Use of ICT in Libraries of the world

Africa News

March 19, 2008 Wednesday

Nigeria;
ICT Capacity Building for Teacher Librarians is a Must - NERDC Boss

BYLINE: Vanguard

LENGTH: 947 words

AS a result of changes which are thrown up by the information age, libraries have transformed from places where students find books to information centres for schools and students.
The dawn of the information age has, therefore, altered the traditional role of the teacher-librarian as he or she is now expected to be competent in the use of computers to source for information.
This change has posed a great challenge to the teacher-librarian who needs to impart the knowledge of the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in sourcing for information in the library.
The task before the teacher-librarian has become more daunting as Nigerian schools are far from being ICT compliant.
It is in realisation of this predicament that informed the organisation of training sessions on ICT capacity building for teacher-librarians by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council.
The latest of these training workshop took place in Lagos this week with teacher-librarians from across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT participating in it.
The three-day workshop, which began on Monday, March 17, was organised by the NERDC.
While addressing participants at the all-important workshop, the Executive Secretary of the NERDC, Prof. Godswill Obioma, explained the need for the training of teacher-librarians in ICT as the present generation of children, who are growing up in a world that has changed significantly over the years, must be prepared for the 21st century challenges.
He said further: "One of the roles of education is to keep up with changes, especially those brought about by the information age. The teacher-librarian's job has, therefore, become more important. Knowing the role of the library in schools, it is now a must that ICT capacity building for teacher-librarians be organised to equip them on the technicality of ICT at the different departments of the library.
This will strengthen the capacity in the selection and use of a wide range of information sources apart from books and audio-visual materials." He added that the training is meant to give them insight and inspiration into their knowledge of librarianship.
The highlight of the training workshop is the presentation of papers by resource persons who are experts in the field of Library Science. The papers focused specifically on training teacher-librarians to be ICT compliant in the following areas: ICT application to reader services and circulation section of the school library; ICT application to technical services and cataloguing and classification section of the school library, ICT application to serial services section of the school library, ICT application to collection and development section of the school library, ICT application to management of the school library and ICT application to reference section of the school library.
Dr. Innocent Ekoja, who is the Librarian of the University of Abuja, presented the paper on ICT application in the management of school library; Dr. E.C. Madu, a Senior Lecturer at the Library and Information Technology Department of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, presented the paper on ICT application to serials management and service.
The paper on changing role of the teacher-librarian in the 21st century was presented by Mrs. Catherine Joel-Ikokoh who is the Head of Library Services of NERDC, Abuja, while Mr. S.E.A. Sonake, the Director, Research and Development of the National Library of Nigeria, presented the paper on ICT application to cataloguing and classification of school library materials.
Other papers slated for presentation at the workshop include ICT application to reference services section of a school library by Dr. Michael Ochogwu and ICT application to collection development section by Dr. William Akpochefo.
Dr. Ilesanmi Osho, Deputy Director in-charge of Library and Informatics Centre (LIC) and the workshop's coordinator highlighted similar training programmes earlier oganised for the teacher-librarians on the use of ICT as well as the activities of the LIC in development of library services in the country.
These activities, according to Osho, include the training workshop for school librarians and relevant teachers on the impact of library orientation on students which the educational parastatal organised last year, adding that the training, which attracted participants and stakeholders from across the country, greatly empowered them on the modalities and techniques which are necessary for handling students and pupils on the proper use of the library.
The other activities of LIC, as listed by Dr. Osho, include the following:
A capacity strengthening workshop involving the use of statistical packages for the social sciences which was organised for research officers and other relevant staff of the Council, with the workshop greatly enhancing the research capabilities of the participants.
A workshop on system administration and maintenance was also organised in order to further facilitate the ICT compliance of the NERDC staff, with the training being beneficial to the council's support staff who form the bulk of computer users in the council.
Compilation of Research and Development Abstract Vol. 2 which commenced after the successful completion of the compilation and printing of educational research abstract Vol. 1.
The Informatics Department has increased its ICT services to the council and other relevant users following the empowerment of the department with the supply of ICT equipment.
The Library Services Department has increased its stock of books, journals and periodicals, a development that has widened the scope of services to library users.

