ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT PRESERVATION STRATEGIES OF DIGITAL MATERIALS IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN SOUTH EAST, NIGERIA

Abstract This study assessed current preservation strategies of digital materials in university libraries in South East, Nigeria based on UNESCO Digital Preservation Guidelines. The study adopted a survey research method. The population was made up of 160 librarians in university libraries in South East, Nigeria. The instrument used for data collection was the questionnaire adapted from the UNESCO Digital Preservation Guidelines. Data were analysed, and simple percentages were used to answer the research questions and t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The study revealed that the librarians in the university libraries seem not to have knowledge of the UNESCO Digital Preservation Guidelines but fortunately, out of preservation instincts, the preservation strategies they adopted for their digital materials in the libraries were almost in line with the UNESCO Digital Preservation Guidelines. Moreso, there was no significant difference in the preservation strategies. The study recommends strongly that university librarians in South- East Nigeria should adopt the UNESCO Digital Preservation Guidelines as their working guide in preserving the digital materials in their libraries