IT developments in Eastern and Southern Africa implications for university libraries
Identifieur interne : 000878 ( Istex/Corpus ); précédent : 000877; suivant : 000879IT developments in Eastern and Southern Africa implications for university libraries
Auteurs : Stephen M. MutulaSource :
- Library Hi Tech [ 0737-8831 ] ; 2000-12-01.
Abstract
Libraries in the university environment in Eastern and Southern Africa are making efforts to join and participate effectively in the information revolution. However, these efforts continue to be hampered by many problems both internal and external. This paper reviews information technology IT developments in the university environment in Eastern and Southern Africa, and illustrates what university libraries can do to meet user expectations and remain relevant. The current scene in the region is assessed and analysed through selected literature reviews, the authors personal experience working in the region, visits to some universities, other key institutions such as the Telkom telecommunications and Eskom electricity companies of South Africa, and discussions with professional colleagues in national seminars and regional conferences.
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DOI: 10.1108/07378830010360437
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Mutula is a Lecturer at the Department of Library and Information Studies, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.</mods:affiliation></affiliation></author></analytic><monogr></monogr><series><title level="j">Library Hi Tech</title><idno type="ISSN">0737-8831</idno><imprint><publisher>MCB UP Ltd</publisher><date type="published" when="2000-12-01">2000-12-01</date><biblScope unit="volume">18</biblScope><biblScope unit="issue">4</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" from="320">320</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" to="334">334</biblScope></imprint><idno type="ISSN">0737-8831</idno></series><idno type="istex">B963257AABCB4F6410C6529F775B31CC625785DA</idno><idno type="DOI">10.1108/07378830010360437</idno><idno type="filenameID">2380180403</idno><idno type="original-pdf">2380180403.pdf</idno><idno type="href">07378830010360437.pdf</idno></biblStruct></sourceDesc><seriesStmt><idno type="ISSN">0737-8831</idno></seriesStmt></fileDesc><profileDesc><textClass></textClass><langUsage><language ident="en">en</language></langUsage></profileDesc></teiHeader><front><div type="abstract" xml:lang="en">Libraries in the university environment in Eastern and Southern Africa are making efforts to join and participate effectively in the information revolution. 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Mutula is a Lecturer at the Department of Library and Information Studies, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.</affiliation></author></analytic><monogr><title level="j">Library Hi Tech</title><idno type="pISSN">0737-8831</idno><idno type="DOI">10.1108/lht</idno><imprint><publisher>MCB UP Ltd</publisher><date type="published" when="2000-12-01"></date><biblScope unit="volume">18</biblScope><biblScope unit="issue">4</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" from="320">320</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" to="334">334</biblScope></imprint></monogr><idno type="istex">B963257AABCB4F6410C6529F775B31CC625785DA</idno><idno type="DOI">10.1108/07378830010360437</idno><idno type="filenameID">2380180403</idno><idno type="original-pdf">2380180403.pdf</idno><idno type="href">07378830010360437.pdf</idno></biblStruct></sourceDesc></fileDesc><profileDesc><creation><date>2000</date></creation><langUsage><language ident="en">en</language></langUsage><abstract xml:lang="en"><p>Libraries in the university environment in Eastern and Southern Africa are making efforts to join and participate effectively in the information revolution. 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Do Not Edit! --><article dtd-version="1.0" xml:lang="en" article-type="review-article"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">lht</journal-id><journal-id journal-id-type="doi">10.1108/lht</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title>Library Hi Tech</journal-title></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="ppub">0737-8831</issn><publisher><publisher-name>MCB UP Ltd</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1108/07378830010360437</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="original-pdf">2380180403.pdf</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="filename">2380180403</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="type-of-publication"><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">review-article</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">General review</compound-subject-part></compound-subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="subject"><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-IKM</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Information & knowledge management</compound-subject-part></compound-subject><subj-group><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-ICT</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Information & communications technology</compound-subject-part></compound-subject><subj-group><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-INT</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Internet</compound-subject-part></compound-subject></subj-group></subj-group></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="subject"><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-LISC</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Library & information science</compound-subject-part></compound-subject><subj-group><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-IBRT</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Information behaviour & retrieval</compound-subject-part></compound-subject><subj-group><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-IUS</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Information user studies</compound-subject-part></compound-subject><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-MTD</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Metadata</compound-subject-part></compound-subject></subj-group></subj-group><subj-group><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-LLM</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Librarianship/library management</compound-subject-part></compound-subject><subj-group><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-LTC</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Library technology</compound-subject-part></compound-subject></subj-group></subj-group></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>IT developments in Eastern and Southern Africa: implications for university libraries</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author"><string-name><given-names>Stephen M.</given-names> <surname>Mutula</surname></string-name><aff>Stephen M. Mutula is a Lecturer at the Department of Library and Information Studies, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.</aff></contrib></contrib-group><pub-date pub-type="ppub"><day>01</day><month>12</month><year>2000</year></pub-date><volume>18</volume><issue>4</issue><fpage>320</fpage><lpage>334</lpage><permissions><copyright-statement>© MCB UP Limited</copyright-statement><copyright-year>2000</copyright-year><license license-type="publisher"><license-p></license-p></license></permissions><self-uri content-type="pdf" xlink:href="07378830010360437.pdf"></self-uri><abstract><p>Libraries in the university environment in Eastern and Southern Africa are making efforts to join and participate effectively in the information revolution. However, these efforts continue to be hampered by many problems both internal and external. This paper reviews information technology (IT) developments in the university environment in Eastern and Southern Africa, and illustrates what university libraries can do to meet user expectations and remain relevant. The current scene in the region is assessed and analysed through selected literature reviews, the author’s personal experience working in the region, visits to some universities, other key institutions such as the Telkom telecommunications and Eskom electricity companies of South Africa, and discussions with professional colleagues in national seminars and regional conferences.