A challenge facing the American University of Nigeria (AUN) Library, located in Yola, north-eastern Nigeria, is its inability to satisfy the needs of its large community of users without affecting the quality of service it provides to the university community. To minimize the pressure on the only library with Internet facilities in the region, it developed a web-based application shared via USB flash drive, named Library-On-A-Flash (LOAF). LOAF contains OER, which may be used offline by libraries without access to the Internet It has links to reputable Databases and resources produced by two USAID and AUN-sponsored projects (TELLA and STELLAR. The application is the result of the collaboration of the Library and ITU and is used by institutions, IDPs and NGOs displaced by Boko Haram insurgencies. The projects major challenges are the capacity of the application and intensive copying and sharing. The features and content of LOAF will be demonstrated to participants during the conference.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Reduce the pressure put on their library facilities by large communities of users often common in developing countries.
- Raise awareness on Open Access Resources, especially among libraries with scarce learning resources and poor internet connection.
- Adopt and adapt OER for their learning and teaching to reduce the cost of textbooks.
