Information Development

National developmental needs and forms of assistance have changed, and may change again. How well equipped are the library and information science professions to advise on their role in national development? How effectively have Schools of Librarianship and Information Studies embraced national development as part of their mission?

Reports the results of performance and impact evaluation of three community-led library initiatives in Central Thailand. The methodology included both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Point of exit interviews with library users were undertaken to gather their opinions on library collections, performance and impact. The constraints faced by community dwellers in using the libraries were also identified. Interviews with community leaders were conducted to gain their perspectives on the problems and how library services could be improved. The results showed that small-scale community-run library services have the potential to make a positive impact on community development. The results also yielded several implications for community-based libraries in Thailand, including how their services could be improved to have even greater impact on the communities they serve. A model for community libraries is provided which can be replicated to speed up rural development in Thailand and beyond.

Objective: The study was designed to determine health information seeking behavior of urban and rural Peruvians, primarily as a means to assess differences across these two populations in relation to both access and levels of use of communication technologies for obtaining health information. Method: The method consisted in the use of a survey conducted in four different areas of Peru during the period November 2006 through January 2007. Results: Health professionals serve as a key source of health information for urban and rural Peruvians; however, there are apparent differences in the ways urban and rural Peruvians obtain information about health related issues, at least in terms of telecommunication mediums. Conclusions: Urban Peruvians are more likely to take advantage of the Internet as a means of acquiring health information. Meanwhile, rural Peruvians still largely prefer radio as a source of health information.

This paper puts forward a case for the indigenization of LIS in the East African region. The paper recognizes that the politics of LIS in East African Region is influenced by both the global developments, agendas and goals in LIS (including World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and IFLA), and the political and socio-economic environment of the indigenous society. This article emphasizes the need for the LIS profession to redefine itself in addressing the global needs in a knowledge society. This requires international cooperation and networking and a well defined educational, research and development programme. For this to work within the East African economic and political blocks requires that a supportive environment is nurtured by the East African Community and the member countries.

This paper is based on a Masters’ dissertation submitted to the University of Cape Town, which investigated the use of electronic information services (EIS) by undergraduate nursing students at the University of Namibia’s Northern Campus. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to 163 students and interviews were conducted with 15 students in August and September 2007. The results revealed that the majority of students made the greatest use of the Internet. The OPAC was moderately used, while e-databases were substantially under-utilized. Students used EIS for a variety of purposes including obtaining academic information and current awareness. The main barriers that students faced in using EIS were the shortage of computers, unreliable Internet connection, and lack of skills. The majority of students relied upon their fellow students to acquire EIS skills. While many students were generally enthusiastic and held a positive perception of the Internet, only a few thought that the e-databases were useful.

PROFINT is a program of the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) which sends technological information contained in patent documents to companies registered in the program. This paper presents the results of a survey of users of PROFINT, identifying: a) the profile of these users; 2) their use of the patent system; and c) the results obtained from using technological information from patent documents. The work was based on documentary research and the application of questionnaires. The research showed that patent documents are being used as instruments of competitive intelligence, providing strategic information to assist managers of technology and innovation to generate and improve products and processes. Although the users of PROFINT also make use of other sources of information, the importance attributed to technological information obtained from patent documents was considered high.

In Botswana, secondary schools are expected to be at the forefront in imparting information literacy to students to prepare them adequately for higher education or even for the labour market. However, students entering the University of Botswana from secondary schools to pursue academic programmes are largely information illiterate, thus posing great challenges to the university in terms of offering effective academic programmes. This paper discusses the information literacy (IL) challenges facing the University of Botswana occasioned by the admission of new students who lack the capacity to pursue university education because they are information illiterate. The conclusion proposes a framework for IL to help the University of Botswana address these challenges.

The objective of this article is to evaluate the potential of the X-Lib Library Automation System in Nigerian university libraries through an assessment of how it meets the current and future requirements of Babcock University Library. The current and future potential of X-Lib in Babcock University Library were examined using the R²ISC criteria. The criteria used to evaluate current potential included: the ability of Xlib to accommodate a large collection; ability to integrate the basic operations of acquisitions, cataloguing, and circulation; modular design; ease of use; ability to search and retrieve records by various fields; ability to produce end user reports; ability to define security or restrict users to specific screens; ability to perform specialized services; and backup and restore utility. The criteria analysed to determine future potential included: response time; level of configurability; operating system; upgrade; hardware; and the future of the developer or vendor. The result showed 62.6 and 45.5 percentage fits respectively to the current and future requirements of the Babcock University Library. The strengths and limitations of X-Lib are highlighted.