https://lisdigest.org
Abstract
Knowledge and practice of publishing standards and legal deposit laws are the hallmarks of
today's authorship. This paper investigates Nigerian authors' awareness of international
publishing standards and their legal deposit obligations which are critical variables for both
Universal Bibliographic Control and Universal Availability of Publications. The descriptive
research design was adopted for this study which was conducted in Enugu State in South, East
Nigeria. The population was made up of 70 librarians in the Nnamdi Azikiwe Library and the
Department of Library and Information Science of the University. The data collected were
analyzed using frequency counts, standard deviation and mean scores. The highest level of
awareness of authors of international publishing standard was that 'web resources now have
DOI', followed by ISBN for books, CIP for publications, the importance of CIP and ISMN for
music publications. The study revealed that authors play critical roles in the maintenance of
international publishing standards. While the authors were aware of their publishers' obligations,
they were not aware of the provisions of the legal deposit law. A digital nervous system of shared
responsibilities for the maintenance of international publishing standards and the
implementation of legal deposit provisions in Nigeria, and indeed any other country is proposed.
This is the mainstay of the paper's originality. It is argued that a functional identification and
integration of the burgeoning stakeholders into a digital nervous system define the future from
the foreground for improved international publishers' standard and compliance with the extant
depository law, for Nigeria and indeed, for most developing countries.
Keywords: Authors' awareness, Digital nervous system, National Library of Nigeria, International
publishing standards, Legal deposit compliance.
Volume 14 | Article 3 May, 2021|
25
Library and Information Science Digest
Volume 14: Issue 1, May 2021
OPEN ACCESS
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards
and Legal Deposit Obligations
1 2 3
Justina N. Ekere , Charles O. Omekwu , Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
1
Nnamdi Azikiwe Library, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
2
Department of Library and Information Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
3
Imo State University, Owerri.
Received: 2020/09/15. Accepted: 2021/05/06. Published: 2021/05/27
ISSN (Online): 2672 - 4820
Introduction
International Publishing Standards (IPS)
and Legal Deposit Laws (LDL) are two
issues that are thematically related to two
other global issues. These global issues are
the Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC)
and the Universal Availability of
Publications (UAP). The relationship
between UBC and UAP need early
contextualization before the examination of
how they relate to the issues of international
publishing standards and legal deposit
framework. The goal of the UBC is to make
universally and promptly available, in a
form that is internationally acceptable,
basic bibliographic data on all publications
issued in all countries. The reach of UBC is
therefore worldwide. The modus operandi
is the "promptness" of the availability of
bibliographic data. The element is basic
bibliographic data. The format must be
internationally acceptable. The UBC must
also cover all publications published in all
countries. The content, context and
coverage of UBC point to conditions that
are critical to both universal accessibility
and universal availability of publications.
In essence, if publications are not
bibliographically known to exist, access to
them is generally jeopardized and they can
hardly, therefore, be available on a
universal basis. On the other hand, where
every nation of the world through its
National Bibliographic Agency (NBA)
provides "authoritative bibliographic data
for publications of its own country and
makes that data available to other NBAs
libraries and other communities (for
instance, archives and museums) through
appropriate and timely services, the
possibility of access is enhanced. The goal
of UAP is the widest availability of
recorded knowledge to actual and potential
users across the globe. It is predicated on
the assumption that universal availability of
recorded knowledge is a critical variable in
man's emancipation and total development,
mentally, educationally, physically,
emotionally, socially and politically.
Access to available publications is vital;
otherwise, availability will achieve no
instrumental value. Access can be both
physical and open. Whether open or
physical, it is obvious that UBC is a
functional precondition to UAP. Where
UBC fails, UAP also falters. It is therefore
clear that both subject or thematic and
functional relationship exists between UBC
and UAP. A similar nexus can be
established between UBC and international
publishing standards. Akidi (2017) has
rightly pointed out the symbiotic
relationship between bibliographic control
and publishing standards. She sees this as
an essential ingredient of bibliographic
control. By extension, UBC is closely
concerned with international publishing
standards. In every nation of the world,
there is a shared duty of maintaining
publishing standards by the NBA and other
critical stakeholders such as authors,
publishers, printers, libraries, librarians and
other critical links in the book chain.
Understandably, the National Library of
Nigeria (NLN) is the nation's apex
institution charged with both bibliographic
control initiatives and the maintenance of
international publishing standards. As
Nigeria's NBA, the NLN is responsible for
introducing publishers to the international
bibliographic description (IBD) and
ensures compliance with other international
publishing standards. What are these
international standards that publications are
required to conform to? They include (but
not limited to) the:
i. International Standard Book
Number (ISBN);
ii. International Standard Serial
Number (ISSN);
iii. Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP)
data;
iv. International Serial Music Number
(ISMN);
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
26
v. Digital Object Identifier (DOI);
vi. Universal Resource Name (URN);
and
vii. Universal Resource Locator (URL).
Publications without ISBN are in breach of
international publishing standards for
books. Publications without ISSN are in
breach for serials, journals or periodicals.
Publications without CIP cannot be said to
be fully in compliance with international
publication standards maintenance of
uniform bibliographic records or
descriptions of published works. It is fast
becoming the norm that online publications
are assigned DOIs. It is the online publisher
who assigns DOI on the first page of the
electronic journal article, often near the
copyright information. The registration
agency is the International DOI Foundation
(IDF), which is a not-for-profit membership
organization with registration authority for
ISO Standard (ISO 26324). The web
presence of information resources has made
it imperative that they are associated with a
specific uniform resource locator (URL) in
terms of a particular access protocol. The
Uniform Resource Name (URN) is, on the
other hand, a persistent location-
independent identifier assigned to "an
internet resource with a static name that
remains valid even if the data is moved to
another location". The whole purpose of the
emerging electronic identifier systems is to
properly identify, access, and use them.
