The African University Librarian In The Information Age
INTRODUCTION
Since their inception, libraries have maintained their sovereignty as the main storage of knowledge in society. Today, novel information technologies equipped with the computer, telecommunications and optical media are seriously affecting libraries. ICTS, for short, is used here to include computer hardware, software and telecommunication equipment. It has been an indispensable tool and has great impact globally. Of all the diversified technologies of our time, progress in information and communication technology has no doubt had, and continues to have considerable influence on the global economy. It makes it possible to collect, process and transmit information at breathtaking speed and declining cost. It increases productivity, improves quality and efficiency in all types of services.
The impact is seen in diverse areas such as health-care, finance and banking, transportation, publishing and management. Information technology is already changing our lives in various ways. It facilitates communication irrespective of distance, relieves one of a great deal of hard, dirty and repetitive work and gives control over the natural environment. As Knopp (1984) realistically observed, the library is presently standing on a crossroad and must try to find a useful balance between the traditional library functions and methods, and the new challenges. The African university librarian will pay a tremendously high price in preserving traditional services and embracing the technological advances. This notwithstanding, it must be paid if the African librarian wants to interpose or remain the mediator between the user and information. It is the librarian’s role to ensure that the resulting use of computers and telecommunication and any other appropriate technology contributes in cost effective ways to the needs of scholarship and research since “he librarians have the expertise in acquiring materials in a variety of formats and make them accessible for a variety of purposes” (Simpson, 1984, p.38).
THE AFRICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN
Two programmes of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC) and the Universal Availability of Publications (UAP), have contributed immensely to a wide and easy access to print information. Something similar can be done to provide the same access to electronic information. African university librarians could take the legacy of the aforementioned programmes and tranpose them into a new vision for an electronic future.
At the second meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on University Libraries held in Accra in 1999, the need to give priority to the improvement and the issues of access to the new information technologies were stressed. It was emphasized that university management structures must acknowledge the centrality of the library as a pedagogic tool (AAU, 199). Continuing education programmes for African libraries to facilitate reskilling, which meets the dynamic information environment, must be supported because there must be a concentration in training for technology regardless of the area of librarianship one specializes in. It is a truism that “librarians need to know how to access and filter what is on the web” (Rosenberg, 2000, p.15).
IMPLICATIONS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES
A school of thought forcefully argues that the advantages of information technology are double-edged. Technology too appears to have increased rather than decreased the woes of African university libraries in the provision of information. Special equipment is needed to access and to retrieve information that comes in electronic format. There are problems of storage and conservation even when the equipment is available. Technology can only be installed and utilized if adequate and sound funding supports it. It is incontrovertible that the most important factor worth investigating seriously is the economic side of the issue. In Sierra Leone, the university administration initially centrally budgeted about six percent for its college and institute libraries. Central funding however has been replaced by collegiate funding which is inadequate (Rosenberg, 1997). Management must acknowledge and support the centrality of its academic nerve centre and ensure the sustainability of the library programmes and services.
The development of systems for the organization of knowledge and information retrieval has reached a plateau, with names of fundamental system characteristics now adequately tried and tested. Nevertheless, news of the core concepts, the use of inverted files to aid in retrieval and the context in which many systems operate need constant revision. Researchers are pursuing a variety of approaches in their search for better systems, categorized into the following:
1. System design, where the general objective is to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of the system, including storage and its retrieval speed; and
2. The human computer interface (human factor) where the objective is to improve the quality of interaction between the user and the computer so that the former can be more successful in extracting what they require.
THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
National governments should give more prominence to African university libraries in the area of provision of infrastructure and funding. It is a truism that the government of Sierra Leone like other African governments is seeking ways and means to curtail the amount of money spent on tertiary education (Duah, 1999). The New Educational Policy for Sierra Leone (1995) is committed, in principle, “to establish, equip, manage, maintain and develop an efficient library service in the capital, provisional towns and districts” (p.41). Until such a policy is implemented, the library system would go Rip Van Wrinkle. Information is a factor of production. Consequently, the institutions that acquire, organize, store, preserve in a manner that facilitates retrieval and provide it to potential users deserve government support and attention. The Ministry of Education in Ghana for instance launched several initiatives to enhance both computerization and access to the internet for educational institutions. The Educational Management Information System (EMIS) project was launched in October 1997 to provide internet services/access to educational administrators across the country.
CONCLUSION
In spite of the novel technology, the mission of the library will remain unchanged though the ways in which librarians fulfill this mission changes. African librarians must find a very useful balance between the conventional/traditional library functions and the methods of the new challenges in order to maintain their leadership role in the information age. The university library should consider operating an automated system that will be accessible to students, lecturers and the general public in order to support teaching, learning, research and extension services of the university. This system can be worked through collaborative efforts of all concerned.
LIST OF REFERENCES
AAU Newsletter (1999). The role of the university libraries in Africa, 5(2), pp.1-12.
Duah, V. (1999). The AAU and higher education in the next millennium. AAU Newsletter, 5(2), pp.1-2.
Knopp, W. (1984). The library in a technological world: problems and queries put forward by the client. IFLA Journal, 10(1), pp.57-62.
New Education Policy for Sierra Leone. Freetown: Department of Education.
Rosenberg, D. (1997). University libraries in Africa. London : International African Institute.
___________ (2000). Internet training for libraries. INASP Newsletter, 15, p.15.
Simpson, D. (1984). Advancing technology: the secondary impact on libraries and users. IFLA Journal, 10 (1), pp.43-48.