Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
12-2011
Abstract
Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects and behaviour. It includes the ideas, value, customs and artefacts of a group of people (Schaefer, 2002). Culture is a pattern of human activities and the symbols that give these activities significance. It is what people eat, how they dress, beliefs they hold and activities they engage in. It is the totality of the way of life evolved by a people in their attempts to meet the challenges of living in their environment, which gives order and meaning to their social, political, economic, aesthetic and religious norms and modes of organisation thus distinguishing people from their neighbours. In Federal Republic of Nigeria (1988), culture comprises material, institutional, philosophical and creative aspects.
The process of expanding culture has been under way for many centuries, but technologies have increased the speed and have also broadened the distribution of cultural elements beyond communities and nations’ territorial frontiers.
However, culture can be transmitted or acquired through information or symbol. Cultural identity is those attributes, behavioural patterns, lifestyles, social structures and norms that distinguish a people from other peoples (Omekwu, 2003). These are passed on laterally or inherited from one generation to another (cultural heritage), or horizontally passed on from one society to another through such agent as globalization. Henslin (2007) sees globalization as “the increased interconnectedness and under dependence of different societies around the world”. He also sees it as the breaking down of national boundaries because of advances in communications, trade and travel.
Today the paradigm is shifting with the new opportunities and challenges created by new technologies. The message of this paper is therefore to examine;
- The emerging issues in the globalization of Nigerian cultural heritage.
- The impacts of technologies on the globalization of Nigeria cultural heritage.
- The role of libraries in the documentation, presentation and globalization of cultural heritage
- And the challenges and suggestions on how these effects may be overcome.
Now, what are the: Issues, Impacts, and Emerging challenges?