Access and use are critically related to the
issues of universal availability of
publications and legal deposit. It has been
earlier argued that Universal Bibliographic
Control enhances the possibility of
Universal Availability of Publications, but
progress to UBC must logically begin with
national bibliographic control (NBC). In
the same vein, universal availability of
publications must commence from
availability at the national frontier. The
availability at the national frontier entails
that the publications must be available,
physically, in a location +in the national
publications system. This is the main
principle in the legal deposit system and
provision. The International Conference on
National Bibliographic Services 1977) has
reaffirmed:
the value of legal deposit as a
means of ensuring that the cultural
and intellectual heritage and
linguistic diversity of the state are
preserved and made accessible for
current and future users.
Furthermore, the Conference outlined
key recommendations for national
bibliographic agencies. They include:
1. Firstly, there is the need for national
libraries and national bibliographic
agencies to work cooperatively with
other agencies while 'overall
responsibility for coordination and
implementation of standards should
rest with the national bibliographic
agency'
2. Secondly, it is vitally important that
legal deposit should ensure 'that the
cultural and intellectual heritage
and linguistic diversity of the nation
is preserved and made accessible
for current and future users’
3. Thirdly, emerging legal deposit
regulatory frameworks as the
bedrock of a national priority of
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
27
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
national bibliographic services
address the following issues:
i) Re-examination of existing
d e p o s i t l e g i s l a t i o n t o
'consider its provisions on
p r e s e n t a n d f u t u r e
requirements; and, where
necessary, existing legislation
should be revised"; and
ii) Introduction of legal deposit
legislation in the countries
without one.
4. Fourthly, it is imperative that each
country should ensure national
bibliography covers 'current
national output, and where
p r a c t i c a b l e a l s o p r o v i d e
retrospective coverage.’
5. It is necessary that selection criteria
be defined and published by the
national bibliographic agency.
6. An ideal national bibliography must
cover all disciplines, languages
publications produced in the
country and in all formats,
The collection and preservation of a
nation's cultural and linguistic heritage are
cardinal issues in legal deposits. Equally
central to depository initiatives is the
accessibility of collected and preserved
materials to current and future users. It is
vital to consider at this juncture the critical
stakeholders in the matrix of maintaining
international publication standards and
implementing the legal deposit regime. The
key players in Nigeria's bibliographic
co ntr ol l a nd sc ape c an ei th er be
institutional, corporate organizations, or
individual contributors. The major
institutional agency for the execution of
bibliographic control practices in any
country is called a National Bibliographic
Agency (NBA). The NBA has been defined
by IFLA, 1998 as:
T h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l u n i t
established within a country's
library system, which undertakes
responsibility for the preparation
o f t h e a u t h o r i t a t i v e a n d
comprehensive bibliographic
records for each new publication
issued in the country, making the
records in accordance with
a c c e p t e d i n t e r n a t i o n a l
bibliographic standards and
publishing them with the shortest
possible delay in a national
bibliography, which appears
regularly.
Three responsibilities are envisaged for the
NBA:
i. Preparation of authoritative and
comprehensive bibliographic records
for each publication issued in the
country.
ii. Production of bibliographic records in
c o m p l i a n c e w i t h a c c e p t a b l e
international standards and
iii. Timely and regular publication of a
national bibliography.
Understandably these roles fall within the
legal and functional jurisdiction of the
National Library of Nigeria.
Corporate bodies critical to the whole
gamut of publishing standards and legal
deposit activities are publishers, printers
and all operators in the book chain and
knowledge enterprise including educational
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
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Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
institutions, libraries, government,
ministries, departments and agencies
(MDAs). In the individual category are
authors, writers, poets, editors, actors,
musicians and composers. They are critical
to both the maintenance of publication
standards and legal deposits because they
are the prime creators of books, journals,
magazines, newspaper articles, conference
proceedings, short stories, both in hard copy
and electronic formats.
The authors' target audience may be
children and young adults in primary
schools, secondary schools or tertiary
institutions. The reasons why authors write
or create a piece of intellectual output may
derive from a compulsory “publish or
perish culture”, a desire to publish the result
of scientific or scholarly research or to
attain national and international visibility or
respect and recognition among professional
peers.
Since authors' works once released can
cross national borders, it is imperative that
the packaging of their products conforms to
international standards. It is also critical
that each piece of intellectual output
possesses a unique system of international
identification and recognition. Through this
unique system of identification, an author's
work can be easily located worldwide for
acquisition and commercial transactions.
Without it, an author's work could be lost in
the maze of information or publication
explosion or go into complete extinction.
The critical question, therefore, relates to
the level of awareness of authors of these
international publishing standards and the
opportunities and benefits derivable from
compliance with the legal deposit
obligations. It is also equally important to
proffer strategies which enhances the
awareness of international publishing
standards and legal deposit requirement.
These are the concerns of this paper.