</p></abstract><kwd-group><kwd>Africa</kwd><x>, </x><kwd>Libraries</kwd></kwd-group><custom-meta-group><custom-meta><meta-name>peer-reviewed</meta-name><meta-value>no</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta><meta-name>academic-content</meta-name><meta-value>yes</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta><meta-name>rightslink</meta-name><meta-value>included</meta-value></custom-meta></custom-meta-group></article-meta></front><body><sec><title>Introduction</title><p>The continuing revolution and convergence in communications and computing technology is producing a massive surge in the development of electronic information. While these services are beginning to sweep through universities in developed economies, many infrastructure problems have isolated most of the universities in developing countries from the core of this development. The situation is more severe in Africa, and is not any better for the countries of Eastern and Southern Africa. Many universities in Eastern and Southern Africa still make heavy usage of fax, telex, and telephone services that are quite expensive and unsustainable. Within Eastern Africa, especially in the university environment telephone lines and postal mail are the primary means of communication between the universities and the outside world. This type of communications undoubtedly is expensive. Onunga (1998) found that sending a one‐page fax from Nairobi to London costs US$11 per minute, compared to US$0.29 per page if one uses e‐mail. Despite an over reliance on telephone by universities for communication, many of the telephone units are in a state of disrepair or strict regulations have been put in place to restrict their use to cut down costs.</p><p>New information technology, especially the Internet, has spawned the information revolution with the communication and transfer of information as text, images, audio or video being transmitted rapidly and inexpensively around the world. Many university libraries around the world, especially in developed countries, have taken advantage of these developments and have responded appropriately to exploit the opportunities offered by the new information technology. In universities in East Africa, there is general belief among university administrators that costs associated with adopting technology are prohibitive and therefore the technology can be put off for now. On the contrary a comprehensive Internet program actually lowers universities’ budgets for communication, information retrieval and information dissemination while increasing the universities’ capacities to achieve the same.</p><p>Although some universities in the region are making efforts to join the global information community there are still very large variations in telematics use between countries. In Malawi for example telematics activity is quite low, while in South Africa there are tens of thousands of users taking advantage of the advanced networks (World Development Report, 1999). These variations make gains made in one country of little consequence, since effective utilization of information technology (IT) requires extensive connectivity between countries and institutions. Many university libraries in the region have barely computerised compared to libraries in the developed world, which have modernised their libraries and are now in the process of transforming their libraries to operate in an electronic environment. Libraries in the universities in Eastern and Southern Africa provide information ostensibly through books and journals. However, with decreasing budgets and rising costs of information materials, this practice cannot be sustainable.</p></sec><sec><title>University infrastructure in the region</title><sec><title>Information and communication technologies (ICTs)</title><p>Communication in most of the university libraries in Eastern and Southern Africa region, is largely by fax, telephone and couriers despite the fact that most countries have fairly developed data communications networks providing the backbone necessary for Internet‐based communication. Because of over‐reliance on expensive modes of communication, accessibility to information and communication network and service is particularly low. In addition many university libraries in the region rely largely on donated foreign equipment, which is old, and as such many of the computers could not be converted to conform to year 2000 requirements. At the University of Nairobi library in Kenya, computers that were provided by a donor agency in the late 1980s are still in use. Reliance on donated equipment in libraries in the region has resulted in a wide range of hardware being installed on the networks in many of the universities. This makes maintenance and connectivity more difficult. In South Africa for example one university is reported to have lost all its data at the turn of the millennium, probably due to the effects of year 2000 rollover.</p><p>The region has a generally poor level of telecommunications infrastructure. University libraries based away from capital cities suffer from general lack of well‐developed infrastructures, because the cost of scheduling telephone calls is prohibitive. For example in Kenya’s Maseno and Moi universities which are located several hundreds of kilometres from Nairobi city, dial‐up services are used to access the Internet and these institutions still largely depend on telephone and fax for communication. Dial‐up access to the Internet is an inconvenient way to schedule communications, and quite expensive to transfer data involving long‐distance calls. In addition, lines to the remote areas tend to be poorly developed, making communication difficult. However, many universities in Eastern and Southern Africa have e‐mail connectivity at minimum, with several other universities now having full Internet connectivity. Most Internet facilities however are restricted to staff and postgraduate students.</p><p>The Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC) theme document on the Internet titled “SADC in the next millennium: the opportunities and challenges of information technology”[1], gives a summary of technology development in Southern Africa country by country, including development in the universities. <xref ref-type="fig" rid="F_2380180403001">Table I</xref> shows the countries of Eastern and Southern Africa with their major universities.</p><p>In Mozambique a 9.6kbps leased line has been upgraded to 64kbps VSAT to link the University of Durban with the University of Witwatersrand. Much of the networking process in Mozambique has been focussed around the Centre Informatica at the Universidade Edwardo Mondlane (CIUEM). Within the university, CIUEM has been responsible for information policy and for establishing the university LAN, which provides e‐mail services in Maputo and Internet access on campus. An Internet link is being established at the Catholic University, which will supply leased lines to Internet service providers (ISPs) and the University of Pedagogy. In addition, University Edwardo Mondlane operates the largest Internet service in the country.</p><p>At the University of Angola, the Faculty of Law has made a proposal for funding to get connected to the Internet. The Universidade Agostinho Neto Faculty of Engineering has established connectivity. The system is used by members of staff and postgraduate students through a local area network at the Faculty. On the other hand, the National Institute of Development Research and Documentation (NIDRD) at the University of Botswana coordinates the university’s research programmes. The University of Botswana has a fiber optic network on its campus with e‐mail link and full Internet capability. The library has full Internet access and has established its own Web site, on which it has posted past examination papers. It has an intranet through which access to library collection is facilitated. The library has seven PCs allocated for Internet usage and seven PCs for CD‐ROM searching. The library is currently migrating from a Tinlib library system, which was installed in 1992, to Innovative Interfaces Incorporation Online Public Access Catalogues (INNOPAC). Apart from the library, each department in the University of Botswana is making efforts to set up their own Web sites. Such departments as Library and Information Studies, History, Theology and Religious Studies, Languages and Literature have already developed Web sites on which they post departmental programmes and other information. Despite these efforts, Botswana does not have an information infrastructure planning process or academic research network.