Sushma Gupta

The institute of Ethiopian studies library and its documentation services

During the last few decades research activities have grown rapidly in Ethiopia. Introduction of higher education and foreign assistance for this purpose have led the Ethiopian Government to set up several research institutes in the country. The Institute of Ethiopian Studies is one of them, set up to enable research activities in various areas of Ethiopian culture as well as to provide a documentation centre for them. Information and documentation are considered to be the infrastructure of research work. The present state of information and documentation services of the Institute is briefly described along with its history, activities and sections. The importance of introducing some new devices, such as compiling bibliographies, cumulative indexes, book lists and starting a newsletter to keep the researchers abreast of new developments at the Institute.

Development of Libraries, Documentation and Information Centres in Ethiopia in the Twentieth Century

Historical development of early and present modern libraries is described. Description of a few selected important libraries such as National Library of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa University Libraries, Institute of Ethiopian Studies Library and Ethiopian Science and Technology Documentation and Information Centre is also given. An account of the development of special libraries, libraries and documentation centres of international organizations, public libraries, school libraries and mission and diplomatic libraries is given in brief. A few factors for the development and current state of libraries and information activities in Ethiopia are also given.

The national bibliography of Ethiopia: Current status

The importance of a national bibliography can not be overemphasized. It may be published by any body in the country, though, usually the national library of the country is the body responsible for its publication. National deposit is necessary for its comprehensiveness. This paper deals with the state of the national bibliography in Ethiopia, its origin, establishment of the National Library of Ethiopia and law of deposit. Ethiopia is one of the three countries in Africa where lists of their publications from the 19th century are found. Two organizations were identified which were engaged in publishing the national bibliography in Ethiopia: one is the National Library and Archives of Ethiopia by the virtue of the power invested through legal deposit and another is the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, to enablc it to provide documentation services to its users. It seems uncconomical and irrational. It is recommended that all the three organizations, the National Library, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies and the National Archives of Ethiopia, should be separated to look after their own specific functions and perform their own specialized duties.

Postgraduate research trends in Ethiopia

Briefly reviews the development of higher education in Ethiopia and analyzes the postgraduate theses submitted to Addis Ababa University from 1980 to 1987. Concludes that remarkable progress in encouraging postgraduate research has been achieved in the university during a comparatively short period of time.

The National Bibliography of Ethiopia

The importance of a national bibliography can not be overemphasized. It may be published by any body in the country, though, usually the national library of the country is the body responsible for its publication. National deposit is necessary for its comprehensiveness. This paper deals with the state of the national bibliography in Ethiopia, its origin, establishment of the National Library of Ethiopia and law of deposit. Ethiopia is one of the three countries in Africa where lists of their publications from the 19th century are found. Two organizations were identified which were engaged in publishing the national bibliography in Ethiopia: one is the National Library and Archives of Ethiopia by the virtue of the power invested through legal deposit and another is the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, to enablc it to provide documentation services to its users. It seems uncconomical and irrational. It is recommended that all the three organizations, the National Library, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies a...

Use of the mass media for education in Ethiopia

Mass media, radio and television, have been playing a very important role in the formal education of Ethiopian children for a quarter of a century. The chronological development and future plans of their use for educational purposes are described in this paper. Ethiopia is unique among most Third World countries in the sense that the mass media in Ethiopia function under the Ministry of Education, not under the Ministry of Information, and cover almost ninety percent of the population of the country. This might be an example for other Third World countries.