Luyanda Dube

Knowledge sharing in a multicultural environment: challenges and opportunities

The article underscores the process of knowledge sharing in a multicultural organisational environment. Generally, multiculturalism emanates from being influenced by different contexts that provide the potential for human diversity. It results in disparate behavioural patterns and bodies of knowledge which lead to variance in terms of racial, sexual, age and cultural orientations. The process of sharing knowledge is complex and is susceptible to multicultural variances. Considering that knowledge sharing processes and probable multicultural influences are contextual, the purpose of the article is to establish the extent of knowledge flows in the Department of Information Science at the University of South Africa. In particular the article seeks to give an overall view on how knowledge is shared across intergenerational, cultural and interracial lines in the Department. The qualitative approach was considered appropriate for this study because it focuses on observing events from the perspectives of those who are involved and is aimed at understanding the attitude, behaviour and opinions of those individuals (Powell & Connaway 2004). A basic interpretive qualitative research design was used for this study. Data was collected through interviews and document analysis. The data were inductively analysed and the findings are presented and discussed using references to the literature that informed the study.

The School-Community Library: A Viable Model for Developing School Libraries in South Africa

The aim of this study was to establish whether the combination of school-community or public libraries on school premises is a feasible solution to the lack of library services in previously disadvantaged areas. South Africa as a developing country needs to explore alternative arrangements in order to provide and improve information delivery to the multi-cultural and diverse people of the country. Gauld (1987) argues that combined libraries will ensure a more effective use of public money, by providing library service in communities which because of size and remoteness would have little chance of accessing alternative facilities. After a comprehensive review of the literature about experimentation with this model, this study determined the present condition of school libraries in South Africa to find out whether teachers, librarians, and community members would support the establishment of joint-use libraries in schools.

Information access in high school libraries in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Researchers agree that information resources are imperative for curriculum support. Equitable access to information resources by teachers and learners is absolutely essential to enable them to execute their curriculum-related tasks. However, only a few schools have functional libraries in South Africa making accessibility to the information resources a major challenge to the majority of the teachers and learners. Where school libraries are inadequate, other information services become significant. The purpose of this study was to investigate information access by teachers and learners in high schools in the Limpopo province. The study was largely quantitative blended with triangulation of both quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from the principals and teacher-librarians whilst an interview schedule was used to collect qualitative data from the education officials. The findings established that access to information by teachers and learners is a daunting challenge in the majority of the schools. The study recommends that the National Guidelines for School Library and Information Services document (2012) be converted into a legislated school library policy to ensure functionality of the different school library models to improve information access for curriculum support.

The Role of Lecturers and University Administrators in Promoting New E-Learning Initiatives

This article examines the role of lecturers in encouraging and supporting students likely to be predisposed to challenges related to incomprehension, incapacity and isolation embedded in the virtual learning environment. This article used a constructivist lens to gain through interviews anunderstandingintotheintuition,thoughts,ideals,beliefsandinclinationoflecturersaboutthe natureandextentoftheirsupportiveroleinthee-learningenvironment.Thekeyfindingsrevealed thattheroleoflecturersinpromotinge-learningisvaried.Thediscrepancyseemstobeemanating fromthelackofclearunderstandingofthemeaning,thedepth,thebreadthandthrustofe-learning pedagogyattheUniversityofSouthAfrica(UNISA).TheUNISAStrategy2015-2030introduced incrementalchangesintheformofOpenDistancee-Learning(ODeL),whichhighlightstheinfusion of e-learning in the Open Distance Learning (ODL) context. Given its ODeL mandate, and the prescripts of theUNISAStrategy2015-2030and aspart of the academicproject the institution committedtointroducee-learningfrom2015.Further, theinstitutionalresolvetoadoptahybrid model that incorporates traditional and electronic teaching modes has caused uncertainty in the teachingspacewithsomelecturersleaningtowardse-learningwhilstothersleantowardstraditional methods.ThearticlerecommendsthatUNISAneedstoclarifyitsstandpointbyadoptingdefinitions, demarcations,strategiesand tools thatwillenhance theunderstanding,adoptionandusabilityof e-learningplatformsandsystems.