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of this study was to
investigate authors' awareness of
international publication standards and the
legal deposit provisions of the National
Library of Nigeria Act. Specifically, the
study sought to:
1. Determine author's publication
profile with reference to channels
where they publish;
2. Examine the target audience of the
author's publications;
3. Ascertain the reasons why the
authors publish;
4. Determine the authors' extent of
aw a r en e s s o f i nt e r na t i on a l
publication standards;
5. Examine authors' role in the
maintenance of international
publication standards;
6. Ascertain author's awareness of
legal deposit provisions and
obligations; and
7. Proffer strategies and a digital
nervous system for enhancing
authors' awareness of international
publication standard and legal
deposit provision.
Research Questions
The study was guided by the following
research questions:
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
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Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
1. In what formats or platforms do
authors publish their works?
2. Who are the audience targeted by
authors in their writings?
3. What are the major motivations for
authorship?
4. What is the extent of authors'
aw ar e ne ss o f in t er na ti o na l
standards for publications?
5. What roles can authors play in the
maintenance of international
publications standards?
6. What is the level of authors'
awareness of legal deposit
provisions?
7. What strategies can enhance
authors' awareness of international
publishing standards and legal
deposit provision?
Literature Review
The attitude of many authors and writers
about the importance of publishing
standards has been adequately captured by
Remi Raji (2017) in a keynote lecture to the
Nigerian Library Association:
As a writer I have been less
concerned with how and where
my published books end, into
which library they are deposited
and how they are stored.
The lack of concern about an author's work
could result to the work not travelling far in
the vehicle of intellectual and knowledge
conception, production and transfer.
Motivation to comply with publishing
standards may be minimal and adherence to
publishing standards may be the exception
rather than the rule. It is contended that the
book as the major symbol of expression of
accumulated civilization and experience,
the output of a national, intellectual,
cultural and research heritage, needs the
best care and treatment possible in terms of
packaging or finishing as well as
preservation for current and future
reference and utilization. Raji (2017) has
pointed out the consequences:
The book is the receptacle of
wisdom and inge nuity of
civilization…, where it is absent,
a nation with the history of its
intelligences, is committed to
forgetfulness, or rather a
civilization without the evidence
of a saved text is soon condemned
or diminish; the book is an
important material of the HDI, the
Human Development Index, the
measure of a nation's intellectual
development.
The twin issues of international publication
standards and legal depository obligations
are critical to the future of a nation's
intellectual output, and also to its national
human capacity development. These issues
are not the exclusive responsibility of a
single institution like a national or
designated department but rather that of all
stakeholders in the publishing and
knowledge enterprise. As rightly pointed
out by Akidi (2017):
The maintenance of publishing
standards in any country is the
e x c l u s i v e r o l e o f t h e
bibliographic control agency,
publishers and authors as they
form the chain of the book trade.
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
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Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
In this regard, the bibliographic
agency liaises with the publishers,
authors and other stakeholders in
the book trade to ensure that
int e rna tion al s t and a rds of
publishing are maintained to
enhance effective bibliographic
control practices. (p. 91)
It is vital at this point to consider the issue of
legal deposit provision and obligation. It is
important to mention that depository can be
statutory-when it has an enabling law,
voluntary where it is not compelled by law
or mixed where it combines both statutory
and voluntary critiques. By definition,
therefore, legal deposit is a statutory
enactment that compels creators of
intellectual property or output to deposit a
specified number of their works with a
designated depository centre or institution.
In this case, the depository is both
mandatory and obligatory. Provisions for
legal deposit can be in a stand-alone legal
framework or incorporated as a part of a
larger legal framework. In Nigeria, the
latter is the case. The legal depository
provision is contained in Section 4 of the
National Library Act of 1970.
A brief critical review of this law is
appropriate here. Firstly, the law requires
publishers to deposit three copies of the
published works with the National Library
of Nigeria for permanent preservation.
Secondly, the delivery of the copies must be
done within three months at the depositors'
expense. Thirdly, the quality of the copies to
be delivered must be perfect copies of the
whole books, bound, sewed or stitched
together and in the best paper possible.
Fourthly, federal and state governments'
officers responsible for government
publications are obligated to deliver 25 and
10 copies respectively, to the National
Library.
Fifthly, failure to comply with the law by a
publisher attracts a fine not exceeding
N100.000. The big question here is whether
this amount can compensate for the legal
fees and time committed to the legal
proceedings leading to the conviction of the
defaulters. Sixthly, the categories of works
to be delivered to the National Library
include all literary works such as books,
pamphlets, sheets of music, maps, charts,
plans, tables and companions. Others are
dramatic works, collective works such as
encyclopedias, dictionaries, yearbooks,
similar works, newspapers, magazines and
similar periodicals. Also required to be
deposited are works written in distinct parts
by different authors or in which a part or
parts of works of different authors is or are
incorporated and every part or division of
such a work; and all forms in which
documentary or oral records are published.
It is important to point out that the law did
not envisage the rapid paradigm shift which
digital technology has brought to the nature
and format of electronic or digital
publications. What happens to publications
that are in the electronic frontiers? These
and other reasons are the compelling
necessities for a review of the Nigerian
legal depository provisions in particular,
and the National Library of Nigeria Law in
general. Such a review must identify the
critical stakeholders in the maintenance of
international publishing standards and the
implementation of the legal deposit laws
and the provisions therein.
