Electronic Library, The

Purpose – Productivity in library and information entails efficient and timely information acquisition, processing, storage, retrieval and delivery. The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons why the productivity of women in library and information should be enhanced; to describe problems which militate against this; and to highlight their future prospects.

Design/methodology/approach – These objectives are achieved through the descriptive survey methodology.

Findings – The finding is that, in spite of the fact that the productivity of women in Nigeria has generally been regarded as low because of traditional prejudices against women and lack of data on the productivity of women in the informal sector, the productivity of women in the library and information sector has remained high and needs enhancement to encourage them to aim higher in the profession. One way of achieving this is by getting them fully involved in information technology. Another way is government's financial support of their aspirations towards training and retraining; attendance to seminar-workshops, exchange programmes in connection with sabbatical leave appointments, etc.

Research limitations/implications – For further research, this paper suggests an investigation into the implications of government's investment on women librarians for the harnessing of knowledge and information for sustainable rural development in Nigeria.

Practical implications – The practical implication of the paper is that with government's focus on women librarians to tap their potentials, they will become more sensitive in their professional practice and will endeavour to show-case their enhanced productivity.

Originality/value – The new value is the suggestion that women librarians should be incorporated to assist in producing national data on the productivity of women in the informal sector.