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 2008

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newsletter




Vanguard (Nigeria) - AAGM

March 19, 2008 Wednesday

ICT CAPACITY BUILDING FOR TEACHER LIBRARIANS IS A MUST - NERDC BOSS

BYLINE: Olubusuyi Adenipekun

LENGTH: 950 words

AS a result of changes which are thrown up by the information age, libraries have transformed from places wherestudents find books to information centres for schools and students.
The dawn of the information age has, therefore, altered the traditional role of the teacher-librarian as he or she isnow expected to be competent in the use of computers to source for information.
This change has posed a great challenge to the teacher-librarian who needs to impart the knowledge of the use ofinformation and communication technology (ICT) in sourcing for information in the library.
The task before the teacher-librarian has become more daunting as Nigerian schools are far from being ICTcompliant.
It is in realisation of this predicament that informed the organisation of training sessions on ICT capacity buildingfor teacher-librarians by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council.
The latest of these training workshop took place in Lagos this week with teacher-librarians from across the 36 statesof the federation and the FCT participating in it.
The three-day workshop, which began on Monday, March 17, was organised by the NERDC.
While addressing participants at the all-important workshop, the Executive Secretary of the NERDC, Prof. GodswillObioma, explained the need for the training of teacher-librarians in ICT as the present generation of children, who are growing up in a world that has changed significantly over the years, must be prepared for the 21st centurychallenges.
He said further: "One of the roles of education is to keep up with changes, especially those brought about bythe information age. The teacher-librarian's job has, therefore, become more important. Knowing the role of thelibrary in schools, it is now a must that ICT capacity building for teacher-librarians be organised to equip them on thetechnicality of ICT at the different departments of the library.
This will strengthen the capacity in the selection and use of a wide range of information sources apart from booksand audio-visual materials." He added that the training is meant to give them insight and inspiration into theirknowledge of librarianship.
The highlight of the training workshop is the presentation of papers by resource persons who are experts in the fieldof Library Science. The papers focused specifically on training teacher-librarians to be ICT compliant in the following areas: ICT application to reader services and circulation section of the school library; ICT application to technicalservices and cataloguing and classification section of the school library, ICT application to serial services section ofthe school library, ICT application to collection and development section of the school library, ICT application tomanagement of the school library and ICT application to reference section of the school library.
Dr. Innocent Ekoja, who is the Librarian of the University of Abuja, presented the paper on ICT application in themanagement of school library; Dr. E.C. Madu, a Senior Lecturer at the Library and Information Technology Department ofthe Federal University of Technology, Minna, presented the paper on ICT application to serials management andservice.
The paper on changing role of the teacher-librarian in the 21st century was presented by Mrs. Catherine Joel-Ikokohwho is the Head of Library Services of NERDC, Abuja, while Mr. S.E.A. Sonake, the Director, Research and Development of the National Library of Nigeria, presented the paper on ICT application to cataloguing and classification of schoollibrary materials.
Other papers slated for presentation at the workshop include ICT application to reference services section of aschool library by Dr. Michael Ochogwu and ICT application to collection development section by Dr. WilliamAkpochefo.
Dr. Ilesanmi Osho, Deputy Director in-charge of Library and Informatics Centre (LIC) and the workshop'scoordinator highlighted similar training programmes earlier oganised for the teacher-librarians on the use of ICT aswell as the activities of the LIC in development of library services in the country.
These activities, according to Osho, include the training workshop for school librarians and relevant teachers on theimpact of library orientation on students which the educational parastatal organised last year, adding that thetraining, which attracted participants and stakeholders from across the country, greatly empowered them on themodalities and techniques which are necessary for handling students and pupils on the proper use of the library.
The other activities of LIC, as listed by Dr. Osho, include the following:
? A capacity strengthening workshop involving the use of statistical packages for the social sciences which was organised for research officers and other relevant staff of the Council, with the workshop greatly enhancing theresearch capabilities of the participants.
? A workshop on system administration and maintenance was also organised in order to further facilitate the ICT compliance of the NERDC staff, with the training being beneficial to the council's support staff who form thebulk of computer users in the council.
? Compilation of Research and Development Abstract Vol. 2 which commenced after the successful completion ofthe compilation and printing of educational research abstract Vol. 1.
? The Informatics Department has increased its ICT services to the council and other relevant usersfollowing the empowerment of the department with the supply of ICT equipment.
? The Library Services Department has increased its stock of books, journals and periodicals, a development that has widened the scope of services to library users.
Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 2008

