Elisha R.T. Chiware

The use of ICTs in Namibia's SME sector to access business information services

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to present current state of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Namibias small and medium‐sized enterprises (SME) sector to access business information services.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a doctoral research project on business information needs, seeking patterns and utilisation of ICTs in the SME sector in Namibia that was carried out at the University of Pretoria from 2005 to 2007. The survey methodology using both qualitative and quantitative approaches was employed to collect data.Findings – The findings revealed that there is a very low level of ICTs utilization among SMEs while among business support organisations it is relatively high.Practical implications – The study presents baseline data that can be used by governments and business support organisations in the provision of ICTs to the SME sector to access business information services.Originality/value – The study provides data on which future developmen...

Information Needs and Information Seeking Patterns of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises in Namibia

Reports on an investigation of the business information needs, information seeking patterns and business information services for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in Namibia. The study ranks business information needs of SMMEs as: finance, marketing, production, and training, policies on SMME development, sources of raw materials, regulations, technical information and other types of information. The study reveals that SMMEs largely depend on informal information sources despite the existence of a wide range of business information services in Namibia. Recommendations are made on how business information delivery services can be improved in the SMME sector in Namibia by both government and business support organizations.

Positioning the technological university library in higher education and human resources development in Africa

Purpose – This paper seeks to discuss the positioning of academic libraries in universities of science and technology in Africa. With the importance that is given to the establishment and outputs of these types of universities and to skills development as a contributing factor to Africas development, the role of library and information services are to be discussed. The paper aims to focus on the position of the library in relation to the changing complexity of information resources, tools for users to access information, IT developments, knowledge creation and dissemination, community engagement, support for innovation and entrepreneurial development, external partnerships and measuring service delivery through research.Design/methodology/approach – The challenges for the library in science and technology universities are to remain relevant to the development of skilled human resource that can contribute to Africas economic and social development. The changing information provision landscape, the new co...

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY ACADEMIC LIBRARY

Automation is pervading all areas of academic library work. Librarians must be adequately trained in order to exploit the new technology. The literature recognizes that there are certain prerequisites for successful training. Libraries in developing countries face additional problems in the area of training for information technology. There are special circumstances at the University of Botswana Library. The University of Botswana Library automation training programmes aim to tackle these special circumstances and the problems unique to developing countries, and at the same time fulfil the recognized conditions needed for successful training. Gives a detailed outline of several University of Botswana Library automation training programmes.

Designing and implementing business information services in the SMME sector in a developing country : the case for Namibia

This article outlines the development and implementation strategies that can be applied in the deployment of business information services in the small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) sector in Namibia. The paper is based on a doctoral project that was carried out at the University of Pretoria from 2005 to 2007 and looks at the stages of user needs assessment, the design of services and the implementation stage as well as the impact assessment of the services.

Academic libraries’ role in Research Data Management Services: a South African perspective

Research Data Management (RDM) services are being implemented by academic and research libraries globally in support of university research activities. In South Africa, some libraries are beginning to provide frameworks for these services with some degree of success as policies are being formulated, infrastructure set up, library staff trained, and awareness and advocacy campaigns held with academic staff and researchers. Challenges being faced include availability of resources and infrastructures and limited data management skills among library staff. This paper reports on how the Library at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology is developing and integrating RDM services into institutional research workflows. The paper includes issues that are driving e-research at the institution and how requirements of researchers in the field of biomedical research have been used in a pilot e-research project. The report also details how the university library is using these user requirements to develop tools such as data management plans, electronic laboratory journals and systems for integration with institutional research workflows. The paper further outlines how an international collaborative approach has assisted the Library to participate in the development of an open source platform for the management of the full research lifecycle in support of RDM. It concludes with how further skills development within the Library is being undertaken to support data services and some of the likely challenges for further development of the services.

The uptake and usage of a national higher education libraries statistics database in South Africa

This article discusses a preliminary study into the uptake and usage of collective statistics in South Africa with valuable lessons for other African countries and the developing world. It presents the results of a survey conducted among twenty-three South African universities that are members of The Committee of Higher Education Libraries of South Africa (CHELSA), the sponsor of the shared platform for the storage and sharing of library statistics. The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which the community of users understands the uses of collected statistics and how it interprets them, as well as how far these interpretations are being used for internal and external management purposes and for advocacy at institutional level. The results of the survey show that there is consensus amongst academic libraries in South Africa that statistics should be collected and made available nationally for various purposes. The survey also shows that the majority of university libraries in the country have started using the shared statistics database platform and that there is room for further development.

Citation Patterns of Conference Proceedings in Master’s and Doctoral Studies: A Case Study of Information Technology and Systems:

This study reports on an analysis of the use of conference proceedings by postgraduate students at master’s and doctoral levels in the field of information technology and systems at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) over a period of 10 years. The analysis was based on master’s theses and doctoral dissertations submitted by the Department of Information Technology and deposited into the web-based institutional repository and involved analyzing the various references cited. The results of the study show that conference papers are the fourth most cited materials in theses and dissertations after journal articles, books, and online sources. The types of conferences cited relate to the subject under investigation in the theses or dissertation. The conferences proceedings cited are from various international and local conferences at which the students and lecturers from CPUT have or frequently presented. This study contributes to the knowledge on the trends and patterns of conference proceedings citations in theses and dissertations. This study also contributes to the knowledge on the use of conference proceedings by postgraduate students at master’s and doctoral levels in the information systems and computer sciences. It provides an analytical framework that can be used by library managers in the collection development processes in support of postgraduate students’ research information needs.