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
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Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
Several studies had examined the issues of
international publication standards and
legal depository practices. For example,
Akidi (2017) assessed the bibliographic
control practice of the National Library of
Nigeria in a digital age. Out of the 11
research objectives, only two covered legal
depository practice and compliance of
publishers and authors to depository
obligations. Only one aspect of the research
instrument dealt with the extent to which
the national library has been effective in
maintaining international publication
standards. The research design was
descriptive and the area of study was the
Federal Capital Territory, the Headquarters
of the National Library of Nigeria. The
population of the study was 736 staff of the
National Library of Nigeria while the
sample size of 177 was selected using the
purposive sampling technique. With a
cluster mean of 221, the extent of the
National Library of Nigeria's effectiveness
in legal depository practices was rated low.
The National Library of Nigeria was
equally rated low in enhancing compliance
of publishers and authors with legal
depository effectiveness. The study
however scored the National Library high
for the extent to which it has been effective
in maintaining international publishing
standards. This and other studies did not
cover the specific subject of awareness of
authors of international publishing
standards and legal depository obligations
among authors. This is what this study
intends to cover.
Methodology
The descriptive research design was
adopted for the study. The area of study was
Enugu State in South-East Nigeria.
Specifically, the institution of the authors
was the University of Nigeria, Nsukka
which historically and population-wise is
the oldest and largest institution in the
South East. The population is made up of 70
librarians in the Nnamdi Azikiwe Library
and the Department of Library and
Information Science of the University. The
sampling approach was purposive. The
critical justification for the purposive was
the respondents must be authors. Using this
approach, it was possible to get 50
respondents who filled and returned the
questionnaire. This number was considered
adequate for a micro-level study of this
nature given the limited time available for
the researcher to submit the final results of
the study. Furthermore, since the study is
thematically related to an aspect of
librarianship, it was justifiable that
librarians are at this preliminary level of
investigation, most qualified to respond to
the subject of this study. A seven cluster
Likert- styled questio nnaire titled
Awareness of International Publications
Standards and Legal Deposit among
Authors (AIPSALDAAS) was the main
instrument for data collection. The response
range was in two categories of Strongly
Agree, (SA) Agree (A), Disagree (D) and
Strongly Disagree and Highly Aware (HA),
Aware (A), Less Aware (LA) and Not Aware
(NA), with scores of four (4) to one (1). The
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
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Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
Findings and Discussion
The findings of the study are presented in
Tables 1 – 7 based on the research
questions.
Research Question 1: In what formats or
platforms do authors publish their works?
data collected were analyzed using
frequency counts, mean scores and
standard deviation. The basis for the
decision was 2.50 for both the upper and
lower scores.
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
33
S/N Response items SD D A SA Mean Std.
Deviation
Rank Decision
1 I
have
authored
books
6
1
28
15
3.02
.78
1
st
A
2 I
have
authored
e-journal
articles
3
21
19
7
2.60
.81
2
nd
A
3 I
have
authored
books
chapters
7
16
20
7
2.54
.91
3
rd
A
4 I
have
authored
short
communications
10
12
21
7
2.50
.97
4
th
A
5 I
have
served/
is
serving
as
a
journal
editors/editorial
board
member
20
2
24
4
2.24
1.08
5
th
DA
7 I
have
authored
workbooks
16
19
3
12
2.22
1.15
6
th
DA
8 I
have
authored
journal
articles
7
30
9
4
2.20
.78
7
th
DA
9 I
have
authored
magazine
articles
13
26
6
5
2.06
.89
8
th
DA
10 I
have
authored
in
conference
preceding
20
13
11
6
2.06
1.06
9
th
DA
I
have
authored
technical
reports
28
8
11
3
1.78
1.00
10
th
DA
11 I
have
authored
newspaper
articles
20
25
2
3
1.76
.80
11
th
DA
12 I
have
authored
workshops
chapters
23
18
8
1
1.74
.80
12
th
DA
13 I
have
authored
in
blogs
18
28
4
1.72
.61
13
th
DA
14 I
have
authored
published
monograph
28
11
9
2
1.70
.91
14
th
DA
15 I
have
authored
e-books
30
11
5
4
1.66
.96
15
th
DA
16 I
have
authored
in
professional
websites
37
5
4
4
1.50
.95
16
th
DA
17 I have authored an encyclopedia
article
32 15 2 1
1.44 .67 17
th
SD
Table 1: Author's publication platform
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
The findings revealed that the e-journals
(2.60), book chapters (2.54) and short
communication were the publication
channels where the works of the authors
appeared. In other words, platforms such as
books, e-books (1.66), journals (2.20),
newspapers (1.76), magazines (2.06),
encyclopedia, monographs (1.70),
technical reports and con f er e nc e
Table 2 revealed primary schools (2.90),
secondary school students (2.70),
professional groups (2.54) and children
(2.52) were the major publics of the authors'
studied. Tertiary institutions were not
proceedings were not critical as the authors'
publication outlets. Authors' contributions
to professional websites, blogs and as
editors or editorial board member were
below 2.50 or average.
Research Question 2: Who are the
audience targeted by the authors in their
writing?
among the critical publics reached by the
authors.
S/N
SD
D
A
SA
Mean
Std.
Deviation
R
D
1 Primary
school
pupils
15(30.0%)
14(28.0%)
19(38.0%)
2(4.0%)
2.94
.98
1
st
A
2 Secondary
school
students
30.0%
28.0%
38.0%
4.0%
2.70
.99
2
nd
A
3 Professional
group
10.0%
20.0%
36.0%
34.0%
2.54
.73
3
rd
A
4 Children
13(26.0%)
11(22.0%)
13(26.0%)
13(26.0%)
2.52
1.15
4
th
A
5 General
26.0%
22.0%
26.0%
26.0%
2.16
.91
5
th
DA
6 Tertiary
institution
5(10.0%)
10(20.0%)
18(36.0%)
17(34.0%)
1.36
.88
6
th
SD
Table 2: Target Audience of Authors
Table 3: Authors' motivation for writing
S/N SD D A SA Mean Std.
