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Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to discuss the status, trends and challenges of library and information education and training in Eastern and Southern Africa. It notes that library and information education and training in Africa is undergoing rapid change, with difficult challenges to be overcome. For example, during the past 20 years, the number of library schools has grown in some regions and declined in some, such as South Africa. Common LIS factors include amalgamation, reorientation , and curriculum review and revision. Design/methodology/approach-The authors' extensive experience with and exposure to LIS education has been used together with observations and literature survey in the field to inform this paper. Findings-It is evident that LIS schools have, to a greater or lesser extent, been redesigning their curricula to keep track of the latest developments in the information world and keep their teaching market-related. New qualification programmes have been developed to provide opportunities for further specialization. In many cases departments have changed their names to reflect these new focus areas and extensions, and in many cases departments have realigned themselves within their universities. It is evident that LIS schools have taken the challenges of the changing information environment very seriously, and have adapted their curricula, their names and their institutional alignments to reflect these changes. Research limitations/implications-The paper raises fundamental issues concerning trends, challenges and opportunities for LIS education and training in eastern and southern Africa by largely drawing examples from the authors' experience and related African studies in the domain. Practical implications-The paper provides useful current information to inform LIS educators, researchers, students and other stakeholders on the issues and challenges of openUP (March 2007) LIS education in the region. Originality/value-Information provided in this paper is of value for comparative studies on LIS education and training. The paper is current and largely informed by participant observation, participation and experiential knowledge that is fresh and well informed.
PurposeThis study seeks to establish and compare the research and publication patterns and output of academic librarians in Eastern Africa from 2000 to 2009 using informetric techniques.Design/methodology/approachThe study confined its scope to publications produced between 2000 and 2009. The informetric technique (through content analysis) was used as a research method. The documents that were sourced for content analysis were obtained from the LISA database, which is one of the largest abstract databases in the field of library and information science (LIS). Data were extracted using the names of the librarians obtained from various sources, including: the libraries' web sites, Europa World of Learning and Wikipedia.FindingsThe results reveal that the research visibility of academic librarians was insignificant; that publication of research findings over the period was minimal; that publications from university librarians and directors were also minimal; that most academic librarians preferred publishing individually; and that the most published authors come from Tanzania.Originality/valueFew informetric studies focus on research output of academic librarians in Africa, and also on LIS research in the continent. Furthermore, the library profession is not well understood by many (including the academic community) because people do not appreciate how qualified librarians are, or that their promotion can be linked to research. This study raises issues that relate to the research output and research visibility of university librarians.
The objectives of this paper are to identify factors influencing the adoption of innovations, specifically e-commerce readiness and to identify specific barriers or obstacles to the use of ICT by small and medium tourism enterprises in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Enterprises studied included guesthouses, lodges and self-catering, bed and breakfast, and tour operators. A survey research design was adopted and data collected through interviews, observation and administration of a structured questionnaire. The results reveal that high cost, limited funds and not knowing what to adopt are perceived as barriers to the diffusion of ICTs among the tourism service providers in the study.
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