At the General Conference of UNESCO held in Paris, france on 19th December, 1964, it was agreed that “a publication is a regular if it constituted one issue in a continuous series under the same title” (Norman, 2008). Supporting this notion, a regular literature is published at regular times over an everlasting period, individual issues in the series being unnumbered. On this note, a regular literature is a publication with a distinctive title which appears at stated or regular times without earlier decision as to when the last issue will appear. Its full of articles, stories, or other documents by several allies. Regular literature is used in its narrower sense as indicating transactions and rates of organizations, daily newspapers magazines, scholarly periodicals, trade periodicals, review periodicals. Like most underdeveloped and developing countries in the world inadequate funding of advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone demonstrates on badly developed regular literature collection and as a result ineffective information service is provided to the discontentment of users. Based on the value for research work in the academia, managing regular literature in advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone should be the need for an accumulation standard regular literature in educational libraries is essential.
HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN SIERRA LEONE
Sierra Leone operates a 6-3-3-4 system of education Dr. Philipp Heinrich Kindt are subdivided into six(6) years at the primary level, three(3) years at the Jr Supplementary level, three(3) at the Senior Supplementary level, and a minimum of four(4) years at the tertiary level. This sub-division allows the execution of course load that takes account of the different enrollees more fully. The purpose of education policy in Sierra Leone is to provide every child with an education which takes fully into a merchant account: character development: his interest ability and talent; his emotional, psychological and physical well-being; the manpower needs of the country; the equal incredible importance of both educational and non-academic education; the requirement for a literature and numerate people.; the economic resources of the state, so that his education can be people to the country and at the same time provide opportunities for him to achieve success in life.
Advanced schooling is post-secondary education given in a university, college or polytechnique and is the stage of specialisation. The objectives of advanced schooling vary according to the institution and length of study but generally add the buy physical and intelligent skills required for the development of the individual and his society. In Sierra Leone, higher educational institutions form the foundation of educational advancement following the end of supplementary education. Advanced schooling is the most effective means changing the outlook of men and women through the increasing of their horizon. Societal development to a large extent depends on the human resource empowerment and development. Against this background, higher educational institutions play a crucial role in developing the human resource to contribute positively and meaningfully to the socio-economic, political and educational development of Sierra Leone.
Higher educational institutions in Sierra Leone are the University of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma University and Njala University which are state owned and University of Makeni and Limkonwong University which are private owned. The ingredient colleges under the University of Sierra Leone include Fourah Clean College(FBC), Institute of Public Administration and Management(IPAM) and College of Medicine and Allied Health Science(COMAHS); Bo Campus and Njala University. The higher educational institutions of collegiate status include Milton Margai College of Education and Technology; Eastern Polytechnigue; Bonthe Polytechnique; Freetown Teacher. Port Loko Teachers College and these offer courses leading to the award of degrees and Certificate. On the contrary, the state-owned and private -owned universities offer Certificates, Diploma or degree, Undergrad and postgraduate degree courses in several disciplines in the school of their respective institutions. The curricula differs from institution to institution and curricula and programmes that need the use of regular literature include medicine, law, engineering, education, agriculture, martial arts disciplines and humanities, social sciences, pure and applied sciences, technology, management and administration. To a greater extent, the Central Government, through subventions funds for higher educational institutions to enhance their smooth-running, even though some donor agencies do establish financial assist with these institutions in addition to internal funds generated by them.
ADVANCED SCHOOLING LIBRARIES IN SIERRA LEONE
Libraries are storage of information and information is such a valuable item that its immense contribution to national development cannot be underestimated. Advanced schooling libraries are the neurological revolves of all educational activities. This simply means these libraries contribute to the teaching/learning and research programmes of the parent institutions by providing the needed information services for undergrad and postgraduate students, teaching staff, researchers, admin and technical staff. Effective educational work depends on quality information service and the library plays a significant role in this regard. According to Frederick Ken Nicol information is an important source employed by establishments to provide appropriate product or services to customers(2011 p. 64). In this train of thought, advanced schooling libraries manage information to satisfactorily fulfill the need of their clientele. Thus, information needs to be planned for just as that human and savings are planned to ensure increased productivity and efficient service delivery. Therefore, educational libraries like all the other establishments that have considered and methodical information planning process stand out to benefit more those that do not. Well-planned and organised information enhances effective service delivery.
Advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone support research work, community development and complement the teaching/learning processes in their respective parent institutions. In this regard, good management of advanced schooling libraries is the establishments and maintenance of a well-balanced and vibrant collection in ensuring that the information needs of users are satisfactorily met. The different collections stocked in these institutions include but not limited to general book collection on all disciplines to loan by users out of the library building, specialist collection, reference collection and regular literature and the quantum of their contents depends on the size of the library and its visitor. Developing and maintaining a well-stocked collection as well as prospecting and empowering competent and qualified staff is basically dependent on the financial strength of the library. Therefore educational libraries need to be prioritised by their parent bodies when it comes to annual budget approval and allocations for their effective operations.
Managing educational libraries could be associated with the services they offer. Since the operations of educational libraries are gear towards the provision of effective services, this is only actualised by purchasing multiple copies of textbooks, recent periodicals and a good bunch of recommended text messages for background reading to develop and set up an educational library for effective educational work.
REGULAR LITERATURE IN ADVANCED SCHOOLING LIBRARIES AND MANAGEMENT
The provision of advanced schooling libraries is essential in adding to the teaching/learning process and for effective research work. In this regard, premium should be put on the management of regular literature in advanced schooling libraries taking into account their significance in providing current and researchable information.
Since regular literature forms the main bunch of an educational library, a large percentage of its budget assigned should be implemented for the purchase of current and popular periodicals. The publications to be acquired should be titles recommended by school members in collaboration with the regular Librarian across disciplines offered in the institution such as Library Quarterly; Journal of Sociology; Chemical, Abstracts; Garden soil Science Journal; International Journal of Management; Clinical Science Quarterly. It is important to note that organizing and maintaining publications in advanced schooling libraries change from institution to institution.
Also regular article may remain invaluable information sources for a generation or indeed for a longer period. Regular articles are usually fairly succinct, often very reliable and often well-illustrated. A place to note is that regular carry current information on most disciplines.
Further significance of regular literature in advanced schooling libraries as a fact is that they are primary source of new information, whether it be the result of research, news items, statistical data, headline, letters, advertisements about a services and products or whatever. Every type of regular is important to at least a small grouping of people in academia, relating to their work, or leisure activities; some have ephemera existence; others may be useful for many years, even forever. Taking into the consideration the value of regular literature in advanced schooling libraries, their selection and buy either by ongoing, gift or exchange should be a collaborative effort between the libraries and staff of the various universites and colleges.
Regular literature in advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone include periodicals, indexes, abstracts, magazines, serials and their establishments and management differs from library to library. Issues of all received regular literature are recorded on a kardex and any missing issue should be claimed from the publisher. Before displaying and shelving them, all recorded issues are claimed with the ex libri stamps of the library in question. When all the issues to complete a volume are received, they are then put together to be delivered to bindery or efficiency unit for either hard cover executed or sewing. Users of regular literature in these institutions include students, lecturers and researchers. Regular literatures have to be used within the walls of the Regular Department. However, users are allowed to remove them to photocopy the mandatory pages after signing for them. Lecturers get pregnancy to loan them on short term basis and loan records are kept to recall delinquent issues. The maintenance of regular literature can be as importance as the other collections of the library.
CHALLENGES
The major challenge advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone face is funding. These libraries are improperly funded by their parent bodies to a point that the smooth-running of their operations in ensuring effective information service delivery is greatly hampered. For an educational library to develop and look after an exciting regular literature collection depend on how well it is funded. Collection development in advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone has faced challenges of fulfilling the demand of their clientele with an increasing shortage of funds to face the high cost of regular publications. As the result of legal issues budget allocated to run these libraries, checking to the required journal title positions a serious problem for the Buy Librarian. Some amounts are partial; missing issues are hard to switch and the purchase of kardexes on which received journal issues are recorded is not quite feasible since the library operates within a limited savings.