</p><p>The National University of Lesotho (NUL) has full Internet connection. The link connects internationally via the University of Free State in Bloemfontein to University Network (UNINET), the academic network in South Africa. UNINET also supports dial‐up and leased‐line connections to hosts in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The National University of Lesotho has negotiated a 50 percent reduction in the tariffs for international leased line to the Internet. In contrast, the University of Malawi in Zomba operates e‐mail links. In Mauritius, the University of Mauritius has full Internet connection and a notable library with an online catalogue and exchange program with over 400 institutions. The Centre Syfed is hosted on the university Internet connection to provide free Internet access to the public sector and provides Web‐hosting facilities.</p><p>In Namibia, the University of Namibia is fully connected to the Internet, while in South Africa UNINET provides the Internet backbone that supports 500,000 students and staff at 21 universities and 15 Technikons. In addition UNINET supports universities in Lesotho, Swaziland and Tanzania. UNINET also provides Internet links to 400 schools in South Africa. University of South Africa (UNISA) provides distance education programmes to 130,000 students many of them coming from Angola, Mozambique, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. UNISA has developed Internet based courseware, Web‐based student teacher interaction for submission and tracking of marks and assignments and a series of local Internet access points. Other developments that have occurred in South Africa have included 16 universities and technikons libraries in the province of Gauteng conglomerating to obtain funding from a US donor agency to purchase an INNOPAC library system. This has helped the libraries involved to share the cost of the system, which otherwise would have been prohibitive for them individually.</p><p>In Swaziland, the university is one major networking institution in the country. In Zambia major networking activities revolve around the University of Zambia. There are two satellite campuses, namely the School of Medicine and the Institute of African Studies. The University of Zambia was the first sub‐Saharan university to have full Internet provision with the university as the main shareholder. In Zimbabwe, the University of Zimbabwe hosts three store and forward e‐mail systems. The university operates a 64Kbps link and is the ISP for academic institutions in the country. The National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo is the focal point for the Regional Integrated Network for Africa (RINAF).</p></sec><sec><title>Power generation systems in the region</title><p>Power supply in the Eastern and Southern Africa regions is generally poor and unreliable. Many countries rely mainly on hydroelectric power supply systems, which are dependent on water levels in dams. When the water levels decrease during dry seasons, this is followed by power rationing. In Nairobi, Kenya, for example it was announced during the month of May 2000 that power cuts will increase from six hours a day for three days a week to as many as 12 to 18 hours a day for four days a week. This was attributed to severe drought that has caused water levels in dams to drop below what is considered sufficient for power generation[2]. The other problems that affect power supply in the region are the dependency of the countries on donor funding in the energy sector. Delays in the release of funds by donor agencies have adversely affected power projects that were anticipated in a number of countries in the region. In addition, the energy sectors in many countries of the region have not been liberalised to allow competition to thrive. Consequently power generation and supply is unreliable due to poor maintenance of power plants. There is also generally under‐utilisation or under‐generation of the power capacities in the region. In Uganda for example, the Owen Falls Dam generates 180Mw a day yet it has capacity to generate 250Mw[3].</p><p>In some countries of the region such as Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Namibia, Angola and Botswana there are alternative power supply sources, such as geothermal electricity supply systems, but they have not been developed enough and exploited adequately to supply sufficient power to meet the local consumer needs. In South Africa the power supply is generated from coal and nuclear power plants, in addition to hydroelectric and geothermal power plants. This makes South Africa the only country in the region that can claim to have surplus power to export to other countries in the region. Some countries use diesel generators to supplement the inadequate hydroelectric power supply. However, diesel generated power supply is expensive and inefficient because of frequent breakdown of the machines (Mpotokwane, 1994).</p></sec><sec><title>African Virtual University (AVU) </title><p>The AVU is a distance education interactive network of the World Bank for sub‐Saharan Africa. According to information posted at its Web site[4], the objectives of the AVU project are to build capacity and support economic development by using modern telecommunications technology to provide quality education and training programs to students and professionals in sub‐Saharan Africa. The AVU is expected to produce large numbers of scientifically and technologically literate professionals and support them with lifelong learning opportunities. The AVU aims at overcoming the existing barriers of declining budgets, too few faculties, outdated equipment and limited space and facilities that prevent increased access to higher education for a significant majority of the students in sub‐Saharan Africa. This, it is expected, will attract professionals into the region to be part of the global information age and the new knowledge economy.</p><p>The AVU is currently in a pilot phase, being implemented and tested in 14 English‐speaking and eight French‐speaking universities across sub‐Saharan Africa (see <xref ref-type="fig" rid="F_2380180403002">Table II</xref>, showing partners of the AVU in the Eastern and Southern African regions). The AVU will soon go into the operational phase and start offering fully‐fledged degrees in computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering. The AVU is also offering professional development training, executive business education, language institutions, information technologies, training and remedial instruction. To date, the AVU has broadcast over 2,000 hours of instruction to over 9,000 students in all the regions of sub‐Saharan Africa. The AVU brings together professors worldwide to provide quality instruction to students in the region through distance learning mode. The AVU has a digital library that serves its students and staff. The AVU catalog is a searchable database covering a variety of subjects. The library contains about 3,855 entries, with links to information on the Internet. Searchable items are indexed into browsable Web pages by author, subject, title and series.