Application of Collection Development Policies in documenting Religious Conflict without sustaining Resentment in Nigerian Universities

The prevalence of religious conflict in the world and particularly in the Nigerian society has been a major source of concern to individuals, families and the society at large. Libraries serve as a collection point for all kinds of resources and they also render services irrespective of religion, colour or social status. In doing this, the libraries are guided by collection development policies. This study investigated the application of collection development policies in documenting religious conflicts without sustaining resentment in selected Nigerian Universities. The study adopted a survey research design. The population for the study comprises 20 university librarians and deputy university librarians in 10 selected Nigerian universities. Eight (8) university librarians and deputy university librarians in four randomly selected universities were composed for the study. Instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire developed by the researchers and validated by experts. Data collected for the study was analyzed using Frequency Counts, Percentages, Mean and Standard Deviation. Findings of the study revealed that collection development policies applied in Nigerian Universities in documenting religious conflicts without sustaining resentment include selection, selection criteria, selection procedure statement, collection evaluation methods, donation/ free materials and resource sharing. The finding also revealed that collection development policies such as selection and selection criteria are to a very great extent applied while selection procedure statement and resource sharing policies are applied to a great extent. Finally, the finding revealed that the constraints to the application of collection development policies in Nigerian Universities include, lack of cooperation from parent institution, lack of revision policy, administrative bottlenecks to policy implementation and maintenance, lack of skills/training of information professionals in processing and disseminating indigenous information/knowledge for conflict resolution and breakdown in communication of information due to high illiteracy level of the grassroots community members and inadequate technological infrastructure and knowledge among others. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that, or application of collection development policies to be effective and successful particularly in documenting religious conflicts without sustaining resentment in university libraries, there is the need for professional librarians to be well equipped with the knowledge of library systems and how to run and manage its activities and adequate funds should be made available to university libraries to facilitate application of collection development policies particularly in documenting religious conflicts in Nigeria.