Deviation
R D
1 Publishing
is
a
requirement
for
my
promotion
and
career
progression
0(0%)
9(18.0%)
19(38.0%)
22(44.0%)
3.26
.75
1
st
A
2 To
positively
influence
society
6(12.0%)
3(6.0%)
19(38.0%)
22(44.0%)
3.14
.99
2
nd
A
3 I
have
to
publish
the
results
for
my
research
49(98.0%)
0(0%)
12.0%)
0(0%)
3.02
.94
3
rd
A
4 To
motivate
and
inspire
11(22.0%)
7(14.0%)
8(16.0%)
24(48.0%)
2.90
1.23
4
th
A
5 To
contribute
and
extend
the
frontier
of
knowledge
in
my
field
7(14.0%)
9(18.0%)
24(48.0%)
10(20.0%)
2.74
.94
5
th
A
6 For
national
and
international visibility
7(14.0%)
11(22.0%)
22(44.0%)
10(20.0%)
2.70
.95
7
th
A
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
34
positively influence the society (3.14), the
need to publish results of research (3.20), to
motivate and inspire (2.90), to contribute
and extend the frontiers of knowledge
(2.74). Other vital motivations were to
attain national and international visibility
(2.70) recognition among peers (2.66) to
entertain (2.66) and to document
experience gathered over the years (2.56).
Writing as a delightful hobby was scored
lowest (2.40).
Research Question 4: What is the extent of
the authors' awareness of international
standards for publications?
Results in Table 4 showed that the authors
were aware that web resources now have
digital object identifier (3.04), the
international requirement for every book to
have ISBN (3.02), the meaning of CIP
S/N SD D A SA Mean Std.
Deviation
R D
7 It
brings
recognition
among
peers
8(16.0%)
17(34.0%)
9(18.0%)
16(32.0%)
2.66
1.10
8
th
A
8 To
entertain
10(20.0%)
10(20.0%)
17(34.0%)
13(26.0%)
2.66
1.08
9
th
A
9 To
document
experience
gathered
over
the
years
15(30.0%)
5(10.0%)
17(34.0%)
13(26.0%)
2.56
1.18
10
th
A
10 It is a delightful hobby 7(14.0%) 23(46.0%) 13(26.0%) 7(14.0%)
2.40 .90 11
th
SA
S/N Not
Aware
Less
Aware
Aware Highly
Aware
Mean Std.
Deviation
R D
1 Web
resources
now
have
DOI
0.0%
19(38.0%)
10(20.0%)
21(42.0%)
3.04
.90
1
st
A
2 The
international
requirement
for
every
book
to
have
an
international
standard
book
number
2(4.0%)
11(22.0%)
21(42.0%)
16(32.0%)
3.02
.84
2
nd
A
3 The
meaning
of
CIP
cataloguing
in
publication
4(8.0%)
14(28.0%)
12(24.0%)
20(40.0%)
2.96
1.01
3
rd
A
4 The
importance
of
CIP
7(14.0%)
5(10.0%)
23(46.0%)
15(30.0%)
2.92
.99
4
th
A
5 International
standard
music
number
for
all
music
publication
1(2.0%)
18(36.0%)
19(38.0%)
12(24.0%)
2.84
.82
5
th
A
6 The
agency
with
statutory
responsibility
to
prepare
or
process
the
CIP
9(18.0%)
14(28.0%)
13(26.0%)
14(28.0%)
2.64
1.08
6
th
A
7 The
agency
sign
ISSN
12(24.0%)
5(10.0%)
23(46.0%)
10(20.0%)
2.62
1.07
7
th
A
8 The
international
requirement
for
every
journal;/Magazines/
newspaper
/
periodical;
to
have
international
serial;
Number
6(12.0%)
20(40.0%)
16(32.0%)
8(16.0%)
2.52
.91
8
th
A
9 The
agency
that
issue
/
assign ISBN
23(46.0%)
4(8.0%)
20(40.0%)
3(6.0%)
2.06 1.06
9
th
LA
Table 4: Authors' level of awareness of international publishing standards
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
35
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
(2.96), and the importance of CIP (2.82).
They were equally aware of the agency that
issues ISSN (2.62) and the international
requirement for every journal/magazine/
newspaper or periodical to have ISSN
(2.52). Surprising, the lowest score (2.06)
indicated a lack of awareness of the agency
that issues or assigns ISBN.
journal articles use ISSN, followed by
ensuring that books have CIP (2.80),
authors are key players in bibliographic
control practices of the National Library of
Nigeria (2.78), ensuring that use of ISBN
(2.72) and checking whether online journal
where they published had DOI.
Research Question 5: What roles can
authors play in the maintenance of
international publications standards?
Table 5 showed the level of agreement of
authors as their roles in the maintenance of
international publishing standards. The
highest score (2.96) was in respect of
authors ensuring that publishers of their
Research Question 6: What are the
authors' level of awareness of legal deposit
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
36
Table 5: Authors' roles in the maintenance of international publishing standards
S/N
SD
D
A
SA
Mean
Std.
