Pattern of biography usage by the students of Nigerian tertiary institutions

Abstract

The role of the library has been to develop and maintain collections of materials in all formats in order to serve the information needs of its users. Biographies reveal scintillating story of great men and women who by determination, rose to a pride of place in their various endeavours. Most biographical accounts disclose exemplary acts of boldness and bravery, scholastic endeavours, exhibit considerate leadership qualities, gives firm authentic history of one’s birth, growth, career and so on. Descriptive research design using survey method was adopted for this study. Questionnaire was used as the survey instrument. The study sample comprised 500 randomly selected students from three universities in Ogun State, Nigeria. The study finds that the students preferred reading autobiographies to biographies. In case of biographies, they preferred biographies of the living to the dead. The study concludes that the biographies of notable personalities impact positively on younger generations.