THE ROLE OF ACADEMIC LAW LIBRARIANS IN PROMOTING LEGAL AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

The paper emphases on the importance of education and training of academic law librarians which will enhance their critical role of provision of access to justice and aid in the promotion of national integration and development. The Concept of Education and National Integration and reasons why National Integration is a failure is discussed. The legal discipline, the importance of law libraries to legal profession and the development of academic law libraries are discussed. The paper also discussed the concept of education and training needs for academic law librarians as well as the various forms of training and the institutions and professional bodies involved in their training. The varied access to justice services and initiatives such as access to information, library services, collection development, provision of internet services, etc are discussed. The paper concluded by stating the challenges academic law librarians faced in the provision of these services.