Access to Information in the Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Federal University Libraries in Nigeria

This study examines access to information in the attainment of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in federal university libraries in Nigeria using the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) and University of Uyo (UNIUYO) Libraries. Four (4) research objectives of accessing the level of awareness of the SDGs, roles of access to information in the attainment of SDGs, the extent to which access to information aids attainment of SDGs and the challenges facing access to information in the attainment of SDGs were framed to guide the study. The descriptive survey design was adopted, with a study population of 106 academic librarians and senior para-professional staff of MOUAU and UNIUYO Libraries. The complete census sampling technique was adopted as more appropriate because the entire study population was used as the sample size. The structured questionnaire with a 4-point rating scale model questions was used for data collection, which yielded a response rate of 100%. Data collected were analysed using the descriptive statistics of mean scores and frequency counts in accordance with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM-SPSS-Version 23). The findings revealed that the level of awareness of the SDGs among the academic librarians and senior para-professional staff is low. However, access to information is indispensable in facilitating the attainment of SDGs by enhancing quality education, healthcare and maternal/child health, sustainable agriculture and food security, gender equality, legal rights and justice, socio-economic development, democratic governance and political freedom, etc. The findings also disclosed that the factors militating against access to information in the attainment of SDGs in federal university libraries include: inadequate awareness of available information, low information literacy skills, underfunding of libraries, inadequate trained and poorly motivated librarians, censorship and lack of freedom of information, personal inadequacies of information seekers, among others. Based on the findings, the study recommended among other measures for enhancing access to information on the attainment of SDGs, the promotion of the right of access to information, training and retraining of librarians and other information providers, translation and information repackaging services, provision of information literacy training in federal university libraries in Nigeria