Deviation
R D
1 I
ensure
that
my
publisher
use
ISSN
for
a
journal
where
my
work
appears
3(6.0%)
10(20.0%)
23(46.0%)
14(28.0%)
2.96
.86
1
st
A
2 I
ensure
that
the
books
I
publish
or
containing
my
chapter
have/obtain
CIP
15(30.0%)
1(2.0%)
13(26.0%)
21(42.0%)
2.80
1.28
2
nd
A
3 Authors
are
key
player
/stakeholders
in
Bibliographic
control
practices
in
the
National
Library
of
Nigeria
0(.0%)
22(44.0%)
17(34.0%)
11(22.0%)
2.78
.79
3
rd
A
4 I
ensure
that
my
publisher
use
ISBN
for
books
where
my
work
appear
8(16.0%)
5(10.0%)
30(60.0%)
7(14.0%)
2.72
.90
4
th
A
5 I
have
checked
whether
online
journal
containing
my
publication
have DOI
19(38.0%)
2(4.0%)
14(28.0%)
15(30.0%)
2.50
1.28
5
th
A
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
provisions?
The level of agreement of the respondents
as to the strategies for enhancing awareness
of international publishing standards and
legal deposit provision obligations is
reflected in Table 7. The first among the
strategies is that the National Library of
Nigeria should synergize with Librarians in
Ministries, Departments and Agencies of
g o v e r n m e n t t o e n s u r e s m o o t h
implementation of legal deposit provision
of the NLN Act (3.44). Secondly is the need
for synergy between NLN and librarians in
Nigeria's tertiary institutions (3.26); thirdly,
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
37
Table 6a: Authors' level of awareness of the legal deposit law
S/N SD D A SA Mean Std.
Deviation
R D
1 My
awareness
came
through
a
sensitization
/enlightenment
campaign
of
the
National
Library
of
Nigeria
3(6.0%)
11(22.0%)
16(32.0%)
20(40.0%)
3.06
.93
1
st
A
2 I
am
aware
of
my
obligation/
obligation
of
my
publisher
3(6.0%)
6(12.0%)
27(54.0%)
14(28.0%)
3.04
.81
2
nd
A
3 My
awareness
level
is
very
high
2(4.0%)
7(14.0%)
28(56.0%)
13(26.0%)
3.04
.75
3
rd
A
4 My
awareness
came
through
my
publisher
3(6.0%)
7(14.0%)
26(52.0%)
14(28.0%)
3.02
.82
4
th
A
5 My
awareness
came
through
a
colleague
4(8.0%)
8(16.0%)
26(52.0%)
12(24.0%)
2.92
.85
5
th
A
6 My
awareness
was
from
a
librarian
11(22.0%)
4(8.0%)
18(36.0%)
17(34.0%)
2.82
1.14
6
th
A
7 My
awareness
level
is
high
7(14.0%)
11(22.0%)
20(40.0%)
12(24.0%)
2.74
.99
7
th
A
8 My
awareness
came
as
a
result
of
conference/
participation
18(36.0%)
1(2.0%)
15(30.0%)
16(32.0%)
2.58
1.28
8
th
A
9 My
awareness
level
is
low
11()22.0%
11(22.0%)
18(36.0%)
10(20.0%)
2.54
1.05
9
th
A
10 I
am
aware
of
the
legal
deposit
provision
of
the
National
Library
of
Nigeria
Acts
17(34.0%)
0(.0%)
25(50.0%)
8(16.0%)
2.48
1.13
11
th
DA
11 My
awareness
level
is
very
low
17(34.0%)
5(10.0%)
24(48.0%)
4(8.0%)
2.30 1.04
12
th
DA
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
is the requirement for more publicity by the
NLN (2.84); other strategies include an
increase in the awareness of the importance
of benefits of legal deposit, (2.84)
harmonization of the multiple depository
legislation in Nigeria (2.78) and author's
need for more education on the provision of
the legal depository law. However, the
authors' need for more education on the
importance of ISBN and ISSN (2.20) and
NLN synergy with state/public libraries
(2.20) were not considered as critical
strategies for enhancing international
publishing standards and legal depository,
respectively.
Summary of Findings: Awareness of IPS
1. The highest level of awareness of
authors of international publishing
standard was that 'web resources now
have DOI', followed by ISBN for
books, CIP for publications, the
importance of CIP, ISMN for music
publications, the agency with
statutory responsibility to prepare
CIP, the agency that assigns ISBN, the
requirement for ISSN for journals.
2. They were however not aware of the
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
38
Table7: Strategies for enhancing awareness of International Publishing Standards
and Legal Deposit Provisions/Obligations
S/N SD D A SA Mean Std.
