The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Capacity Building in Library
Services: Influencing Innovation
and Competitiveness
Gracian Chimwaza, Executive Director,
ITOCA – Information Training & Outreach Centre for Africa
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Agenda
• ITOCA overview
• Capacity building: Shared vision
• Capacity Building Challenges: ICT and e-resources
• Research4Life/TEEAL programmes Training-ofTrainer programme (2005-2011)
• Lessons learnt
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ITOCA Overview
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Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa
NGO, registered in RSA & Zim, est. 1999
Formerly TEEAL Africa Office
Capacity building organization aimed at enhancing
information and communications technology (ICT)
skills for mainly African librarians, info specialists,
scientists, researchers and students in SSA region
• Runs several capacity building programmes
• –CEPD; Reseach4Life and TEEAL programmes
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Capacity Building: Shared vision
• Need for increased production, access and use of
research output in Africa
• ICTs, in particular, E-resources play an important role
in research and academic disciplines
• Increased costs of staff development /training
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Cascading model (ToT approach)
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F2F effective but expensive
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Online training tools/approaches working but of limited use
• Benefits of partnerships across the continent
• Local/regional/international
• Maximise ROI and reduce duplication
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Case for Advocacy: Role of libraries and eresources
• Library services play an important role at research
and academic institutions.
• Building information skills at these institutions is
critical if research is to improve.
• Libraries need ICT infrastructure and relevant staff
skills if this is going to be a reality in the SSA region.
• E-resources: “Build and they will come approach”
not bringing required results
• User skills have a major bearing on access and use;
local research output and publishing
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Capacity Building Challenges
• Limited funding available in library & HR budgets
• Low prioritisation for building IL and e-resources
skills,
• Need to invest in relevant and effective training
programmes,
• Need for aligned and supporting policies at
institutions,
• Institutions’ level of e-Readiness to foster an
environment that supports successful implementation
of ICT and IL training programmes.
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
E-resources access and use challenges
• Low awareness about e-resources’ and their
relevance
• Need for justification in investment at institutions
inline with mandate and bottom-line goals of the
institution
• Low usage of library e-resources among users
• Low user skills remain an important barrier to the
uptake of e-resources
• Lack of adequate IT & Internet infrastructure at
institutions
• Relevant supporting policies required to promote
ICT/e-resources investment and use
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Information Literacy/e-Resources Training by
ITOCA and partners
• Research4Life /TEEAL programmes in SSA
• Over 80 ToT courses delivered in 28 countries since
April 2005
• Week-long workshops for researchers and
academicians
• Mixed audience: Librarians, Info managers, faculty,
researchers, policy-makers, technical officers, etc
• Collaborative effort: FAO, WHO, UNEP, WIPO, CTA, IDS,
Cornell and Yale Universities, Funding agencies, local
institutions
• 1,760 graduates to date and continuing
• Local support increasing (hosting, funding, etc)
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
TEEAL/Research4Life Courses: 80 courses in
28 SSA countries (2005-2011)
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Lessons learnt: skills building worth the
investment
• Training costly but worth the investment in skills
building: Face-to-face training interventions should
be complimented by online training tools and
approaches to increase reach and ROI
• IT and Internet infrastructure investment to improved
access, use and user skills
• Integration of Information literacy into tertiary
education curricula will increase search skills at
academic and research institutions
• ToT approach viable – practical hands-on, technical
and facilitation skills inter-twinned in the courses.
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Lessons learnt: Management support critical
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Institutionalisation strategies: e-resources play an
important role in research and increased skills for
information enablers, researchers, faculty and students
needs to be prioritised and institutionalised if the strategy
is to be sustained
Management buy-in critical in order to increase investment
in libraries, e-resources and the building of relevant skills
Faculty and researchers must take the lead in supporting
libraries in addressing the issue of low awareness and user
skills at the institutions
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Lessons Learnt: Advocacy at institutions for
increased investment
• Library services contribution to bottom-line: Libraries
have a direct impact on the quality of local research
and local publishing work the researchers, faculty
and students can undertake and produce given the
limited resources at their disposal.
• Improved quality of research: The ability to write
research manuscripts for publishing, competitive
grant proposals, etc
• Directors of Libraries need to increase their voice and
justification for the increased investment in eresources and IL training at the institutions
The Second Session of the Committee on Development
Information, Science and Technology
CODIST-II
2-5 May 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Thank you
www.itoca.org
itoca@itoca.org