</p></sec><sec><title>Skills needs in the region</title><p>Information technology is foreign to a number of institutions in the Eastern and Southern Africa regions and those institutions that have a technology infrastructure in place suffer from an under‐utilisation of the technology owing to a shortage of skills. The skills that are critical to propel the region into the global information society have been pointed out by many authors. Rosenberg (1985) in her survey of the skills and training needs of information professionals in Kenya revealed the need for skills in management information systems, archives and records management, editorial and publishing. Thapisa (1998), in a separate survey, found that graduates from most of the library schools in the region are not suited for the jobs market, and that education and training should provide competencies that enable the graduates to tackle real job related problems. Thapisa identified a wide range of areas where skills needed to be provided to graduates of library schools. Areas that needed competence were identified as:</p><list list-type="bullet"><list-item><label>• </label><p>computer literacy;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>telecommunications;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>hardware and software;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>operating systems;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Web design and publishing;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>strategic management;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>entrepreneurship;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>research skills;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>financial management and fund raising expertise;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>management of change;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>community information services;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>repackaging of information;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>planning and implementation of new information systems;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Internet surfing;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>database design;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>organising indigenous information on the Web;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>ability to provide formal and informal instruction;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>expertise in information resources especially electronic resources;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>proposal writing;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>desktop publishing;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>searching external databases;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>data communication and networks; and</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>systems analysis and design.</p></list-item></list><p>In 1998 the Department of Library and Information Studies at the University of Botswana realised it was producing graduates who were unsuited to the job demands in the market, and launched a competence‐based product vision strategy. The main objective of the strategy is to produce job‐ready students in all study programmes of the department. The study surveyed professionals within the region and abroad and looked also at job markets. The findings of the survey stressed the need for a complete overhaul of the current curriculum to reflect local job needs, international standards and the demands of emerging technologies (DLIS, 2000). The department is currently reviewing its curriculum to reflect this need with an emphasis on new professional skills that not only take into account the traditional custodial activities of professionals, but also integrate new emerging disciplines so that the past, present and future can be linked without losing any of them.</p><p>The skills problems in the region are made worse by the brain drain. An average salary for a university lecturer in several African countries is less than US$100 a month. Poor remuneration has led to staff leaving the universities, exacerbating the skill shortage in a very small telematics market[5]. Because of the lack of vital skills, especially in the area of IT, libraries in the region do not effectively harness information technology services and products to improve their services. As such, many libraries in the region rely on external agencies to provide support and advice. University libraries are believed not to have adequate capacity to undertake major automation projects on their own. University authorities therefore tend to rely on computer centres to help the libraries automate.</p><p>History, however, shows that the relationship between libraries and computer centres has not always been cordial. At the University of Nairobi in Kenya, for example, the library presented a proposal to the Institute of Computer Science to facilitate automation of the university library, but the proposal was disregarded and instead the institute prescribed what it believed was good for the library. In some universities of the region however, the relationship between library and computer centres seem cordial. Ubogu (1998) contrasted this with the situation at Rhodes University, in South Africa, where the IT division and the library have forged a very close working relationship. However, he regrets the situation in many parts of Africa, and calls for closer and more effective working relationships between the library and IT department.</p><p>Libraries have tended to resist computer centre involvement in library automation plans because they believe that technologies that have been developed by computer centres for libraries have not been based on sound needs assessment. Librarians argue that this has led to libraries ending up with systems that are inadequate. Mutula (1998) in his survey of library‐automation systems in Kenya found that many libraries that had been automated through their computer centres or IT units were contemplating migrating to new systems. In contrast, in the USA, there is an emerging trend where divisions of information technology in many organisations are taking on the responsibility of managing all IT‐related resources within the organization, including library computer facilities and automation programmes. The United States International University, San Diego, USA, has moved in this direction and its sister university in Kenya is considering following this trend.</p></sec><sec><title>Training programmes and institutions in the region</title><p>Library schools have remained the principal training organs for the library profession in Eastern and Southern Africa. However, poor training facilities and inadequate curricular offerings mean that graduates who are produced by these schools are not well prepared for the jobs market. This compels graduates from library schools to seek additional training from elsewhere including their workplaces or other institutions, especially those offering IT‐based courses. Some national library associations in the region organise short courses for the members. Workshops or seminars are also organised by national library associations and the regional association, the Standing Conference for Eastern Central and Southern Africa (SCECSAL) to provide avenues through which professionals in the region can improve their skills. However, the library associations are very often hampered in their efforts for a number of reasons. Watson (2000) points out that the library associations in the region are hampered in their activities because many of the associations are managed by volunteers who are not professional librarians. The associations also do not have permanent secretariats and the number of members is too small. In addition many associations are also not adequately funded to support professional activities such as training. The problem of funding is echoed by Were (2000), when she points out that only 25 percent of Africa’s library associations are able to pay their subscription fees to IFLA. The problems of the associations are exacerbated by fragmentation of the associations’ membership occasioned by some of members joining other associations, especially in the area of IT, which are thought to cater well for their professional needs. Communication between the association and its membership is also quite poor, especially in very expansive countries like South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Angola.</p><p>ISPs in the region are increasingly providing training to librarians in the area of Web site design and Internet searching. Some university libraries are also starting to provide training in library and information studies to generate additional income and circumvent the shortage of budget. The University of Nairobi Library, for example, recently introduced a two‐year part‐time diploma course in library and information studies. Donor agencies have also been active in the region in training librarians in various key areas such as the Internet, Web design, and agricultural information systems, just to mention a few. The training offered by such donor agencies lasts from a couple of weeks to six months. In some countries of the region some other institutions apart from universities offer training in library studies with the most common exit point being diploma or certificate qualification. In Botswana, for example, the College of Education in Molepolole and Tlokweng College of Education are training school librarians for one year for the award of certificate qualification. In Tanzania, library training is provided by the Tanzania Library Services Board. In Kenya, Kenya School of Professional Studies, Kenya Polytechnic and Sigalagala Vocational Training College are offering library‐based courses at certificate and diploma level.