ABSTRACT

 This research work investigated the management of electronic information resources in Abia State Library, Board, Umuahia. The study was guided by five objectives which include to; identify the available electronic information resources in Abia State Library Board, Umuahia, ascertain how the electronic information resources are procured in Abia State Library Board, find out how the electronic information resources are organised for accessibility by users, determine the problems associated with the management of electronic information resources in Abia State Library Board, and suggest strategies on how the available electronic information resources in Abia State Library Board would be managed effectively. A descriptive research design was used for the study. The area of the study was Abia State, Nigeria. A total population of 1j5 respondents consisting of all library staff and all were sampled. The researcher distributed 135 copies of the questionnaire to the respondents personally and 55 copies were correctly filled and returned, representing 41% return rate. Frequency tables and mean scores were used for data presentation and analysis. The results of the findings revealed that the electronic information resources available in Abia State Library are; CD-ROMs, internet, e-mail, e-joumals, datad-. OPAC, e-book, websites and abstracts and indexes; electronic information resources in Abia State library are procured through; purchase, subscription, consortia and some are obtained freely from their source; lack of acquisition of skills to handle current e-tools, lack of budgeting to cover high cost of e-resources, lack of metadata knowledge for cataloguing e-resources, lack of expertise in licensing e-joumals, lack of maintenance of URLs, lack of dealing with frequent changes in models of e-resources, problems in communicating with vendors, and non-integrating processing of electronic resources into existing organizational structure are some factors militating against the management ofthe available electronic information resources in Abia State library; in order to solve the problems encountered in management of electronic information resources in Abia State library, there is need to implement functional requirements for bibliographic records as it will improve metadata details of e-resources during cataloguing, the processing of electronic resources into existing organizational structure should be integrated, there should be sufficient staffing to handle diversified and interoperable functions in cataloguing, recruitment of experts in licensing e-journals, budgeting should be improved to cover high cost of e-resources, and staff should be trained on skills in other to handle current etools. The study also made recommendation such as; librarians and other paraprofessionals should be trained and retrained so as to function effectively in an IT-driven information environment. The acquisition ofrequisite ICT skills will help them to develop digital information resources or strategically plan for the management of EIRs; and the public Library should ensure sufficient networked computers and other facilities for the use and management of the electronic information resources by the users in the library