Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify insightfully future roles and skills required by librarians to meet the ever changing users’ need in the modern library landscape. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a qualitative approach. It deployed the Delphi technique and other knowledge elicitation techniques, such as systematic literature review, in-depth key informants interviews, formal and informal discussions, and own experience. Data collection was quitted when it reached to the theoretical saturation. Content analysis was used to analyze the gathered data. Triangulation of methods was also employed to complement one another, and enhance the credibility and validity of the results. Findings The findings of the study revealed that some of the roles and skills required by librarians are evolutionary, while others are revolutionary, but the ultimate future role of librarians is to change knowledge revolution into society (to create informed society) through re-socializing and shaping the young generations. The result also confirmed that a synergy of passion, knowledge, skills and cultural intelligence yield blended librarians that fit the future library landscape. To be a librarian is more than just equipped with knowledge and skills; it requires passion and solid discipline. For librarians, unlearning is equally relevant skills like learning. Originality/value Instead of the usual skills assessment, this study approached it in a new perspective and divulged a synergy of passion, knowledge, skills, cultural intelligence, professionalism, and discipline as essential assets for the twenty-first century librarians.
Libraries in higher learning institutions (HLIs) of Ethiopia have been providing electronic information (e-information) resources to users such as academics through different access models, including open access. Nonetheless, little is known about the academics’ attitudes toward open access journals. The study triangulated qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. Data were obtained through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Out of 768 academics from seven selected universities in Ethiopia who were surveyed, 566 (78 percent) responded. The data were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively by means of content analysis and basic descriptive statistics respectively. The results of the study revealed that 78 percent of the academics were aware of open access journals. On the whole, they have a perceived positive attitude towards open access journals and would like to use them in the future. Moreover, they have been using open access journals as an alternative access model to the conventional journals subscription model; and yet to optimize the benefits of open access among academics, they expect university librarians to promote and enhance the accessibility of open access journals in their respective university libraries and in Ethiopia in general. Further studies using a similarly rigorous approach are required to determine the generality of this finding.
Smallholder farmers have different information seeking behaviors which are changing through time. However, as far as the authors' knowledge is concerned, there is no research carried out to identify it in the study area. Therefore, this research is to reveal the information seeking behavior of the Abergelle woreda smallholder farmers. For the research design, from the 19 rural kebeles of the woreda, 5 kebele were randomly selected and 152 household head were selected by using simple random sampling technique proportion to their population size from the sampled kebeles. The study adopts both primary (household survey and focus group discussions); and secondary data sources (relevant published and unpublished materials). To analyze sources of information and information seeking behavior of the smallholder farmers, frequency and ranking were employed. The findings revealed that smallholder farmers prefer to seek information from farmers, agricultural professionals, health extension workers, radio and mobile-phone. The main challenges for seeking information, among others are shortage of infrastructure, lack of ICT and service fee, lack of interest and inadequate users' skill and knowledge. It is concluded that smallholder farmers' use multiple sources of information as no one source is sufficient in itself. Finally, it is advisable to repackage agricultural information into various formats to meet smallholder farmers' information seeking behavior.
Conflicts over the use of range resources are common in the pastoral areas of Ethiopia. This study explores the indigenous conflict management and resolution mechanisms that have been working among the pastoral communities in the Shinile zone. Moreover, it attempts to identify the nature and types, underlying causes and consequences of conflicts among pastoralists using range resources.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.