</p><p>Institutions that offer library and information studies training, including many universities in the region, started offering information technology courses fairly recently, and many library schools have not made IT compulsory in their curricula. The output of technology graduates is low. The University of Nairobi in Kenya, through its Institute of Computer Science, which was established in 1979, has on average been producing 20 computer science graduates yearly at postgraduate diploma level. The Institute introduced a four‐year bachelor’s degree programme in computer science seven years ago. So far only 25 graduates have been produced. On the other hand, the Faculty of Information Science, Moi University in Kenya was established in 1989. It has a department of information technology that produces IT graduates at first‐degree level. The output of this department is about 20 graduates every four years. At the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania the Department of Computer Science produced 21 graduates in 1994, 18 graduates in 1995, and 24 graduates in 1996. These graduates are found wanting because courses such as information and communication technologies, data communication and networks remain optional (Mlaki, 1998). The manpower requirements for servicing the ever‐growing information industry, especially in the area of IT in East Africa (with a population of about 80 million people) exceed the number of professionals produced yearly.</p><p>Education and training for librarians is also taking place through the Web in distance‐learning mode. This mode is becoming suitable, as more students who cannot afford to leave jobs and go to school are encouraged to study away from school. This type of leaning is being offered by Technikon South Africa in Johannesburg in the area of cataloguing. Similarly the University of South Africa, Department of Information Science is also providing distance education in the area of information literacy through the Internet.</p><p>A survey by Aina (1998) revealed that the Eastern and Southern African region has 31 library schools. The distribution of these schools in the region is:</p><list list-type="bullet"><list-item><label>• </label><p>South Africa, 18;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Kenya, three;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Ethiopia, two;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Tanzania, two;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Zimbabwe, two;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Botswana, one;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Namibia, one;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Uganda, one; and</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>Zambia, one.</p></list-item></list><p>These schools run a variety of programs including certificate, diploma, bachelors, postgraduate diplomas, masters, and, recently, PhD degrees. Despite the large number of schools in the region, most graduates from these schools are not well prepared owing to poor training facilities and inadequate curricular. Aina further points out that many curricular contents of the library schools in the region are modeled along the lines of European, US or Australian schools, where the majority of library professionals in the region have had their training. Consequently, many graduates have not been equipped to operate in the environment in which they are working. However, Aina notes that a number of library schools in the region are currently involved in reviewing their curricula. This is given impetus by IT developments which have brought new challenges to university libraries in the region. The library schools are also moving to integrate core library courses with new emerging disciplines such as entrepreneurship, marketing, strategic information services and repackaging of information.</p><p>A study carried out by Kangulu (2000) on existing programmes and facilities for the training of archivists and records managers in the region established that there is no regional approach in the training of archivists and records managers. Kangulu established that formal training programmes are offered by universities, polytechnics and accredited colleges. Quasi government institutions and private institutions offered short courses from one week to three months duration in different fields from time to time as need arose. These courses often did not have a well‐defined curriculum, but curricula changed with needs. These short courses or in‐house training were expected to enable staff to manage records and archives in the organisations concerned. Kangulu questions the suitability of such courses given their contents and duration. The certificates offered at the end of such short and in‐house courses are not recognised by institutions and are not used for promotion. Very few library schools in the region offer fully‐fledged archival programmes. Professional training in archives by large is obtained from library schools in Europe, the USA and Australia.</p></sec><sec><title>Funding of library services in universities</title><p>University libraries in the region suffer from underfunding year on year, against rising numbers of students. Jensen (1995) points out that most organisations such as libraries, which could often benefit from investment in new technology, are frequently very poorly funded, and services they need are relatively expensive. In addition librarians in the university environment do not form effective political alliances with other stakeholders to lobby for the funding necessary to bring about technological changes in libraries. University libraries have tended to be relegated to the periphery when competing for funds with other departments. Poor working relationships between library and users also make the libraries’ justification for funds difficult. In public universities in Kenya for example, libraries are crying foul for having been overlooked in the World Bank funded project to buy equipment and software for public universities.</p><p>Raseroka (1998), in describing the problems facing public universities in sub‐Saharan Africa, says that the environment in which librarians have to operate is undergoing a dynamic change against such problems as the dire state of the economy, the crippling national external debt, the unfavourable rates of exchange, the dependence on imports, and the problem of unemployment. In addition most universities in sub‐Saharan Africa depend largely for their operating budgets on their governments. Funding for the universities has been diminished year after year, resulting in shoddy services which have provoked student riots. This situation has been worsened by a reduction of subsidies for tuition. In Kenya, for example, most public universities have not been able to publish their university calendars for a long time because of limited funds. The University of Nairobi, for example, published its latest calendar way back in 1990. The unit price of publishing the calendar according to Ogot (1999) is between Kshs80‐120 (US$1.14‐1.71). The university requires on average 5,000 copies per year. The publishing and printing costs could range from Kshs400,000‐600,000 (US$5714.30‐8,571.40).</p></sec><sec><title>Information policies</title><p>Except for South Africa and Zambia, most African countries do not have information policies (Alemna, 1999). Information policy ensures coordination among different types of information activities. This goes a long way to reduce costs and duplication. Countries without information policies are more likely to have a weak information infrastructure, which causes information shortage. Resource sharing in the region is limited because of inadequate national and regional networks. Few universities in the region are aware of which other universities in the neighbourhood are connected to the Internet, or have e‐mail facilities. This is because tools for providing such information are poorly developed and, on the whole, lacking. This has hampered exchange of ideas of mutual interest or learning from others initiatives.