Abstract

The increasing reliance on electronic serials in academic research and teaching, coupled with the complexities of digital information management, necessitates a comprehensive understanding of how university libraries build and sustain such collections. This study investigated the collection development practices of electronic serials in university libraries in South-East Nigeria, with a focus on practices of building e-serials collection, challenges of building and managing e-serials, and strategies for addressing and improving collection development of e-serials. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Total population of 327 librarians and library officers across eight public university libraries (five federal and three state universities) were sampled, with sample size of 175 respondents determined using proportionate stratified and random sampling techniques. Data were collected through structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that while electronic serials are recognized as essential resources, university libraries in Southeast, Nigeria adopted various collection development practices in the building of their e-serials, such as: defined and clear collection development policy; had licensing agreements with publishers and vendors; used mixed acquisition methods, such as subscription and direct purchase, among others. The study identified limited budget for e-serials subscription, copyright, licensing and access fees, insufficient IT infrastructure to support e-serials access and management, technical challenges in the preservation and archiving of e-serials selection and evaluation problems, digital rights management, limited expertise and experience by staff in the management of e-serials collection, etc. Based on these findings, the study recommends adequate and comprehensive budget provisions for e-serials subscription and acquisition, that would enable them to provide and maintain IT infrastructure to support e-serials access and management, plan and implementation through collection development policies a robust e-serials management that would enable staff stay current in managing e-serials collection, among others.