ABSTRACT
The study focused on the roles of librarians in disseminating indigenous knowledge among library and information science undergraduates in university of Benin. The study’s goal was targeted at determining the level of indigenous knowledge acquisition skills among librarians, examining the methods employed by librarians to acquire indigenous knowledge, examining the method librarians use to disseminate indigenous knowledge and identifying the challenges affecting the dissemination of indigenous knowledge by librarians. The study adopted the use of descriptive survey research design, A total sample of one hundred and forty-nine (149) students from library and information science department, University of Benin, was adopted as the study’s sample. Same number (149) of these questionnaires were retrieved and used for the study’s empirical analysis. The obtained data were analyzed using frequency counts, simple percentages, mean and standard deviation. Questionnaire titled “The roles of librarians in disseminating indigenous knowledge among library and information science undergraduates in university of Benin.” were drawn and administered, (149) copies were retrieved from the respondents and found worthy of use. The study findings observed that librarians possess a high level of indigenous knowledge acquisition skills across all assessed dimensions. The specific methods employed by librarians to acquire indigenous knowledge are, through library Orientation, creating digital repositories for global access to document indigenous, through interviews with community leaders and collaboration with indigenous communities. However, the perceived barriers that hinders the dissemination of indigenous knowledge by librarians, Include, Technological obsolescence, poor funding, The process of obtaining intellectual property rights, lack of standardized metadata collection. The following recommendations were given in light of this study, Academic institutions and governments should invest in modern and sustainable technologies, they should provide updated hardware, software, and internet connectivity, Adequate funding should be allocated to libraries for indigenous knowledge initiatives, Librarians and information professionals should collaborate to create standardized metadata schemes for indigenous knowledge documentation. This will facilitate better organization, retrieval, and sharing of such knowledge globally. Lastly, Regular workshops and training programs should be organized for librarians to enhance their skills in acquiring and disseminating indigenous knowledge.