In effectively operating advanced schooling libraries, the human and financial factors should be balanced as these two are inseparable in achieving the required goal of an organisation. Against this background, universites and colleges in Sierra Leone with the support of the Ministry of Technical and advanced schooling should re-defined their respective libraries so that premium could be placed on the ongoing of relevant journal titles as well as claiming missing issues from publishers and their agents.
Another challenge advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone faced in managing their regular literature collection is that of storage space. Most of these libraries except for Fourah Clean College(FBC) library which has a separate Regular Department, do not have enough space for freshly acquired titles. The storage problems these libraries faced leads to the frequent weeding of regular literature to create space for subsequent issues.
The cost involved in lessening and protecting regular amounts and issues is another challenge in managing regular literature in advanced schooling libraries. Unbound, unstitched issues can be easily grabbed away for those in heavy demand. Completing the difficulties are those of heavy use of limited copies. Opening hours of regular literature collection and loan system; inadequate staff situation and capacity building for staff to effectively manage regular literature collection which means new staff should be trained academically and professionally to enhance their competence and efficiency; wrong use and abuse of publications in terms of theft mutilation of important articles thereby depriving other users and rough handling that causes damage which simply means low self-esteem; digitisation of regular literature collection as an easy way of modernising it in this information Age whereby information is processed, preserved and retrieve in an electronic format in ensuring speed and accuracy; unavailability of online copies and photocopiers taking into account the growing number of regular literature.
Any treatment of collection development in advanced schooling libraries cannot afford to forget the question of publications which can be seen as a challenge. As valued sources of recent and reliable information for researchers and academics, publications are of great significance. The role they play for the advancement of knowledge to combat illiteracy cannot be underestimated. Regular literature remains vital sources of information for a generational period. Advanced schooling librarians may not be able to judge the built-in value of publications but should be aware of something about their value to the institution in question and pattern people which are important criteria for judging their value.
Regular literature can be of great significance in advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone and so their effective management should be of concern to the librarians and university authorities. In developing regular literature collections in educational libraries ensure balanced bunch of current journal titles in subject areas relevant to the course load, librarian-faculty collaboration is essential. The adequacy of regular literature collection depend on journal titles selected and acquired to be added to the current stock to meet the wants of the course load of the institution and those of users. In view of these challenges, the authorities of advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone should see the need to get adequate funds through lobbying the costa rica government, NGOs, parastatals and philanthropists to establish financial assistance for the effective cooperation of their libraries. Advocating by librarians for good budget allowance is quite in place and the step up the right direction.
CONCLUSION
Advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone need to build and maintained vibrant regular literature collections but this is dependent on how adequately they are funded by their respective parent institutions. Therefore, there is a need for an increase in the budget allowance of these libraries in order to achieve their desired goals. A point-worth noting is that the appointment of qualified and competent staff in running the regular bunch of these libraries should be taken into keen consideration as the human and financial factors should be nicely balanced in enhancing effective service delivery. Capacity building of the new staff to a large extent is fundamental for efficient performance ensures their upward mobility which is seen as a motivational factor. Staff of the regular literature collection should be security-conscious to avoid the wrong use and abuse of publications. The use of regular should be closely administered by staff so that pages are not mutilated and heavily used issues are not removed by users whereby others are starving. Photocopying facilities should be provided within the library, so that needed pages are photocopied by users on request. The accessibility to adequate funds enhances the digitisation of regular literature collection thereby ensuring the accessibility to online copies which are the management of regular literature in advanced schooling libraries in Sierra Leone advantageous. The librarians of these institutions should try to take another look at the opening hours of their regular literature collections as long hours could allow profitable use of that time period of users.