Search results

The information environment of a given society currently revolves around the ability to use and manipulate information technologies. This paper reviews the trend of information technology (IT) applications in East Africa government‐owned university libraries for the ten years 1987‐1997. By 1997, East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) had only eight government‐owned university libraries. The trend of IT applications in those libraries was surveyed using a questionnaire and review of available literature. It was revealed that the extent of IT applications in those libraries from 1987‐1997 was very limited. By 1997, only one government‐owned university library in East Africa had automated its library catalogue and books circulation control. Financial resources and lack of trained manpower in IT remained the most critical obstacles in the application of information technology in East Africa government‐owned university libraries.

This paper reports results based on a study aimed at assessing the capability of agricultural libraries in meeting researchers’ information needs, finding out means used by researchers to cope with the scarcity of scientific information, and based on study findings, give some recommendations on how to improve agricultural library services in Tanzania.

The major objective of this study was to analyse the citation patterns of agricultural scientists in Tanzania. The specific objectives were to: assess researchers’ access to information as reflected from citation analysis; establish a list of core agricultural journals for agricultural researchers in Tanzania using citation analysis and user opinions; and find out the extent to which the available information resources meet the research needs revealed by the study. The study involved the analysis of 295 MSc theses and 21 PhD theses submitted at Sokoine University of Agriculture between 1989‐1999, and 309 conference proceeding articles published during the same period. It is concluded that generally agricultural scientists in the country had limited access to current journals. A number of options are recommended to alleviate the situation, with a focus on electronic journal provision supported by international organisations.

This paper sets out to discuss internet adoption and assimilation among university libraries in Kenya.

The paper is based on a literature survey and the experiences of the authors with the Kenyan high education system.

The potential advantages of the internet appear to have precluded the foresight of Kenyan university libraries to the challenges that may be associated with its deployment. There is clear under‐utilization and considerable disparities between and within the libraries in their levels of general Information and Communication Technology (ICT) deployment and use in Kenya. Most public university libraries still use conventional methods of service provision, suggesting that most library employees are not ready to embrace and integrate these information technologies in their routine operations. If promising ICT applications cannot be widely deployed, then the benefits resulting from such technologies are likely to be equally curtailed.

This paper confines itself to discussion of the internet in Kenyan university libraries. The paper also focuses only on fully fledged government, and private universities as they are among the major stakeholders of the internet initiatives taking place in institutions of higher learning in Kenya. Higher education in Kenya has expanded tremendously in the last decade and there is need for studies that address various issues that relate to technology adoption and use that include legal and regulatory frameworks, technology transfer, capacity building and management of new technologies.

With students and staff in higher education the world over increasingly gaining access to the internet and other new technologies, the future of universities depends on their capacity to institutionalize such technologies to meet the complex needs of the academic populace. The ubiquitous presence of ICTs in academic libraries, especially the internet and its potential impact on learning, teaching, and research, implies that any effort that would shed light on this technology is laudable. This underscores the need to understand the underlying factors that impede or promote individuals’ response to the internet‐based technology in university libraries not only in Kenya but elsewhere.

Public universities in eastern and southern Africa have for a long time depended largely on grants from national governments for most of their recurrent and capital budgets. Statutes of various universities also allow them to get external aid and donations mainly for capital developments, technical assistance and staff training. In the last decade, there has been pressure on public universities in the region to cut back on their budgets as a result of declining government grants occasioned largely by political and economic structural changes. Universities are responding by putting in place a wide range of programmes to generate their own income to augment the dwindling allocation from national governments. This paper discusses current developments within universities in eastern and southern Africa in an environment of rapid technological developments.

Focuses on crop farmers’ access to agricultural information in rural areas of Delta State, Nigeria. Data were gathered by questionnaire from ten villages. Farmers of both genders experienced obstacles to information use, although findings revealed that there were also differences between male and female crop farmers with respect to their information needs and sources of agricultural information. Female crop farmers experienced greater problems in accessing agricultural information. However, the major information problems suffered by farmers are not gender‐specific problems. Concludes with recommendations to enhance all crop farmers’ access to agricultural information.

To analyze information use in agricultural science PhD theses submitted between 1986 and 2002 in the Faculty of Agronomy, Central University of Venezuela (UCV).