Cyberbullying a desecration of information ethics: perceptions of post-high school youth in a rural community

Purpose Cyberbullying occurs when a minor is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child. Given that cyberbullying entails defamation or spreading false information or portfolios about someone, it is regarded as a violation of the ethical code of information use. The purpose of the study was to explore the perceptions, experiences and challenges of post-high school youth with regards to cyberbullying. This is a quantitative study that used a survey approach to gather data using a self-administered questionnaire, which was distributed to 60 youth from the KwaZulu-Natal computer literacy community engagement project. The findings attest that youth recognise that cyberbullying might have detrimental effects on victims, such as alcohol and drugs abuse, low self-esteem, high level of absenteeism, poor grades and depression and suicidal thoughts. There is a low percentage of victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying in rural contexts in South Africa. It is hoped that findings may will a positive impact in the rural communities and enable the youth to interact with the modern technologies and handle them in an ethical manner. The study recommends that parents need to take cognisance of the probable possible dangers of the various technologies so that they could be instrumental in educating their children about children cyberbullying. Further, the schools and the Department of Education can play a fundamental role in educating children about cyberbullying and cyber ethics. Design/methodology/approach This survey was conducted to explore youth perceptions and experiences, as well as violations, of ethics through cyberbullying as experienced by the rural community at Mbazwana in the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Convenience sampling was used, because although the questionnaire was distributed to all 60 participants in the project, not all of them completed the instrument, as participation was voluntary. Only 43 were completed, which is equal to 72 per cent response rate. The validity of the data collection instrument used was enhanced by the fact that questions were derived from the main objective of the study. Some themes of the instrument were self-designed and others were adapted from a similar study by Dehue et al. (2008), who looked at cyberbullying experiences of youth. The instrument was tried out in a pilot study in grade 12 classes in two high schools at Mbazwana in a bid to find out whether the learners would understand the questionnaire. Post-high school learners were considered to be at a similar level as the grade 12 learners polled. The pilot study proved its own importance: students who filled in the questionnaire indicated that they were not familiar with some terms and the researchers had to simplify the language to make it more understandable. Findings A large portion of the youth studied (45 per cent) indicated that they used their smartphones to access the internet, 25 per cent identified libraries as their source of access to the internet and 13 per cent reported accessing the internet from community laboratories (usually found in Department of Education centres). In total, 13 per cent of respondents reported accessing the internet from friends’ computers. Last, the smallest proportion at 4 per cent reported having internet access via their home desktop computers. The South African Mobile Report (2014) reveals that a great majority of South Africans access the internet via their own smartphones. These findings might indicate that many people nowadays do indeed have internet access in their regions. Research limitations/implications The results of this study indicate that not all households own a desktop computer, as some people rely on community laboratories and others rely on friends who own desktop or laptop computers. Practical implications The study results reveal that most students who did the computer literacy course consider themselves at an “intermediate” level. It was noted that cellphones/smartphones play a significant role in gaining access to the internet and to social networking applications in rural communities. The social media applications most visited by youth in this study were shown to be Facebook and WhatsApp. Only a relatively low percentage of the respondents in this study in a rural context in South Africa reported being either victims or perpetrators of cyberbullying. Social implications Social media give people ample opportunities to interact and socialise with other people in global context. Only a relatively low percentage of the respondents in this study in a rural context in South Africa reported being either victims or perpetrators of cyberbullying. It is hoped that insights gained from these findings may have a positive effect in the rural communities if awareness programmes are put in place to enable the youth to interact with the modern technologies and handle them in an ethical manner. Originality/value The contribution to the world of knowledge is that this study gives a clear indication of experiences and perceptions of cyberbullying in rural areas in South Africa. This will inform other scholars who want to engage in similar studies in different contexts that can be compared with the results of this study. It is notable that one cannot predict one’s own knowledge of a certain aspect of a community until one has fully engaged in research. Prior to this study, the researchers did not know whether the rural community youth participated in cyberbullying.

School library development vs policy provision : divergence or convergence?