Deviation
R D
1 National
Library
should
synergize
with
librarians
in
MDA
of
government
to
ensure
smooth
implementation
of
legal
deposit
provision
3(6.0%)
6(12.0%)
16(32.0%)
25(50.0%)
3.44
.64
1
st
A
2 National
Library
should
synergize
with
librarians
in
tertiary
institutions
to
ensure
smooth
implementation
of
the
legal
deposit
provision
8(16.0%)
8(16.0%)
18(36.0%)
16(32.0%)
3.26
.90
2
nd
A
3 More
publicity
is
required
by
the
depository
Library
-
the
National
Library
of
Nigeria
13(26.0%)
7(14.0%)
10(20.0%)
20(40.0%)
2.84
1.13
3
rd
A
4 Awareness
of
the
importance/benefit
of
legal
deposit
should
be
increased
7(14.0%)
13(26.0%)
14(28.0%)
16(32.0%)
2.84
1.06
4
th
A
5 Multiply
deposit
law
(deposition
at
state
and
federal
level)
should
be
harmonized
10(20.0%)
6(12.0%)
16(32.0%)
18(36.0%)
2.78
1.06
5
th
A
6 Authors
need
more
education
on
the
provision
and
obligation
of
the
legal
deposit
law
21(42.0%)
7(14.0%)
13(26.0%)
9(18.0%)
2.74
1.24
6
th
A
7 Authors
need
more
education
on
the
importance
of
ISBN
and
ISSN
6(12.0%)
9(18.0%)
24(48.0%)
11(22.0%)
2.20
1.18
7
th
DA
8 National
Library
should
synergize
with
librarians
in
state
and
public
libraries
to
ensure smooth implementation of
the legal deposit provision
0(.0%)
4(8.0%)
20(40.0%)
26(52.0%)
2.20
1.18
8
th
DA
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
agency that assigns ISBN.
3. The study revealed that authors play
critical roles in the maintenance of
international publishing standards.
4. The authors studied agreed they
ensured that their publishers use
ISSN and process CIP for books.
5. They agreed that they are key players
in national bibliographic control
practices.
6. They also checked whether online
journals containing their works had
DOI.
7. The majority of the authors agreed
that their awareness levels were very
high and high respectively, for their
a w a r e n e s s o f l e g a l d e p o s i t
obligations.
8. The study also revealed that the
greatest source of awareness came
t h r o u g h s e n s i t i z a t i o n o r
e n l i g h t e n m e n t p r o g r a m m e s ,
followed by publishers, librarians,
conference participation in that order.
9. While the authors were aware of their
publishers' obligations, they were not
aware of the provisions of the legal
deposit provision.
Actionable Submission 1: Reasons for
Writing
1. The issues of publishing standards and
legal deposit do not arise or apply
where publications are not in existent.
While the National Library of Nigeria
is likely to see more compliance with
the deposit of items published by
authors, the contrary would be the
case where publications are low or
non-existent. This position is
supported by the findings of Akidi
(2017) which revealed that while the
NLN c o llection of bo oks in
compliance was largely effective, the
opposite was the case with the
collection of serials.
2. It is submitted that the most critical
i s s ue w i t h c o m p l i a n c e w i t h
international publications standards
may relate to the narrow publications'
latitude of authors.
It is further submitted that expanding the
author's publication latitude is critical to
assessing their works' compliance with both
international publications' standards and
compliance with legal deposit provision.
Actionable Submission 2: Authors Targets
Authors target children and young adults.
Publications for tertiary institutions are
dominated by foreign authors. Children's
literature must conform to international
publishing standards and deposited with the
legal depository agency. It is submitted that
efforts should be intensified by Nigerian
authors to cover the users at the tertiary
level.
Actionable Submission 3: Reasons for
Writing
1. In a culture where the major
motivation for writing is to overcome
career stagnation or retrogression, the
goal of publishing may not be driven
by the desire to conform to publishing
standards but to get the number of
publications that will satisfy the
requirement for career achievement.
2. It is submitted that where authors are
compelled to publish abroad in
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
39
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
impact factor journals, such an
intellectual property becomes a loss
to the nation's bibliographic and
depository heritage.
Actionable Submission 4: Awareness of
IPS
While authors' awareness of international
publication standards is commendable,
their low awareness of national agency that
issues ISBN needs to be corrected
especially given the fact that authors'
publications profile or output was highest
for books. It is recommendable that the
NLN organize a sensitization workshop for
stakeholders to acquaint themselves with
issues relating to international publication
standards.
Actionable Submission 5: Awareness of
Legal Deposits
1. NLN sensitization – The greatest
source of awareness of the legal
deposit provisions and obligations is
through the sensitization programmes
of the NLN. The publisher – author
nexus is a vital link in the
enhancement of authors' awareness of
the legal deposit provisions.
Participants at various professional
workshops organized by the NLN for
stakeholders on this issue should
share the lessons of their experience
with their colleagues.
2. It is submitted that librarians should
scale up their awareness level of the
deposit law in order to become
d i s s e m i n a t o r s o f t h e s a m e .
Wo r k s h o p s , s e m i n a r s a n d
conferences are credible avenues for
the NLN and the Nigeria Library
A s s o c i a t i o n t o d i s s e m i n a t e
information on the legal deposit
provisions.
Actionable Submission 6: Strategies
1. A synergy between departments and
agencies of the Nigerian State and
National Library of Nigeria is a vital
contact that would ensure that
government publishers reach the
National Library of Nigeria. These
agencies are required by the legal
depository provisions contained in
Section 4 of the National Library Act
of 1970 to deposit the highest number
of publications generated by the
government and its numerous
agencies. These agencies include
agriculture, health, justice, education,
information, commerce and industry.
2. The next synergy is between the NLN
and Librarians in tertiary institutions.
Nigeria has currently 92 universities
(NUC, 2019), 159 Colleges of
Education (NCCE, 2020) and 502
institutions under the National Board
Technical Educations. The sheer
thought of the number of publications
emanating from these institutions is
mind-boggling. These publications
emanate from University printing
presses, academic and public relation
departments of tertiary institutions in
form of theses, textbooks, journals,
news magazines and bulletins and
conference proceedings. Yet it would
appear that they hardly become part
of Nigerian's bibliographic and
intellectual heritage. Librarians in
these institutions can easily serve as
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
40
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
desk officers of the National Library
for coordinating the collection of
publications in compliance with their
depository obligations and ensuring
conformity with international
publication standards.