The source of information was the UCV Faculty of Agronomy, Library's database, “Tesis”. The unidimensional production and use indicators analyzed included: scientific production, reference density, self‐citations, document contemporaneousness and type of documents cited, reference scattering and accessibility of the journals cited.

The analysis of the data obtained from 4,646 bibliographic references in 42 agricultural science PhD theses provides insight into information use in a Venezuelan agricultural science community. The mean number of references per thesis found was 113 ± 21. The number of women earning a PhD in agriculture was observed to grow. The percentage of self‐citations varied widely. The half‐life was 11 years and the Price's Index 22 per cent. According to the distribution by document type, most of the publications cited were articles in journals, while references to technical standards and internet publications were rare. UCV Faculty of Agronomy PhD students tended to seek information primarily in the Anglo Saxon literature. The Celestino Bonfanti Library periodicals section met a high proportion (92 per cent) of the demand for journals located in the first and second concentration‐scattering zones.

This is the only paper on the evaluation of PhD theses in Venezuela. The findings will be useful for education planners in Venezuela and other developing countries.

The main purpose of this investigation is to define the status of the application of information technology in academic libraries located in Kerman, the center and largest city of Kerman Province, Iran, and to understand the problems and difficulties in using information technology in these libraries.

The survey has covered 17 libraries belonging to Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman Medical University and Islamic Azad University. Two kinds of questionnaires were distributed to libraries – one for librarians and the other for library staff. The findings of the survey have been analyzed using SPSS software.

Results show that the level of application of information technology in Kerman academic libraries is acceptable but they should improve their status to match with ever increasing demand for better librarian services at universities; the most important problem and serious difficulty is the lack of educated librarians, which needs a suitable investment and planning; and, although about 70 percent of librarians in Kerman academic libraries have participated in related training courses, the most serious difficulty in using information technology is still the lack of educated librarians.

Based on the research findings, several suggestions for improvements can be made, for example: recruitment of multi‐skilled librarians familiar with information technologies related to the mechanism of work in academic libraries; planning and designing ongoing courses of information technology and related skills; promotion and introduction of various academic library services through compiling and publishing manuals and guides; equipping academic libraries with more information technology facilities; having a special budget for development of information technology infrastructure; overcoming telecommunication barriers and shortcomings to better use of information technology; and mechanization of all academic library departments to provide information services more optimally and speedily.

The research studies the rate of using information technologies in Iran as a developing country. Hopefully, uncovering and understanding some unknowns based on such investigations can help to address the digital divide within universities and countries governing them.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the materials used in Masters' theses of the Agricultural Economics and Extension Department (AEE), FUTA during the period of 2005‐2009 with the aim of improving the existing collection development available for the students.

The study employed descriptive research design. Theses submitted for the award of M.Tech degree between 2005 and 2009 at the department of AEE, FUTA were examined. This was checked against the record of AEE (M.Tech) graduands obtained from the School of Postgraduate Studies. The population of the study was all the theses submitted during the periods under study. Data were extracted from title pages and reference lists. Extracted data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

It was found that journals were more consulted compared to other sources of information materials. AEE M.Tech students do not take much advantage of resources available on the web and internet. It was also revealed that highest citation was recorded in 2006, while 30.52 per cent of materials cited were 20 years old and above. In addition, more than half of the cited materials were contributed by single authors and foreign journals were more cited with 72 per cent than local journals with 28 per cent. Moreover, Journal of Agriculture Economics was found to be the most cited journal followed by Journal of Econometrics.

The paper highlights the information materials available and used by Master students of the Agricultural Economics and Extension Department for their research work and those which need to be added for a healthy collection.

The paper aims to discuss and investigate the prevalence of digital divide in Nigeria, using University of Calabar in Calabar Metropolis as a case study.

Validated questionnaires were administered to internet users at designated cyber café in the University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.

The findings of the survey show the prevalence of various forms of digital divide such as gender, marital status, age and educational level of the internet users in Nigeria.

The federal/state governments as well as university managements in Nigeria should formulate relevant policies to reduce various forms of digital divide that are prevalent in the Nigeria.

The paper recommends the need to effectively address the issue of digital divide in whatever form in Nigeria towards global integration in the digital economy.