Research Centre Will Advance Science, Technology- CEO

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of? the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Research Centre (AMDRC), Mr Olajide Alex-Oni, on Tuesday said that the facility was established for advanced research in science and technology in Nigeria.

Alex-Oni told  The Tide in Lagos that the facility, located within the Akoka Campus, University of Lagos (UNILAG), had digital resources for post-graduate research works.

“The facility is actually strictly for post-graduate students, because we do not have the capacity to take care of the undergraduate community.’’

He said that the facility’s digital materials were concentrated in the areas of Science, Technology and Medicine (STM), as that was the focus of the online publishers they had agreements with.

“Some of the online publishers are specialised in handling materials in the areas where we have focused our energy, and this makes material-sourcing and availability encouraging.”

?Alex-Oni said that the centre had an agreement with Gale, which had over 13,000 indexed journals, 1,000,000 articles, and 7,000 peered-reviews, to enhance the quality and wealth of digital resources.

He said that the facility also liaised with the Wolters Kluwer Heart/Ovid, with 740 full text downloads, over 280 journals in Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health; Hinari, with over 15,000 journals.

NAN reports that owing to the quality of research works, for which the facility was established, a broadband Internet connection was provided to facilitate work speed.

“This facility has its own VSAT, providing direct, uninterrupted Internet access. With the Wi-Fi available, people can be in the courtyard and still enjoy Internet connectivity,” Alex-Oni said.

He said that researchers could access online real-time selected data from their collaborators’ databases, including e-journals, e-books, recordings, citations, and other materials for research and acquisition of knowledge.

The CEO also said that there was vast material for research in biotechnology, cell technology, molecular energy, and other areas, where advanced 3D technology, came in handy for researchers.

He said that only registered individual and corporate members would have access to the facility.

Alex-Oni said that the individual category included postgraduate students, professors, lecturers and independent researchers, while the corporate group included the university and tertiary institutions; private and public organisations and research institutes.

“We are structured to accommodate the university teachers, professors, who, upon registration, should be able to use the materials here for their self-development and improve in their teaching too.