Sustainable Marketing of Agricultural Information Resources: Benefits and Expectations of Agricultural Libraries in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper reiterates the importance of agricultural development in nation building and the roles of agricultural libraries to ensure so through its services that facilitate effective dissemination of agricultural information resources requisite to all agricultural innovative and sustainable activities. Constant changing technologies, ineffective and poor knowledge base, inadequate funding, duplication of research efforts, deficiencies and dearth of specific information resources were major constraints identified. Marketing principles and its tools when fully harnessed by agricultural libraries can overcome constraints, facilitate the harnessing, rationalize and leave rooms for fine-tuning agricultural information resources for effective prioritization. In conclusion the study reveals that marketing as tool bridges agriculture, its economic activities (production, protection, market and processing) and provide regulatory policies to target audiences. It recommends the promotion of open access resource systems, the libraries should remain fully and exclusive to internalized priorities. Institutional and human capacity building must be supported in managing resource generation and exploitation in productive and sustainable manner.