The Use of Electronic Library Resources in Nigerian Universities: A Review of the Literature

Antecedents Of The Electronic Library

The concept of the electronic library dates back to the publication of foreseer scientists, Vannevar Bush and J.C.R. Licklider identified and pursued the goal of advanced technologies toward knowledge sharing as a fundamental means for advancement (Candela, Castalli & Pagano, 2011). While Bush in 1945 created a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and was mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility, Licklider in 1965 realized that computers were getting to be powerful enough to support the type of automated library systems that Bush had described. He wrote on how a computer could provide an automated library with concurrent remote use by divergent users through access to a common database. Research and development activity on e-library use started in the early 1990s, with the internet explosion, which had created unique potential for the discovery and delivery of human knowledge. This has unlocked the idea that electronic collections can be made available to diverse users over a common platform. This means that the e-library is crucial for the academic and research progress of stakeholders as well as the teaching, learning and research role of the institutions they represent.