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Article Excerpt
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the project discussed in this article was to set up a computerized catalog and distribution database of alternative materials for visually impaired people in Nigeria. The project was based on the need to open wider the gates of information resources, nationally and internationally, to this category of information users by identifying the location and availability of resources throughout Nigeria and creating a database for access and retrieval. Another purpose was to create a template for database entry, which could be replicated by other developing countries. A state-by-state survey of educational institutions, state libraries, and nongovernmental organizations serving the visually impaired in all of the thirty-six states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was conducted. Three sets of data were gathered from a template for data entry of alternative materials and two questionnaires for institutions and the blind and visually impaired students. A database was designed and created using Microsoft Access. An American Disability Act (ADA) compliant Web site was designed, which has a "text-only" version for browsing by visually impaired persons (see www.alvi-laris.org).
INTRODUCTION
Blindness and visual impairments are common disabilities in all countries of the world. Nigeria is no exception to this phenomenon. The total population of Nigerians is estimated at 120 million people (Federal Office of Statistics, 1991), with blind and visually impaired persons numbering at least 1 million. It is also estimated that of this figure, more than 25,000 persons are of school age, and less than 10 percent of these actually attend school, with the remaining 90 percent confined to houses or roaming the streets as beggars (Agbaje, 2000). For the small percentage of blind and visually impaired persons in schools from primary to tertiary levels, there is no adequate provision of reading and information materials. The need to produce enough reading and information materials in alternative formats for blind and visually impaired students at all educational institutions in Nigeria is steadily gaining momentum. This is a consequence of the federal government policy (Federal Ministry of Education, 1981) of equitable educational provision for all children, regardless of their physical, mental, or emotional disabilities. This policy encouraged an overwhelming increase in school enrollment for blind and visually impaired students.
In Nigeria today blind and visually impaired students are found at all educational institutions in primary and secondary schools, polytechnics, universities, and vocational training centers. They, like their sighted counterparts, are in search of academic laurels. Unfortunately, the production and distribution of information resources in alternative formats to meet the needs of these blind and visually impaired students is haphazard and uncoordinated. The reason may be attributed to the fact that there is no national library service for blind and visually impaired persons in Nigeria.
THE CHALLENGE
Although there is no national library service there is a myriad of organizations involved in attempting to meet the needs of the blind and visually impaired, as set out in Table 1. The author was successful in winning the Ulverscroft Foundation/International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Libraries for the Blind Section's Institutional Best Practice Award in 2003, in order to address the challenge of systematically auditing and recording the national provision of alternative format materials in Nigeria.
Federal Government Involvement: Educational Provision and Library Services
The federal government's involvement has tended more toward establishing educational institutions to train special teachers rather than providing information material or library services. The establishment of the Federal College of Education (Special) (1977) and the Department of Special Education in the Universities of Ibadan (1974), Jos (1977), Bayero, Calabar, and Uyo attest to this fact. Government involvement in providing library services is minimal.
State Library Services
State libraries are essentially public libraries. They come under the auspices of each State Ministry of Education. The state librarian is a civil servant, designated the director of library services. Out of the thirty-six state libraries in Nigeria, only three--Oyo, Imo, and Abia--offer library services to blind and visually impaired students. These state libraries do not produce books; they receive Braille books from donors and make them available in their libraries.
Special Schools for the Blind
There are a few schools in Nigeria that are exclusively for blind and visually impaired children. An example is the Pacelli School for the Blind in Lagos, which transcribes books into Braille for its own students. At the secondary school level, visually impaired students are integrated with sighted students. Thus, visually impaired students are in secondary schools all over the country. For most of them books in Braille are rare unless they make private arrangements to procure or produce these books for themselves. This is also true of most of the students in tertiary institutions. They depend mostly on their own effort to get their reading materials in alternative formats.
Nongovernmental Organizations
There are three major nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in southwest Nigeria and two in the north; they dominate the scene of materials production for blind and visually impaired students. Nigerwives Braille Production Centre, Lagos, produces Braille textbooks for blind and visually impaired students in primary and secondary schools. They also set up reading corners in special primary schools to promote Braille literacy. Anglo Nigeria Welfare Association for the Blind (ANWAB), Lagos, produces Braille by computer and offers library services. Its collection of about 200 titles in Braille and 200 audio tapes are in subject areas for adults, children, and undergraduates from the University of Lagos. Nigeria Society for the Blind, Lagos, is a voluntary organization with a vocational training center, a well-equipped library, and a recording studio for blind and visually impaired persons. It produces Braille by computer and also receives donations of books from abroad. Gindiri Materials Centre for the Visually Handicapped (GMCVH), Jos, in the north, provides a wide range of services to visually impaired persons in the Gindiri, Jos area....
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