</p></sec></sec><sec><title>Opportunities and challenges</title><p>Developments that are taking place in the region give hope that university libraries will be able to take advantage of a variety of IT opportunities. The national public telephone operating company in South Africa, Telkom, with its high capacity international links and sophisticated Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) lines, is in a position to sell its bandwidth to other parts of Africa, and effectively improve the telecommunication infrastructure on the continent.</p><p>Many universities in Eastern and Southern Africa are making efforts to modernise and integrate technology in their services to provide an effective service. The University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania[6] and Makerere University in Uganda[7] have established Web sites. In addition, Makerere University Library has dial‐up connection to a local ISP. The connection can support up to 19,200Kbps of data rates. The library has 20 computers connected to the Internet. This is enabling the university community to access 1,000 journals online (Gamukama, 1998).</p><p>As electronics become established in the region, university libraries will become natural places for people to turn for advice, support and training. Libraries must therefore be equipped to be able to assist in this role and also help academics in publishing electronic documents. With increasing production of documents in electronic formats, skills development in preservation of digital documents will be desirable. University libraries must work more with computer centres in order to develop skills in technology, and at the same time establish partnerships with the teaching staff to produce new learning resources and other digital content for storage and distribution of information.</p><p>Improved developments in information technology give university libraries in the region the opportunity to gain access to Internet browsing, telecommunications, remote learning, online gaming and video on demand. This in turn calls for libraries to restructure and become cognizant of these new roles. With the increasing use of the Internet, university libraries must develop skills in HTML and related languages to create and maintain Web pages.</p><p>The emerging continental trading blocs, such as the South African Development Cooperation (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Preferential Trade Act (PTA) and the East African Cooperation (EAC) should inspire information professionals in the university libraries to consider establishing information networks that would service this economic integration and cooperation. University libraries must increasingly lobby their national governments to prepare strategies that recognise the importance of information for development. This is effectively happening in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Korea and Turkey.</p><p>Many African countries wrote strategic plans or visions to become industrialised during the past century. Kenya, for example, has a strategic plan to become an industrialized nation by the year 2020, while Botswana has a 2016 strategy. Other countries in the region have their own strategic plans. These plans have to be supported by research and development that must be based on information and networking among the countries in the region. University libraries in the region must be leaders in this initiative in advising the governments on information strategies. With the huge reservoir of information on practically every topic of interest on the Internet, university libraries in the region must develop and implement technology policies that provide researchers with a broad range of information services.</p><p>Bibliographic control in the Eastern and Southern Africa regions is quite weak and this hampers information flow and sharing. The need to harmonise bibliographic control in the various countries in the region is important to facilitate free flow of information. University libraries in the region are by large legal deposit units, and must collaborate with national libraries to encourage publication of national bibliographies. Those countries that produce national bibliographies should utilise any available networks to publish their national outputs on networks. The South African Bibliographic Network (SABINET) for example, is being used to publish the <italic>South African National Bibliography</italic>. Where communication infrastructure is a problem, national bibliographies could be made available on CD‐ROM to gain wider distribution. National Inquiry Service Centre (NISC) a South African subsidiary of a US‐based company makes databases available on CD‐ROM. This service can be utilized by libraries in the region to publish their bibliographies on CD‐ROM.</p><p>The demand for greater use of information technology will require that university libraries in the region must devote an increasing percentage of their budgetary resources to acquire and access information technology in electronic media. Where internal budgets are inadequate, financial resources should be sought deliberately from the donor community and other sources to develop new technology‐based services. To ensure that resources available are utilized to the full, university libraries must get involved in formal and informal instructional activity to make users more aware of available print and electronic resources, and help them acquire more skills to access and use information technology sources of information. To provide effective service and make use of new technology, librarians must acquire relevant skills through training and retraining. Training of librarians in technology management will be needed to carry out the responsibilities and challenges of new technology. Once skills have been acquired, librarians must have a program of continuing education to keep abreast with rapid technological changes. Similarly, librarians must be open to change and be willing to embrace change enthusiastically without fear.</p><p>Many countries in the region are modernising their telecommunications systems and effectively reducing tariffs. Libraries, especially in universities, can take advantage of this initiative to expand their Internet use.</p><p>Eskom, South Africa’s national electricity supplier, is planning to provide fiber optic capacity in the Southern Africa region[8]. Eskom plans to install fiber optic cable for linking Botswana and Zimbabwe in the Southern African grid. The grid is expected to expand into the continental‐wide network to tap the electricity generation potential of the Congo. This development is likely to increase the reliability of power supply to many countries in the region. This will in turn encourage acquisition and utilization of new technology. In addition, public access packets switching services have recently been installed by many public telephone operators in the region. There are 21 African countries that have public switched data networks (PSDN), including Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, among others. PSDN is cheaper to use locally for Internet working, but expensive for international calls. Kenya’s Kenpac PSDN charges about US$19 per kilo stream segment (about 64 bits) compared to other countries such as the Seychelles, which charge US$30. Libraries could exploit such technology for local communications.</p><p>Many international organisations such as UNESCO, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) are increasingly getting involved in many projects for improving the telecommunication infrastructure in Africa. The World Bank is, for example, involved improving the telecommunications infrastructure in Zambia and Mozambique. International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is involved in funding many low‐cost networking projects to support university libraries in the region. It has funded the Eastern and Southern African Network (ESANET), aimed at linking East African universities in Nairobi, Harare, Kampala, Lusaka and Dar es Salaam[9]. Libraries must examine the possibilities of making use of any of these cheaper networks to improve their connectivity to the Internet.