Abstract:
Information technologies are increasingly changing the speed and formats with which cultural elements are distributed. The purpose of this paper therefore, is to examine some of the emerging issues, impacts, and inevitable challenges posed by globalization of Nigerian cultural heritage and make some recommendations. A review of literature on current issues on culture, globalization, and digitization was conducted and this revealed much about the new concepts, issues, and modern techniques on cultural heritage management to the authors. The paper finds colonialism, multiculturalism, weak cultural policy in Nigeria, and environmentalism, as some of the emerging issues. The paper saw the positive impacts of globalization to include; integration of Nigeria’s diverse cultures, speedy access to cultural information; digitalization, preservation, and commercialization of cultures. It has some corrosive impacts of Nigerian traditional religion, families, languages, and library operations. The challenges or the practical implications are that Nigerian governments, library and information science professionals, and cultural institutions must reposition their stand if they are not going to be by-passed in the global cultural information superhighway. This study contributes to other researches conducted in the past on culture, artefacts, cultural heritage, and cultural globalization in Africa. Its originality rests on the application of information technologies in cultural intercourse dissemination and internationalization.
