Archival resources in the Kenneth Dike Library, University of Ibadan, and other non-government institutions in Nigeria

Extract

The purpose of this brief paper is to draw attention to the significance of non-Government archival resources in Nigeria, the role of non-governmental institutions in their collection and preservation and some of the problems they face in the current economic situation. The distinction between public and private archives is based on the purpose of the initial collection, but I draw no hard and fast line. Many of the records that end up in public archives are generated initially in private places. Some of them, after they have passed through the public domain end up in the private collection of public figures. The facilities for copying documents today ensure much overlapping. What needs to be underlined here is the role of non-Governmental institutions, particularly universities, in archive collection and preservation.