F UTURE K NOWLEDGE AND S KILL A REAS FOR A FRICAN A CADEMIC L IBRARIANS Elisha Chiware Director: Cape Peninsula University of Technology Libraries, Cape Town, South Africa 1

O UTLINE OF PRESENTATION Overview of current LIS Education in Africa Challenges of LIS programmes Future knowledge areas Future skill areas Skills development through Continuing Development Programmes The role of LIS programmes in future knowledge and skill areas Conclusion 2

C URRENT LIS EDUCATION IN A FRICA LIS programmes in Africa in the last ten years: Rapid changes to keep up with trends in information world Amalgamation of programmes Re-orientation of programmes Curriculum review and revision Name changes Realignment within universities 3

C URRENT LIS E DUCATION IN A FRICA Nature of current programme offerings Certificate courses (1 year) Diploma programmes (2 years) Bachelor Degrees (3-4 years) Masters (2yrs) PhD degrees( 3 yrs - ) 4

C HALLENGES OF LIS E DUCATION IN A FRICA New entrants (young and little interest in LIS careers) Staff qualifications and experience to teach in LIS programmes Dwindling number of students Diluted programmes e.g. Double Majors (A LIS Degree combined with a subject e.g. History, Psychology, Geography, etc) 5

N EW OPPORTUNITIES / AREAS OF TRAINING New areas of training in LIS schools Knowledge management Publishing studies Multimedia studies Development communication Media and Public Relations 6

THE FUTURE K NOWLEDGE AREAS FOR A FRICAN A CADEMIC L IBRARIANSHIP Subject Specialization before LIS programmes Knowledge of the information environment Knowledge of the higher education environment in general and the value of libraries Knowledge of (PEST) Political, Economic, Social and Technological Environment 7

T HE FUTURE S KILL AREAS Library leadership and management skills Support for scholarly communication and dissemination Information technology management Advocacy, Marketing and Fundraising Instructional skills Community engagement and development Innovation and entrepreneurial development support LIS Research skills 8

L IBRARY L EADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT SKILLS Library Leadership The African Library Leadership Academy Carnegie Foundation of New York Management Finance and Project Management Human Resources Managing a diverse skills base 9

S UPPORT FOR S CHOLARLY C OMMUNICATION To support/collaborate with faculty and postgraduate students in accessing information for research Need to understand the research process & environment in specific subject areas Assist faculties in research output management Research Data Management Emerging international support Research Libraries support from the Carnegie Corp 10

I NFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT Electronic information resources management Network management Research data management Digitization and preservation management E-learning platforms How librarians successfully collaborate with faculty in e-learning platforms 11

A DVOCACY SKILLS  Budgetary challenges in Higher Education in Africa  Libraries are no longer seen as the heart of the university?  To many competing programmes in universities for a small cake  Need for more advocacy  To fund raise  To promote continued use of libraries  To position libraries in society and the economic development of Africa  To get the attention of policymakers/fund allocators 12

M ARKETING SKILLS Library marketing skills Promotion of library programmes within the university community Promote the library’s work in national and international library programmes 13

F UNDRAISING SKILLS Knowledge of the national and international donor communities Grant proposal writing Working within the guidelines and framework of the mother institution How to handle donations Accountability Maintaining the relations with the donor community Working with alumni African universities have poor histories of working with alumni There is need to change – as this group is a potential source for building/supporting HE and libraries 14

I NSTRUCTIONAL SKILLS Academic libraries training programmes Instructional skills Information literacy programmes require firm grounding in teaching skills to be effective Presentation skills 15

C OMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SKILLS  Why community engagement  Strategic goals of many universities esp. UoTs  Libraries participation in community engagement programmes  Outreach programmes Book donations Assist with the start-up of small community libraries, especially in remote areas Teacher training programmes – model school libraries 16

I NNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SUPPORT Support for innovation and entrepreneurial development Informal sectors SMME sectors Science parks Support for the growing knowledge economies Knowledge based economies The role of librarians in support of knowledge based economies 17

L IBRARY RESEARCH SKILLS Ability to implement and evaluate research for service improvement Gathering and analyzing data and dissemination of findings to advance African Librarianship Demonstrate a commitment to the improvement of the professional practice in Africa through a culture of research and evidence-based information practice 18

C ONTINUING D EVELOPMENT P ROGRAMMES Responsibility of employers Special skills programmes for existing staff Funding for Special skills programmes Indentifying credible service providers In house training programmes Selection of staff participants Include CDPs into staff KPA (Key Performance Areas)/Performance Management Contracts Monitoring and Evaluation of CDPs 19

T HE ROLE OF LIS PROGRAMMES IN SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Development of relevant curriculum Work closely with employers to identify and develop skill and knowledge areas Carry out independent market studies Maintaining standards Through provision of resources to monitor and evaluate programmesoutputs Ensure that LIS programmes remain relevant to the market place 20

C ONCLUSION Better Skill and knowledge areas articulation will determine how academic institutions value and support libraries in Africa This will also determine the level of the flow of resources to libraries for better information services delivery And also how libraries can leverage themselves for more funding for skills development and knowledge acquisition 21