Information Development current issue

Information and Education

Parker, S. — 2008-10-24

Information Development News

2008-10-24

CDS/ISIS Information

Hopkinson, A. — 2008-10-24

Education for Librarianship and Information Studies: fit for purpose?

Johnson, I. M. — 2008-10-24

Information Communications Technology and Global Education: the challenges of the African Virtual University Learning Centres in Ghana

Kwabena Ayeh, J. — 2008-10-24

Information communication technology (ICT) is increasingly becoming a crucial strategic tool for facilitating global education. Africa's unique underdeveloped position makes her particularly suitable to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by ICT for global education. This same position Africa also presents challenges that threaten the sustainability of such projects. The African Virtual University (AVU) was originally launched in 1997 as a World Bank Project to facilitate the use of Open Distance and eLearning (ODeL) methodologies in African tertiary institutions and to use modern ICT to increase access to educational resources throughout Africa. After 10 years in operation, the learning centres in Ghana are confronted with practical challenges that seem to jeopardise their continuous existence. Prominent among the challenges are accreditation, students' inability to complete payment of fees and inadequate computers and other relevant facilities. This paper discuses the challenges the centres are facing and the strategies being employed to ensure their survival.

Problems of Developing Library Collections: a study of colleges of education libraries in Botswana

Adekanmbi, A. R., Boadi, B. Y. — 2008-10-24

The paper examines the problems militating against the development of useful library collections for the Botswana colleges of education students and lecturers. Using questionnaires and interviews, information was obtained from the study population which comprised the senior librarians and Deputy Principals (Academic) of the colleges and the Chairperson of the Board of Affiliated Institutions of the University of Botswana, as the colleges are affiliated to the University. The study revealed the following as some of the major problems militating against collection development in the libraries: lack of constant training for the librarians, inadequate staff for the libraries, lack of administrative support, and unavailability and non-use of collection development policies. The study concludes that, among others, there is the need to train the college librarians on collection development, provide more staff for the libraries, and there is the need also for the librarians to produce and use adequate collection development policies.

Agricultural Information Sources Used by Farmers in Imo State, Nigeria

Opara, U. N. — 2008-10-24

This study investigated the sources of agricultural information available to farmers in Imo State, Nigeria as well as the farmers' preferred sources. The ex-post facto research design was used for the study. A stratified proportionate sampling technique was used to select a sample of 1386 farmers across the existing 34 farm blocks and 63 farm cells in the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) zones of the state. A self-developed and validated structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Two research questions were formulated to find answers to the sources of agricultural information to the farmers as well as the sources they preferred. A reliability co-efficient of 0.83 was obtained for the instrument using the Crombach apha. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The results showed that 88.1 percent of the farmers indicated agricultural extension agents as their source of information, 71.2 percent indicated fellow farmers, 63.2 percent indicated radio, 43.3 percent indicated television, etc. The results further showed that majority (70.0 percent ) preferred the extension agent to the other media (radio 28.4 percent, friends and relatives 27.2 percent, television 19.1 percent, etc.) The results emphasize the need for the extension agency to regularly identify those sources of information that farmers prefer, or use most, as this will enable them deliver agricultural information effectively to the farmers.

Relationship between Records Management, Public Service Delivery and the Attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in Kenya

Kemoni, H., Ngulube, P. — 2008-10-24

The paper discusses the relationship between records management, public service delivery and the attainment of the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Kenya. It defines the concept of records management and provides an overview of the current socio-political and economic environment in Kenya. The concept of public service delivery is defined, including the application of the concept in Kenya. The link between records management, public service delivery and the attainment of UN MDGs is explored. Recent research findings regarding current recordkeeping practices in the Kenyan public sector and their effect on service delivery and attainment of UN MDGs are presented. The paper concludes by positing that poor records management practices would have adverse consequences for public service delivery in Kenya and hamper the attainment of the UN MDGs. Thus, to achieve economic development in line with the UN MDGs, public offices need to have in place good recordkeeping systems.

New Publications

2008-10-24

Current Abstracts

2008-10-24

Forthcoming Events

2008-10-24

Stray Thoughts: Voice Triumphant

Msafiri, — 2008-10-24