A policy and legal framework for school libraries is a guiding framework for the provision, development and management of school libraries. Similarly, it is a lever that standardises school library development, management and practice. Although the existence of a policy does not guarantee the development of efficient and functional school libraries, its inherent value cannot be overemphasised. It is widely documented that in South Africa, only 7.2 per cent of public schools have functional school libraries, which are crucial to enrich the quality of teaching and learning and support learners and teachers. The aim of this study was, firstly, to analyse the legal and policy provision for school libraries in South Africa; and secondly, to examine the state of school libraries in Limpopo province, South Africa. The study further sought to establish whether there is divergence or convergence between policy provision and the status of school libraries in Limpopo. The study adopted a quantitative research paradigm and triangulated utilising questionnaires and document analysis as instruments to collect data. The study established that there is a regime of policies related to school libraries, most of which are still in draft form. Furthermore, the study confirmed that provision of policy does not necessarily translate into an efficient school library system. The distinct divergence means that there is no correlation between policy provision and practice. The study recommends that the existing school library policies should be streamlined, adopted and implemented to scale up the development of efficient and functional school libraries in Limpopo.

Library and Information Services in Marginalised and Under-Resourced Communities in South Africa: Ecosystem Services and Their Implications

Abstract Daunting backlogs in terms of the library and information resource-provision in communities remain a stumbling block for all people, particularly youths, to have equitable access to information as a commodity to satisfy their dynamic and diverse ever-evolving information needs. In South Africa, the system of ruling called apartheid, also known as separate development, was officially nullified by the first democratic elections in 1994. All people including those in under-served rural communities need equitable access to information in varied formats for personal growth and development however, in the library and information services (LIS) sector, existing divisions, barriers or boundaries impede diverse users with wide-ranging information needs to fulfil them. User groups of libraries are currently divided along the still-prevailing historical divisions, an example being how university libraries are traditionally intended to cater for the information needs of their students, academics and administrative staff. Despite fulfilling their teaching needs, university libraries are also expected to cater for the research needs of students and academics to fulfil research projects, presenting university libraries as existing solely for teaching and research purposes. The key findings of the study are that most LIS are still distinctly divided with regard to their user-groups and ecosystems, with collaborations and partnerships very minimal in the LIS sector in South Africa. The study concludes that these distinct divisions deny multiple users the opportunity to equitably access information resources to meet their information needs daily. The study recommends that, based on the literature review, a holistic interconnected complex network of libraries working and existing as an ecosystem can be a viable solution to provision of LIS in resource-poor rural South African communities where there is inadequate resource-provision. The study also recommends borderless and seamless access to all libraries to enable multiple and diverse users to satisfy their dynamic and ever-changing information needs.

Evaluating user education programmes for postgraduate students in the School of Management, Information Technology and Governance at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

Notwithstanding the wealth of information available in the knowledge economy, many academic library users still lack essential knowledge and skills to locate materials. This deficiency might be attributed to the fact that the information environment is complex and is changing quickly. The main purpose of a university library is two-fold. It involves providing information sources relevant for learning, teaching and research. It also involves empowering users by furnishing them with knowledge and skills that will assist them to be independent and lifelong users. The library is regarded as the core of any educational institution, particularly a university. The study described in this paper was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of user education programmes for postgraduate students in the School of Management, Information Technology and Governance at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, employing questionnaires for postgraduate students and interviews for subject librarians and academic coordinators. These data collection tools were presented sequentially, with questionnaires for students followed by interviews with library and academic coordinators. The findings revealed that, although there are pockets of good practice in user education, there is a need to reconsider the content, the mode, the scope, presentation strategies and overall relevance and suitability of user education programmes in line with user needs. There is also a need to consider issues of appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of instructional methods and pedagogical matters.

A report on the Second Biennial DISSAnet Conference Prolissa: Pretoria 2002

Extracted from text ... 123 SA Jnl Libs & Info Sci 2002, 68(2) GENERAL CONTRIBUTIONS A report on the Second Biennial DISSAnet Conference - Prolissa: Pretoria 2002 Luyanda Dube Department of Library and Information Science, University of Zululand email: ldube@pan.uzulu.ac.za Introduction The democratisation of South Africa culminated in changes and growth in the library and information science (LIS) profession. The formation of the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) came as a result of such transformation. Unfortunately, most changes were more focused on strengthening the resource base in terms of material and information technologies. Arguably, the skill of utilising these technologies at ..