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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/03074809410056445. When citing the article, please cite: Michael Afolabi, (1994), “Career Opportunities for Library and Information Science Professionals in Africa”, New Library World, Vol. 95 Iss: 4, pp. 13 - 20.

Examines the productivity of journals which published articles on library and information sciences on Kenya from 1961 to 1991 to determine the number of articles published by each journal, the core productive journals and authors, the language, subject and title dispersion of journals and the extent to which the journals are indexed and abstracted. The methods adopted were frequency distribution, percentages and the graphical application of Bradford′s law. Reveals that 74 journals published 414 articles on the subject. Maktaba was the most productive journal; Otike was the most productive author; dispersion of articles among journals and subjects was low; English language accounted for 95.7 per cent of the literature; indexing coverage of the journals is 39 per cent, while abstracting coverage is 44 per cent.

Describes the concepts of challenge and support and applies them to the management of libraries and information centres. Contends that the environment of libraries and information centres is characterized by challenging activities which require high‐level cognitive and behavioural abilities and positive effective attitudes. Because of the psycological stress which the library and information centre professional is likely to experience, supportive mechanisms should be created to balance the stress resulting from the challenging activities. When challenging library activities are balanced by supportive mechanisms, the result is likely to be staff job satisfaction, high morale, increased productivity, intellectual and professional development staff.

The significance of communication with top management and library users in the special library environment is stressed. Describes JOHARI Communication Awareness Model and discusses its implications for improving communication in special libraries. Concludes that improved communication leads to the provision of better information services.

Identifies and describes the essential factors to be considered when embarking on a manual newspaper or magazine indexing project in Africa. Broadly groups factors as being technical and non‐technical. Technical factors include subject coverage, geographical coverage, number of newspapers and magazines to be indexed, completeness or selectivity of indexing, index language, indexing method, resources, physical format and the human element. Non‐technical factors are managerial/administrative support and publicity. Describes the procedure for newspaper and magazine indexing in Africa. Urges librarians and the print media to embark on newspaper and magazine indexing to ensure accessibility of their contents.

THE Department of Library Science at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria was founded in 1968. Its foundation is regarded as an offspring of the Sharr report of 1963. The department was formerly known as the Department of Librarianship until the 1971/72 session when the name was changed to the present one. Its objective is the training of professional librarians at all levels.

Identifies concepts adopted in interviewing clients during counselling. Explains their use in counselling and discusses their application to interviewing enquiries by reference librarians or information specialists. The concepts considered are: empathy, respect, concreteness, genuineness, immediacy, positive regard, understanding, unconditional regard, congruence and confrontation. Stresses the importance of establishing the correct relationship throughout the reference interview.

Defines sabbatical leave and describes its origin and rationale. Outlines its benefits to the professional librarian and library information science educator and the host institution. Discusses some major problems currently faced by them in Africa and offers suggestions. Briefly describes the writer′s experiences while on sabbatical leave in the Department of Library and Information Sciences, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.

Holland postulated that the choice of a vocation is partly related to a person’s personality. He theorized that members of a vocation would tend to have similar personalities and people would choose vocations that relate to their personality. He defined personality as a cluster of personal attributes which may be used to measure the person. Describes Holland’s typological theory and its applied implications for librarians and library environments. Presents a study of librarians’ perceptions of the personality of librarians and type of library environment.

Identifies the various careers associated with library and information science. Apart from the existing information careers described, also identifies new related areas. Notes that a re‐training programme is necessary if library and information science graduates are to fit into the new information‐related jobs and that African departments of library and information science should review their training objectives and curricula to cater for information‐related jobs other than the training of librarians. Submits that library jobs are becoming increasingly difficult to come by and points out the need to prepare the library and information science graduate for other equally profitable and exciting areas.