The National Library of South Africa (NLSA) like many libraries and institutions has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, its approach has been that of deciding to embrace the change, adapting to an approach of working with stakeholders and focusing on how the future can best be forecasted so that the work done now can have a greater impact. The NLSA shares its experiences, learnings and approaches for this new normal and hopes this sheds light on how national, and all, libraries can adopt a culture of continuous growing and adapting whether in a pandemic or not.
Professional development is one of the pillars of personal and professional success because it is the catalyst for professional fulfillment and a way to improve one's skills and excel professionally. However, this subject is not addressed enough in academic courses, therefore students and new recruits start learning while being challenged without strong enough prerequisites to support them. The objective of the panel is to gather ideas from different scholars and professionals; to exchange ideas and experiences around the different themes of this subject to empower students and professionals in their early career stages and make them more resilient in a hyper-competitive society and uncertain world.
This paper explores the work that Shane Godbolt did in Africa in strengthening health information networks. It focuses on th role she played in supporting the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA) and working with the Information Training Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA) to provide capacity building linkages. Some examples of such linkages extending beyond Africa to the United Kingdom are explored. It then concludes with reflections from authors on their own experiences of working with Shane Godbolt.
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