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

ACC-NO: A2008032031-17EAF-GNW

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Other

JOURNAL-CODE: FVAN





M2 PressWIRE

March 26, 2008 Wednesday

The Bodleian Library: The worldwide collection of Shakespeare Quartos will become available online

LENGTH: 804 words

RDATE:26032008
Oxford -- The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford together with the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC, is to create the Shakespeare Quartos Archive, a freely-accessible digital collection. The initiative is one of five transatlantic digitization collaborations between British and American institutions awarded the first JISC/NEH Transatlantic Digitization Collaboration Grants. The other participating organizations include the British Library, Edinburgh University Library, the National Library of Scotland, the Shakespeare Institute at Birmingham University and the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities.
The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) is supporting the project through funding of almost GBP60,000 for the British participating organizations. The US partners will receive their funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
The one-year project which begins in April 2008, will reunite all seventy-five pre-1641 quarto editions of Shakespeare's plays into a single online collection. The project's website will feature high-resolution reproductions and full-text of surviving Shakespeare quartos in an interactive interface. Functions and tools such as the ability to overlay text images, compare images side-by-side, search full-text, and mark and tag text images with user annotations will facilitate scholarly research, performance studies, and new pedagogical applications. In the first instance, full-functionality will apply to all 32 copies of Hamlet, held at participating institutions.
In the absence of surviving manuscripts, the quartos-Shakespeare's earliest printed editions-offer the closest known evidence of what Shakespeare might actually have written, and what appeared on the early modern English stage. They are of immense interest to scholars, teachers, editors, and theatre directors, yet due to their rarity and fragility, the earliest quartos are not readily available for most to study. The Shakespeare Quartos Archive will make these earliest quartos freely accessible for in-depth study to Shakespeare students across the globe.
Richard Ovenden, Associate Director and Keeper of Special Collections, Bodleian Library said: The Bodleian Library is committed to making its collections and treasures available to the world-wide community of scholars, teachers, and students. Thanks to the support of JISC and the NEH, the Shakespeare Quartos Archive will help us move a step closer to realizing this goal. Working with the Folger Shakespeare Library and our other partners, we will create a significant online resource for scholars at all levels with an interest in Shakespeare.'
Dr Malcolm Read, JISC Executive Secretary welcomed the announcement, saying: This project demonstrates the great potential of collaboration between our two countries in the field of digitisation. It brings together skills, expertise and important scholarly content in ways that we hope and trust will deliver major benefits to scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. We are delighted to be working with the NEH on this digitisation initiative and we look forward to seeing the fruits of this project in due course.'
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
--Founded in 1602, the Bodleian Library is home to over 8 million volumes and a large number of manuscripts and rare printed books. It is the largest university library in Britain and the second largest library in the UK. More information about the Bodleian Library and its activities can be found at www.bodley.ox.ac.uk
--The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) is a joint committee of the U.K. further and higher education funding bodies and is responsible for supporting the innovative use of information and communication technology (ICT) to support learning, teaching, and research. It is best known for providing the JANET network, a range of support, content and advisory services, and a portfolio of high-quality resources. Information about JISC, its services and programs can be found at www.jisc.ac.uk
--Folger Shakespeare Library, located on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, is a world-class research centre on Shakespeare and on the early modern age in the West. It is home to the world's largest and finest collection of Shakespeare materials and to major collections of other rare Renaissance books, manuscripts, and works of art. More information about the Folger Shakespeare Library can be found at www.folger.edu
CONTACT: Oana Romocea, Communications Office, Bodleian Library Tel: +44 (0)1865 277 627 e-mail: oana.romocea@bodley.ox.ac.uk
((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).

LOAD-DATE: March 26, 2008

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newsletter

JOURNAL-CODE: M2P