3. It is further submitted that expanding
authors' publication latitude is critical
to assessing their works' compliance
with both international publications'
standards and compliance with legal
deposit provision.
4. The results of this study have revealed
that the sensitization programmes of
the NLN have been critical in
increasing the author's awareness of
both the IPS and legal deposit
provisions and obligations. More
publicity will certainly increase the
awareness of authors about these
issues.
5. Conflicts between State and Federal
legal deposit laws create double
deposit obligations on the part of
a u t h o r s a n d p u b l i s h e r s .
Harmonization of Federal and State
deposit laws are vital in resolving the
conflict areas and minimizing the
financial and operational costs
associated with stakeholders'
fulfillment of deposit obligations.
Actionable Submission 7: Emerging
International Numbering Systems
New international numbering systems have
emerged. It is submitted that the NLN has
the statutory responsibility to domesticate
these emerging trends and provide the
nece ssar y l eade rshi p a bout the ir
implementation. These include:
1. ISRC-International Standard Recording
Code: ISO 3901: 2008, 1992;
2. I S R N- I n t e r n a ti o n al St a n d ar d
Technical Report Number: ISO
10444: 1993;
3. ISWC: International Standard
M u s i c a l Wo r k C o d e : I S O
15707:2001;
4. International Standard Audio-Visual
Number: Draft ISO 15706;
5. V-ISAN-Version Identifier for Audio
Visual Works: Draft ISO 20925; and
6. ISTC: International Standard Text
Code: ISO 21047.
These standards are yet to be contextualized
in the operation and activities of the
National Library of Nigeria as the nation's
bibliographic agency.
Actionable Submission 8: International
Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit
Nervous System for Nigeria
It is proposed that Nigeria needs a digital
nervous system (DNS) for the improvement
of publication standards and the
implementation of legal deposit in the
country.
CONCLUSIONS
Authors are critical stakeholders in the
publication's generation and production
chain. They may be located in tertiary
institutions, government agencies or the
private sector. There is a functional
relationship among authors, publishers,
printers, libraries, librarians, booksellers,
and the National Bibliographic Agency in
Nigeria, the National Library of Nigeria.
Authorized by the National Library Act of
1970, the NLN is responsible for the
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
41
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
maintenance of international publishing
standards (IPS) and compliance with the
deposit obligations by authors and
publishers. Authors and other stakeholders
must be aware of what these international
standards are and the demands of the
deposit law. Where they are not,
publications cannot be expected to conform
to international standards and compliance
with the legal deposit law will be
compromised or jeopardized.
This study, however, revealed that while
authors were aware of most international
publishing standards, they were not aware
of the agency that issues ISBN. This implies
that most publications are likely to be
without ISBN, a major setback in the
attainment of international publishing
Figure 1: A Conceptual Framework of Digital Nervous System of Shared Responsibility for
the Maintenance of International Publishing Standards and Implementation of Legal
Deposit Provisions in Nigeria.
standards. It is, however, noteworthy that
the sensitization workshops of the National
Library of Nigeria have largely contributed
to the increased awareness of both the IPS
and depository obligations of stakeholders.
This study has seven actionable
submissions. It was deliberate not to call
them recommendations; they are clarion
call for actions because every nation must
scale up to international publishing
standards for publications. The critical
submissions highlight the need for the
National Bibliographic Agency (NBA), the
National Library of Nigeria, to synergize
with critical stakeholders to achieve
improved international publishing
standards and compliance with legal
depository obligations. Nigeria has a huge
pu bli ca ti on s p ro du ct ion c ap ac ity
Volume 14 | Article 3 | May, 2021
42
National Library of
Nigeria –
National
Bibliographic Agency
Universities
Colleges of
Education
Libraries &
Librarians
MDAS –
Ministries,
Departments &
Agencies
Government
Parastatals
Research
Institutes
Printers
Polytechnics
Editors
Nigerian
Booksellers
Association
Publishers
Authors
Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
emanating from hundreds of tertiary
institutions, government agencies and
private sectors. Functional identification
and integration of these burgeoning
stakeholders into a digital nervous system
define the future from the foreground for
improved IPS and compliance with the
extant depository law, for Nigeria and
indeed, for most developing countries.
References
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bibliographic agencies in a digital age.
(International Conference on National
Bibliographic Services (ICNBS).
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IFLA (2017). Best practice for national
b i b l i o g r a p h i c a g e n c i e s :
Responsibilities of a national
bibliographic agency.
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Rami, R. (2017). Legal deposit and
https://www.ifla.org/node/8302
https://www.
ifla.org/node/8266
bibliographic control in Nigeria: some
reflections.
nigeria-some-reflections.
Akidi, J. O. (2017). Assessment of
bibliographic control practices of the
National Library of Nigeria in the
digital age. (Unpublished doctoral
thesis). University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
http://www.remiraji-
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deposit-and-bibliographic-control-
This work is licensed under a which
allows users to read, copy, distribute and make derivative works from the material, as long as
the author of the original work is cited properly. © 2021 The Authors, Nigerian Library
Association, Anambra State Chapter.
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Justina N. Ekere, Charles O. Omekwu, Eucharia Ken-Agbiriogu
Authors' Awareness of International Publishing Standards and Legal Deposit Obligations