</p><p>Political and economic integration between countries in the region are positively affecting tariffs. In East Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania only charge direct long‐distance calls without any international tariff for calls between them. University libraries within that trading bloc could take advantage of that tariff reduction to exchange information. On the other hand governments in the region (through the African Information Society initiative) are making efforts to improve the telecommunications infrastructure, which libraries could take advantage of to improve access to electronic information. Mobile phone density and penetration for Africa is reported to have made an impact in communications in South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, Namibia and Kenya. Mobile phones can complement well‐developed wire‐based networks or substitute for undeveloped ones.</p><p>The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has been a leader in IT for more than 15 years and has been assisting African governments and institutions in building computerised development information management and exchange systems. In recent years ECA has been promoting the use of IT to accelerate the socio‐economic development of the African region through AISI (Adam, 1999). University libraries must seize the opportunity and take advantage of the enhanced telecommunication infrastructure to improve their services.</p><p>The Leland Initiative, also known as the African Global Information Infrastructure, is a five‐year US$15 million project designed to extend full Internet connectivity to up to 20 African countries. Some of the countries covered by this initiative include Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This initiative aims to facilitate and encourage Internet use by Africans. It aims at creating an enabling environment in countries involved to facilitate electronic networking and access to global information infrastructure. It will strengthen local telecommunications infrastructures to facilitate Internet access[10].</p></sec><sec><title>The way forward</title><p>For university libraries to influence and contribute to the global information infrastructure, they must adopt and utilize information technologies occasioned by the new information revolution. University libraries must take a lead in revising copyright laws to reflect changed technological circumstances, as many countries’ copyright laws do not include digital information. The laws enacted should not, however, infringe on free flow of information. University libraries in the region are bound to lose a great deal if copyright laws are enforced without their involvement.</p><p>University libraries in the region must integrate their IT strategies into national development plans, in order to be part of the government development strategy. In Singapore, for example, Reid (1997) points out that the government has been involved in computerising the civil service, promoting computerisation of the private sector, and developing the country into an intelligent island with countrywide connectivity. Within the government’s framework, libraries have been responsible for the networking of national libraries, coordinating national collection development strategy, improving quality of services, enhancing linkages with business and the communities, acting as global knowledge arbitrators, developing an adequate supply of new age information professionals, and using automation to reengineer library service. Libraries in Eastern and Southern Africa can learn from these partnerships between government and libraries and force their agenda into government development plans.</p><p>University libraries in the region could exploit Internet services in such areas as:</p><list list-type="bullet"><list-item><label>• </label><p>publishing indigenous information on the Web;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>helping to link with communities and to provide community information;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>publishing research;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>developing local databases;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>providing a remote means of access to the library resources;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>downloading information and files from the Web;</p></list-item><list-item><label>• </label><p>using the Web for training, as a means of generating revenue and as a way to access full‐text journals.</p></list-item></list><p>Interlibrary loans transactions could also be carried out on the Web. University libraries in the region are increasingly putting their public online access catalogues on the Web to allow remote searching as well as reservations. Libraries in the region must exploit their OPAC capabilities as gateways to all information regardless of publication format. This will strengthen the role of the university in community development. It will also enable libraries that have cutting‐edge technologies to get involved with collaborative digital library initiatives nationally and globally. It is encouraging that some university libraries in the region, like the University of Botswana, have set aside Internet workstations for patrons to browse the World Wide Web, to access Web‐based mail systems, to download digital files and to print documents from the Internet. In this way libraries are positioning themselves to play a leading role in the new information economy.</p><p>University libraries in the region have a good chance to get into the main stream of information provision by integrating their electronic resources under one interface and providing access to those resources on the Web. Professionals within the university environment in the region must get involved actively in research and electronically distribute their results through the Internet. Librarians must learn a diversity of technologies to make effective use of the Internet. With so much information now in electronic formats, librarians should develop disaster plans and policies on standards, back‐ups, recovery services and provide appropriate training for their staff.</p><p>Some libraries in the developed world have established positions of Web librarian. Such staff have been made responsible for Internet services, troubleshooting, IT training, developing and managing databases, and acting as liaison with related IT units both inside and outside the universities. With the increasing adoption of new information technologies by libraries in the region, it would be opportune for libraries to have Web librarian posts. This will enable the university libraries to get involved in providing comprehensive Internet services, including facilities for connection to the Internet and providing e‐mail accounts not only to other libraries, but also to private individuals and organisations. In this way libraries would generate additional income.</p><p>In adopting new technology and integrating new services in university libraries, restructuring will be needed in order for the university libraries to respond to the challenges of new technology. In Denmark, for example, libraries are devolving the responsibility to individual departments for such activities as budgeting, policy formulation, and project implementation as a way of encouraging staff to achieve results. Emphasis is on generating solutions to problems as fast as possible. University libraries in Africa, with their reputation for bureaucracy, may need to adopt the Danish style in order to become result oriented.</p><p>The nature of information technology requires collaboration between various experts in the field. It is not possible for a single institution or individual to work alone. Cooperation between library staff and computing staff must be encouraged and nurtured. Similarly university libraries in the region must work out strategies that will effectively integrate both traditional and new ways of information resource sharing. This will facilitate immense opportunities for cooperative solutions to library operations and services provided by the Internet.</p><p>According to Saili (1999), buildings should be designed and built to provide for future flexibility to take advantage of the Internet. This will be cheaper than cabling after the building has already been erected, and would prepare the building for the future installation of and use of new information technologies. Many libraries in the region were built many years ago, and barely took this need into consideration. It is important that when additions are made to buildings, or new buildings are erected, structured cabling should be encouraged.