DONALD E. U. EKONG LIBRARY WEEKLY REPORT
24TH – 28TH MARCH 2025
1. On Wednesday, 26th and Friday, 28 March 2025, 1,416 students from the Faculties of Education, Law, and School of Science Laboratory Technology (SSLT) were received at the Library for Year One Library Orientation/Practical. The students were taken on a guided tour of the Library and sensitized to the available library resources. Mrs. Hope Chiekezie represented the Head of the Readers Services Department in leading the team that received the students.
2. On 21 March 2025, Hon. O. K. Chinda donated a Starlink internet device to the Donald E. U. Ekong Library. The device was installed and fully activated on 28 March 2025. The Library Management expresses gratitude for the donation, which will significantly enhance information service delivery to the University community.
3. The American Consulate, through the American Corner, Port Harcourt, offers programmes to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous and highlight excellence in American Affairs. Staff and students of the University are encouraged to register with the American Corner @ https://forms.gle/fNmcMpyXqw7jULpa7 for this opportunity and visit the American Corner after registration for onboarding. Registration is FREE.
4. The American Corner, Port Harcourt, hosted the Education-USA programme on Wednesday, 26 March 2025. The programme had 33 participants in attendance.
5. The American Corner, Port Harcourt, has acquired a subscription to Chat Generative Predictive Text (ChatGPT) Artificial Intelligence. This AI is available and free of charge at the American Corner, Port Harcourt.
6. The Opportunity-Fund-Scheme from the American Consulate funding scheme for academically outstanding indigent students is still available. The registration is available @ https://opportunityfundsnigeria.org. The fund only covers the upfront cost of application, test, and admission fees.
7. Education-USA will be nominating students for the Second-Chance program, which is designed to support students who have faced initial rejections or other challenges in their pursuit of studying in the United States. This initiative provides a second opportunity to apply to United States of America Universities. High-achieving students who meet these criteria should visit the American Corner, Port Harcourt, for this opportunity.
8. The ELibraryUSA database is available for users and provides remote access to JSTOR, ProQuest, PressReader, Libby App, BookFlix, and Kanopy. Users are encouraged to register at the American Corner, Port Harcourt, for guidance on remote access registration.
9. On Friday, 28 March 2025, the American Corner, Port Harcourt, previewed the movie Iron Jawed Angels to commemorate International Women’s Day, which came up on 08 March 2025.
10. Upcoming Programmes: The American Corner, Port Harcourt, will host the Education-USA Programme on Wednesday, 02 April 2025. Staff members and students are encouraged to attend.
11. The American Corner had two hundred and sixty-four (264) users in the week under review.
12. Over the week, the Library acquired daily issues of the following newspapers to keep staff and students updated on global and local news: Guardian, Daily Sun, Punch, Vanguard, Telegraph, Business Day, and This Day. The current daily issues are accessible in the Documents and Reference Units of the Library.
13. The statistics for the week under review indicate an 18.7% increase in the patronage of the University Library from three thousand, seven hundred and eighty-six (3,786) users recorded in the previous week to four thousand, four hundred and ninety-three (4,493) users recorded in the present week.
14. Donald E. U. Ekong Library maintained two shifts from 8.00 a.m. – 9.00 p.m. on weekdays and 9.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. on Saturdays.
15. The Knowledge Commons (for undergraduate students) and the Research Commons (for postgraduate students) are accessible to students and researchers who wish to utilize the e-resources of the Library. Similarly, the Elsevier training laboratory on the second floor of the library has internet access to all subscribed databases and is accessible to faculty members.
16. The library has received updated content in the OnePro database (https://onepetro.org/journals). This database furnishes registered researchers and faculty members with information on the oil and gas exploration and production industry.
17. The Library has received an update of its Scopus Database with the new content (https://www.scopus.com/home.uri). This database provides registered faculty members and researchers with the most extensive abstracts and cited databases on peer-reviewed literature and information materials across disciplines.
18. The Library has received updated content on the AGORA database (https://www.fao.org/agora/en/). This database furnishes registered researchers and staff with information materials, journals, audio-visual materials, and other collections centred on agriculture and its related disciplines.
Supplementary Information:
In the words of John Stuart Mill, the library is described as ‘a marketplace of ideas where the free exchange of thought and opinions is crucial for the advancement of knowledge and truth.’ Therefore, students and members of staff of the University are encouraged to patronize the vast resources available in the Library. For a real-time response to information about the Library and its collections, library patrons can access the virtual librarian Chatbot on the website of the Library as follows: https://library.uniport.edu.ng/.
The dedicated members of staff are committed to rendering quality and efficient service delivery in the Library, which has a rich collection of books, non-book materials, and other research materials. Please visit the library: https://library.uniport.edu.ng/.
Donald Ekong Library Communication Channels for remote access are as follows:
Phone: +2349138269564
Website: https://library.uniport.edu.ng/
E-mail: library@uniport.edu.ng
Facebook: uniportlibrary
LinkedIn: Uniportlibrary
Twitter: @uniportlibrary
YouTube: Uniportlibrary
Signed:
Prof. Helen U. Emasealu, CLN
University Librarian
