DONALD E.U. EKONG LIBRARY WEEKLY REPORT 28TH APRIL – 2ND MAY 2025
1. On Monday, April 28, 2025, two National Universities Commission (NUC) visited the Library for resource verification. The first team, led by Professor Mohammed Abubakar, arrived at exactly 10:17 a.m. for the verification of library resources on the Agric Education programme of the University of Port Harcourt. Dr. Sam Yahaya led the second team that came at the same time to verify the resource of the University’s Finance and Banking Insurance programme.
2. On the same day, April 28, 2025, Dr. Millie Nne Horsfall of the Acquisition Unit and Dr. Mary IG-Worlu of the Reader’s Service Unit celebrated their birthdays with the members of staff of the Donald E.U. Ekong Library.
3. On Friday, May 2, 2025, Professor Liu Hongwu, a scholar and a former student of Professor (Emeritus) E.J. Alagoa, visited Donald E.U. Ekong Library with his team to consult materials on African History authored by Emeritus Professor E.J. Alogoa.
4. During the week, the Library acquired daily issues from the following newspapers to keep staff and students of the University updated on local and international news: The Guardian, Daily Sun, Punch, Vanguard, Telegraph, Business Day, and This Day. The current daily issues are available at the Reference Unit of the Library.
5. The weekly statistics indicated a 54.5% decrease in patronage from last week’s one thousand, eight hundred and fifty-one (1,851) to eight hundred and forty-two (842) recorded in the current week. The decline resulted from the vacation at the end of academic activities for the session.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. The Library has acquired MatLab. The MaTrics Laboratory (MatLab) is a proprietary multi-paradigm programming language and numeric computing environment that includes matrix manipulating and plotting functions-abc data, implementing algorithms, creating users, and interacting with programmes written in other languages.
9. The Library has also received updated content on the BioOne database (https://bioone.org/). This database provides registered researchers and staff with information materials, journals, and multimedia collections related to biological sciences and their disciplines.
10. 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 centered on agriculture and its related disciplines.
11. The Library has also benefited immensely from the updated contents of the AJOL database (https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajol). This data is credited as one of the world’s largest databases housing peer-viewed African-published scholarly works in various disciplines for registered researchers and staff.
12. The American Corner, Port Harcourt, hosted the two following programmes:
i. Workshop on Financial & Professional Development programme on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. The programme had 22 participants in attendance.
ii. The Education-USA programme was on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. The programme had 12 participants in attendance.
13. The American Corner, Port Harcourt, has acquired a subscription to Chat Generative Predictive Text (ChatGPT) Artificial Intelligence. This AI is free for users at the American Corner, Port Harcourt.
14. The Opportunity Fund Scheme from the American Consulate funding scheme for academically outstanding indigent students is still available. Registration is available at https://opportunityfundsnigeria.org. The fund only covers upfront costs (application, test, and admission fees).
15. Education-USA will be nominating students for the Second Chance programme, 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 for applying to U.S. Universities. If you know high-achieving students who meet these criteria, kindly refer them to the American Corner, Port Harcourt.
16. The ELibraryUSA databases are available to users and provide 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.
17. Upcoming Programmes: The American Corner, Port Harcourt, will host the Education- USA programme on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Staff members and students are encouraged to attend.
18. The American Corner, Port Harcourt, recorded one hundred and one (101) users in the week under review.
DONALD E.U. EKONG LIBRARY WEEKLY REPORT 5TH – 9TH MAY 2025
1. On Tuesday, 6th, and Wednesday, May 7, 2025, a virtual training session was held for librarians of the University of Port Harcourt, focusing on ProQuest and Clarivate platforms. The session was facilitated by Samantha Bennett, who provided hands-on guidance on using several digital tools to enhance information resource management and research efficiency in academic libraries.
From 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on the first day, the training covered LibCentral, Ebook Central, and the ProQuest Research Assistant. Participants were taken through account
setup procedures, search functionalities, administrative tools within LibCentral, and vital support materials, including the Ebook Central LibGuide and Africa Education Hub resources. The second session focused on the ProQuest Research Assistant, with emphasis on navigating the ProQuest platform, managing research content, and utilizing the available support links and LibGuides for optimal use.
On the second day, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, training centred on Reference Management Tools, specifically RefWorks, and EndNote. Participants learned how to create and manage references, cite sources using ‘Cite While You Write’ (CWYW), and access extended learning materials through LibGuides, support pages, and webinars.
2. During the week, the Library acquired daily issues of the following newspapers to keep staff and students of the university updated on local and international news: The Guardian, Daily Sun, Punch, Vanguard, Telegraph, Business Day, and This Day. The current daily issues are available at the Reference Unit of the Library.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The Library has acquired MatLab. The MaTrics Laboratory (MatLab) is a proprietary multi-paradigm programming language and numeric computing environment that includes matrix manipulating and plotting functions-abc data, implementing algorithms, creating users, and interacting with programmes written in other languages.
6. The Library has also benefited immensely from the updated contents of the AJOL database (https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajol). This data is credited as one of the world’s largest databases housing peer-viewed African-published scholarly works in various disciplines for registered researchers and staff.
7. The Library has received updated content on the BioOne database https://bioone.org/). This database provides registered researchers and staff with information materials, journals, and multimedia collections related to biological sciences and their disciplines.
8. 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 centered on agriculture and its related disciplines.
9. The American Corner, Port Harcourt, hosted the Education-USA programme on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. The programme had 19 participants in attendance.
10. The American Corner, Port Harcourt, has acquired a subscription to Chat Generative Predictive Text (ChatGPT) Artificial Intelligence. This AI is free for users at the American Corner, Port Harcourt.
11. The Opportunity Fund Scheme from the American Consulate funding scheme for academically outstanding indigent students is still available. Registration is available at https://opportunityfundsnigeria.org. The fund only covers upfront costs (application, test, and admission fees).
12. Education-USA will be nominating students for the Second Chance programme, 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 for applying to U.S. Universities. If you know high-achieving students who meet these criteria, kindly refer them to the American Corner, Port Harcourt.
13. The ELibraryUSA databases are available to users and provide 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.
14. Upcoming Programmes: The American Corner, Port Harcourt, will host the Education- USA programme on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Staff members and students are encouraged to attend.
15. The American Corner, Port Harcourt, recorded one hundred and twenty-four (124) users in the week under review.
Supplementary Information:
Donald Ekong Library is a repository for diverse information, and the dedicated members of staff are committed to rendering quality and efficient service. Therefore, staff and students are encouraged to take advantage of the innumerable library resources, which include a rich collection of books, non-book materials, and other research materials. For a real-time response to information about the Library and its collections, library patrons can access the virtual librarian Chatbot on the Library’s website: 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