</p><p>Many universities in the region are putting increased demands on higher education for greater student access, better undergraduate programs, and increased productivity. To address these issues, institutions of higher education must turn to new communications and information technologies to increase access, improve the quality of instruction, and control costs. Network‐based campus‐wide instruction could encourage the digitization of library holdings so that they would be available both on campus and off campus. Efforts could be made to upgrade computer systems, local area networks and Internet links between colleges and universities to promote research and publications.</p><p>Libraries in the region could use the Internet to reach both current and potential users. The Internet could help libraries in the region to collect information on the number of users who access their Web pages. Books could also be purchased through the Internet. Such books would be cheaper than comparable books sold through shops or mail order catalogues. It is reported that Internet retailing has decreased traditional overheads by as much as 50 percent by offering products on the Web (Marios, 1997).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>There is a need for libraries in the university environment in Eastern and Southern Africa to put in place the relevant infrastructure in order to exploit new information technology effectively. The introduction of the African Virtual University, with campuses in several countries of the region, calls for libraries within the region to use information technology to provide services to many more students who cannot use the physical space of the libraries. The time is now ripe for libraries in the university environment to take the lead.</p></sec><sec><title>Notes</title><list list-type="order"><list-item><label>1. </label><p>1 <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.sadc.int/theme.htm">http://www.sadc.int/theme.htm</ext-link> (accessed on 12 September 1999).</p></list-item><list-item><label>2. </label><p>2 Http://<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.eastandard.net">www.eastandard.net</ext-link> (accessed on 17 May 2000).</p></list-item><list-item><label>3. </label><p>3 Http://<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.eastandard.net">www.eastandard.net</ext-link> (accessed on 17 May 2000).</p></list-item><list-item><label>4. </label><p>4 <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.avu.org">http://www.avu.org</ext-link> (accessed on 17 May 2000).</p></list-item><list-item><label>5. </label><p>5 <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.un.org/depts/eca/divis/disd/padis/telemat/telemat21.htm">http://www.un.org/depts/eca/divis/disd/padis/telemat/telemat21.htm</ext-link></p></list-item><list-item><label>6. </label><p>6 <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.udsm.ac.tz">www.udsm.ac.tz</ext-link> (accessed on 7 February 2000).</p></list-item><list-item><label>7. </label><p>7 <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.muk.ac.ug">www.muk.ac.ug</ext-link> (accessed on 7 February 2000).</p></list-item><list-item><label>8. </label><p>8 <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.sadc.int/theme.htm">http://www.sadc.int/theme.htm</ext-link> (accessed on 12 September 1999).</p></list-item><list-item><label>9. </label><p>9 <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.un.org/depts/eca/divis/disd/padis/telemat/telemat1.htm">http://www.un.org/depts/eca/divis/disd/padis/telemat/telemat1.htm</ext-link></p></list-item><list-item><label>10. </label><p>10 <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.info.usaid.gov/regions/afr/leland/enduser.htm">http://www.info.usaid.gov/regions/afr/leland/enduser.htm</ext-link> (accessed on 14 December 1999).</p></list-item></list></sec><sec><fig position="float" id="F_2380180403001"><label><bold>Table I<x> </x></bold></label><caption><p>List of universities in Eastern and Southern Africa</p></caption><graphic xlink:href="2380180403001.tif"></graphic></fig></sec><sec><fig position="float" id="F_2380180403002"><label><bold>Table II<x> </x></bold></label><caption><p>Partners of the AVU in Eastern and Southern Africa</p></caption><graphic xlink:href="2380180403002.tif"></graphic></fig></sec></body><back><ref-list><title>References</title><ref id="B1"><mixed-citation><person-group person-group-type="author"><string-name><surname>Adam</surname>, <given-names>L.</given-names></string-name></person-group> (<year>1999</year>), “<article-title><italic>Web content for Africa</italic></article-title>”, 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Mutula is a Lecturer at the Department of Library and Information Studies, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.</affiliation></name><typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource><genre type="review-article" displayLabel="review-article"></genre><originInfo><publisher>MCB UP Ltd</publisher><dateIssued encoding="w3cdtf">2000-12-01</dateIssued><copyrightDate encoding="w3cdtf">2000</copyrightDate></originInfo><language><languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</languageTerm><languageTerm type="code" authority="rfc3066">en</languageTerm></language><physicalDescription><internetMediaType>text/html</internetMediaType></physicalDescription><abstract lang="en">Libraries in the university environment in Eastern and Southern Africa are making efforts to join and participate effectively in the information revolution. However, these efforts continue to be hampered by many problems both internal and external. This paper reviews information technology IT developments in the university environment in Eastern and Southern Africa, and illustrates what university libraries can do to meet user expectations and remain relevant. The current scene in the region is assessed and analysed through selected literature reviews, the authors personal experience working in the region, visits to some universities, other key institutions such as the Telkom telecommunications and Eskom electricity companies of South Africa, and discussions with professional colleagues in national seminars and regional conferences.</abstract><subject><genre>Keywords</genre><topic>Africa</topic><topic>Libraries</topic></subject><relatedItem type="host"><titleInfo><title>Library Hi Tech</title></titleInfo><genre type="Journal">journal</genre><subject><genre>Emerald Subject Group</genre><topic authority="SubjectCodesPrimary" authorityURI="cat-IKM">Information & knowledge management</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-ICT">Information & communications technology</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-INT">Internet</topic></subject><subject><genre>Emerald Subject Group</genre><topic authority="SubjectCodesPrimary" authorityURI="cat-LISC">Library & information science</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-IBRT">Information behaviour & retrieval</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-LLM">Librarianship/library management</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-IUS">Information user studies</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-MTD">Metadata</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-LTC">Library technology</topic></subject><identifier type="ISSN">0737-8831</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID">lht</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.1108/lht</identifier><part><date>2000</date><detail type="volume"><caption>vol.</caption><number>18</number></detail><detail type="issue"><caption>no.</caption><number>4</number></detail><extent unit="pages"><start>320</start><end>334</end></extent></part></relatedItem><identifier type="istex">B963257AABCB4F6410C6529F775B31CC625785DA</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.1108/07378830010360437</identifier><identifier type="filenameID">2380180403</identifier><identifier type="original-pdf">2380180403.pdf</identifier><identifier type="href">07378830010360437.pdf</identifier><accessCondition type="use and reproduction" contentType="copyright">© MCB UP Limited</accessCondition><recordInfo><recordContentSource>EMERALD</recordContentSource></recordInfo></mods></metadata><serie></serie></istex></record>Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
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