary Considerations

 Azeez Adeoye

If money were not a problem, would you still choose to remain a librarian?

Often, we complain about people's attitudes towards librarianship. We lament how the parent institution neglects its role towards the library. We complain about how university management only remembers the library during National Universities Commission (NUC) accreditation. We lament how library apathy grows among users. But have we stopped and asked ourselves how much passion we put into our work?

Librarianship is a caregiver profession where we prioritize the information needs of our clients. We are expected to give our best to satisfy our users. And in extreme cases where the information cannot be met, we refer them to knowledgeable individuals and follow up on it. Do you do all this with your patrons?

How strong is your passion for librarianship? How many books do you complete in a month? Librarians are living polymaths who know something about everything. This is not magic; to achieve this, you have to be a bibliophile and a habitual reader. You cannot go far in the librarianship profession if you are a lazy reader. Librarians read, which is why it's easy for them to remain relevant in their communities, engage in intelligent conversations, and make an impact on their clients within three minutes of discussion.

A compassionate librarian learns, unlearns, stays relevant, and upskills. It has been said many times that the illiterate of this century is not someone without a degree but someone who cannot learn, relearn, and upskill. Every profession evolves due to the emergence of ICT, and librarianship is one of the most affected. Almost every second, new application are invented, software packages are deployed, new search engines are adopted, and OpenAI is updated and upgraded every week. Your passion for librarianship must push you to learn and upskill continuously.

No profession has it all, including librarianship. There will always be a need to acquire resources, purchase gadgets, subscribe to reputable databases, and renew subscriptions on platforms like Ebscohost. But have you done your very best with the limited resources you have? So, the next time you are asked about your contribution to the librarian profession and your organization, tell them about the list of activities you have accomplished with the limited resources provided. This attitude will ensure your success and increase the relevance of our beloved profession.

Therefore, before you complain about neglect as a librarian, reevaluate yourself. If money is not the problem; would you still hold on to this career path? Are you a passionate reader? Do you upskill and learn emerging technologies to ease your work? Do you go the extra mile to meet your client's needs? Do you give your best with the limited resources you have? I assure you, if you do all these, you cannot complain about irrelevance as a librarian.

Azeez ADEOYE

Wizard Librarian

+234(703)0292959

adeoyeazeezphd@gmail.com 

NEED FOR INCLUSION OF LIBRARY PERIOD IN NIGERIAN SCHOOL TIMETABLE

Olabode Olajide (Ph.D.)

I write to appeal to concerned authority and other education stakeholders in the country to introduce, compulsorily, “library period” into timetable of both primary and secondary schools across the country. This is imperative considering the high level of inadequate library skills exhibit by Nigerian undergraduates. It is not uncommon to hear undergraduates complaining about their college, polytechnic or university libraries of inability to provide or satisfy their information needs no matter how equipped the libraries might be. Research has shown that in most cases, it is not as if libraries don’t have what it takes to satisfy the students’ information needs but the skills required of students to effectively utilize the library resources to the fullest are lacking. Though, students are not to be totally blamed for this absurdity but our educational system that allows school to operate without functional library. Imagine a situation where student never stepped into the four walls of library before gaining admission to higher institution. Yet, it happens, and library at that level of education is unavoidable. Students will ever need it for either personal, recreational, assignment, learning or research purpose.

However, it is primary and secondary schools that serve as a basic foundation of education, and it is at this levels the basic skills required to effectively utilize any type of libraries at any level of education can easily be acquired. From personal experience with students during visitation to the University Library where I work, I could say that students spend much time than necessary on shelves searching, via trial and error, for the needed materials. Realizing this, many of the tertiary institutions introduce a course - “Use of Library and Study Skills” to assist the students in finding their footing in library usage. Though, this is somehow belated, as all the library skills cannot be impacted and well grasped by students within a short period of a semester allotted for teaching the course.

Therefore, I would like to appeal to Federal and State governments as well as other education stakeholders to, as matter of urgency, introduce and enforce “Library Period” in school timetable where pupils could be introduced to library early enough, as this will not only acquaint them with library skills that will be needed in future but also improve their reading culture.

 Dr. Olabode Olajide 

 Librarian/Information Manager

Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria

Promoting Nigerian Research With Open Science: Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for Research Publication

 Idowu Adegbilero-Iwari

The 2023 Eko-Konnect Users conference that held between January 24-26, 2023 virtually had distinguished scholars, professionals and representatives of relevant government agencies discussed topics relating to the central theme, Promoting Nigerian Research With Open Science. 

I spoke on the topic, Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for Research Publication, in the Session 4 of the event, Maximising Persistent Identifiers For Global Research Visibility. DOI is a chief member of the PIDs (persistent identifiers) scholarly communication infrastructure family. DOI provides a system for persistent and actionable identification and interoperable exchange of managed information on digital networks. 

The details of my presentation can be accessed here or the streamed version watched on YouTube.

Special thanks to Owen Iyoha, MD/CEO of Eko-Konnect, for the invitation to participate, address the attendees and most importantly contribute to the general discourse on the evolution of Nigerian scholarly communication sector and open science uptake in which I have keen interest.