Correlate of Management Support and Digital Preservation of Library Materials in Federal Universities in Southwest, Nigeria

This study investigated management support and digital preservation of library materials in federal universities in Southwest Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 130 library personnel, total enumeration sampling technique was used for the study. Data were collected through an adapted questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, including frequency counts, percentages, mean, and standard deviation, were used to analyse demographic and research questions, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was employed to test the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance. The demographic findings revealed that 52 (40.0%) males and 78 (60.0%) females. Most of the respondents were 31–35 years old (50; 41.5%), while Librarians II constituted the largest professional cadre (46; 35.4%). The majority had 1–5 years of work experience (41; 35.4%), indicating that respondents were adequately spread across the federal universities Southwest, Nigeria, with the majority being female, young, middle-level librarians, and having between 1–10 years of working experience. The findings further revealed a moderate level of management support for digital preservation, particularly in the areas of administrative, technical, human resource and strategic support. The study also established a positive and statistically significant relationship between management support and digital preservation of library materials (r = .646, p < 0.05), indicating that increased management support enhances digital preservation practices in university libraries. Adequate funding, policy formulation and implementation, provision of ICT infrastructure, staff training, and continuous administrative commitment are essential for sustaining digital preservation initiatives. The study therefore recommended that university managements strengthen their support mechanisms to enhance the long-term preservation and accessibility of digital library resources.