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The millennium development goals (MDGs) emerged from the Millennium Declaration adopted by all Member States of the United Nations. The MDGs are international objectives on poverty reduction adopted by the world community in 2000. This paper examines provision of agricultural information to rural dwellers/farmers in meeting the MDG 1: eradicating poverty and hunger in the world.

The paper is drawn from the authors' interaction /interviews with a group of farmers in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Methods of disseminating information to farmers identified include the use of electronic and print media, village square meetings, church and mosques as well as market places.

Study recommends the support of pro‐poor policies by the developed countries as this will allow people living in the developing world to break out of the poverty, hunger and malnutrition trap in which they find themselves.

Agricultural information required by farmers, among others, includes pest and disease control and management, services available from government/private organizations and information on high yielding varieties of crops and animals.

To report the highlights of the 2005 Online Information Conference.

Provides a brief review of the conference.

The conference offered a wide variety of timely presentations on online content and information management solutions

This paper is a useful summary of a conference of interest to library and information management professionals.

This study aims to examine the accessibility and use of web‐based electronic databases on the Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) portal by physicians in the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro – a psychiatry health institution in Nigeria.

Collection of data was through the use of a three‐part questionnaire developed by the researcher. A total of 28 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the respondents out of which 20, representing 67 per cent response rate, were completed, returned and used for the study.

The result revealed that physicians working in a psychiatry health institution have access to and use the HINARI database. The study further revealed that the majority (60 per cent) of the physicians access the portal once every two weeks from the internet cafés in and around the institution. PubMed is the most widely used database in the HINARI portal. Information retrieved is used mostly for clinical decision making. However, respondents are faced with inadequate time for research because of their busy schedule, poor internet access and inadequate information retrieval skills.

The study recommends the development of a library portal/gateway and the setting up of links between the resources to which they subscribe as well as training and retraining of physicians in the use of the HINARI portal so as to justify the huge amount of effort and money spent by the World Health Organization (WHO) to make the resources freely available to scientists in developing countries.

This study has collection development and practical implications for the providers of the databases, such as WHO through the various publishers, as well as librarians in the various institutions. The study recommends training or retraining of physicians in the use of the HINARI portal as well as improvement in information technology and communication infrastructure and extension of internet services to offices of physicians at the hospital.

The study aims to examine the information technology used in cataloguing in Nigerian academic libraries.

To elicit the necessary information, a four‐part questionnaire was sent to cataloguers in 33 Nigerian university libraries: 22 were returned and found usable, constituting a 66.7 per cent response.

Analysis of the returned questionnaire revealed that 16 federal universities and two state universities have automated their cataloguing processes using the TINLIB software, while two others use the LC and CD‐ROM database to aid the cataloguing. Automation of the cataloguing process has increased the efficiency of the cataloguing processes in the Nigerian university libraries, which in turn has resulted in increased productivity. The high cost of maintenance of the TINLIB software was identified as the major constraint to the use of the software. Other constraints include poor computer literacy on the part of the librarians, incessant power‐cuts and lack of infrastructures.

The study recommends that librarians be consulted before acquisition of software by the government, retraining of librarians in software use, acquisition and wider use of the X‐LIB software developed by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council Library, Abuja, Nigeria and provision of standby electricity generators solely for library use.

Offers recommendations to improve application of information technology to cataloguing activities in Nigerian university libraries.

This paper sets out to investigate cybercafés' change of internet service providers (ISPs) in Nigeria.

Employs a survey design using questionnaires to collect data from 89 cybercafé entrepreneurs/managers in four states of Nigeria (Delta, Edo, Lagos, and Ogun), and analyses the data using frequency counts and percentages.

The findings reveal that most cybercafés were established between 2002 and 2003. The majority of the cybercafés have ten PCs connected to the net, while a greater number of them are connected to the net via wireless means. A good number of cybercafés have changed ISPs once. The lack of or poor technical support and frequent loss of contact/signals with the ISP were two of the reasons reported for cybercafés changing their ISP. Cybercafés would like ISPs to increase their speed of transmission, etc., to serve them better. It is recommended that cybercafés should obtain adequate information before engaging ISPs, and that ISPs should conduct periodic customer assessment of their service in order to improve on their services.

This research and its findings will assist Nigerian (and other) ISPs to improve their services to their clients. Using the results of this study, cybercafés and other ISP clients will know what to take into consideration before signing up with any ISP.

This study was designed to assess the risk factors associated with hypertension (HTN) and diabetes among artisans in Ogun State, Nigeria. Evidences suggest increasing prevalence, incidences and morbidity of diabetes and HTN in Nigeria. However, the purpose of this study is to plan and prioritize effective intervention programs, there is need to provide data on the prevalence and risk factors for HTN and diabetes among local groups.

In total 300 apparently healthy artisans who have never been diagnosed of diabetes or HTN were randomly selected from five communities. A structured questionnaire was used in obtaining information on the personal characteristics of the respondents. An adapted dietary habit and lifestyle questionnaire were used to assess the dietary habits and lifestyle of the respondents. The WHO global activity questionnaire was adapted and used to gather information on the physical activity level of the respondents. Random blood glucose, blood pressure and anthropometric measurements were assessed using standard instruments. Chi-square (χ²), correlations and multinomial logistic regression analysis were performed to identify significant determinants of diabetes and HTN.

Mean age was 34.8 ± 9.9 and prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes were 1 and 4.7 per cent, respectively, while HTN and pre-HTN were 48.0 and 30.3 per cent, respectively. About half (55.7 per cent) of the respondents skip at least a meal daily and 31 per cent snack daily. Most (61.4 per cent) consume alcohol and 65.7 per cent engage in high physical activity. Abdominal obesity was significantly higher among women (p = 0.004). Using the chi-square analysis, age, abdominal obesity and educational status were factors found to be significantly associated with diabetes (p = 0.002; p = 0.007; p = 0.004) while age, gender, abdominal obesity and alcohol consumption had significant association with HTN. Although not statistically significant, respondents were 0.8, 1.0 and 1.1 times more likely to be diabetic with increasing body mass index, waist circumference (WC) and age (odd ratio (OR) = 0.78; confidence intervals (CI): 0.51-1.18; OR = 1.04; CI: 0.89-1.21; OR = 1.06; CI: 0.96-1.18, respectively). Abdominal obesity was significantly associated with HTN (OR = 1.08; CI: 1.03-1.13; p = 0.001). Also, older respondents were 1.1 times more likely of becoming hypertensive (OR = 1.07; CI: 1.02-1.11; p = 0.003). Increased risk of diabetes and HTN was found among respondents with increasing age and WC.

This study was cross-sectional in design; it cannot be used to establish a cause-effect relationship between diabetes, HTN and the observed variables (anthropometric characteristics, dietary habits and lifestyle risk factors). Because of the few numbers (1 per cent) of respondents identified to be diabetic several important risk factors could not be included in the model.

An understanding of the risk factors associated with diabetes and HTN among sub-groups in the population will help to plan effective interventions targeted at specific groups.

The findings of this study show the associated risk factors for diabetes and HTN among artisans in Ogun State.