National Libraries and Slow ICT Growth in Developing Nations - Case Study Example

Management issues proposal and Reflection and self-allocation of grade National libraries and slow ICT growth in developing nations Executive Summary There is a general lagging behind of National Libraries in developing countries with the embracement of ICT facilities. National libraries are store houses for information and failure to realize the opportunities that come along with information technology may cause a nation experience what is known as ‘digital divide’ as it tends to lag behind the rest of the countries. Library technology is advancing at a dynamic speed such that ignoring it generally means lagging behind in economic development of a nation. Most government officials in developing countries fail to see the link between National Library services and their countries economic advancement. This poses a major hindrance to information technology in library services. Infrastructure comprising of telecommunication, road and transport and these are key to promoting innovative climates for automation of national libraries. Where this infrastructure lacks in any way, then ICT will not thrive well. Inclusion of the community views and needs in the implementation of ICT development is important as the community gets to own the implementation of the program as their varied needs are met. Funding is a major problem in automation of National Libraries as it is costly to do the initial implementation, expansion and maintenance of the ICT facilities. Where budgetary allocations are followed according to plan, internet initiatives become self-sustaining and reliable. Lack of ICT expertise in the library staff also deters automation as the workforce is afraid to embrace technology. It is vital to train staff and motivate them acquire business professionalism that will give them confidence to venture out and formulate policies on varied subjects in conjunction with government officers from different ministries. A well trained and skilled workforce ensures that users receive satisfactory services which lead to national economic growth. Although automation may come along with changes in the organization structure of the library institution, training equips the staff to realize the benefits of automation and will not be resistant to change. Automation tends to alleviate bureaucratic procedures and policies thus creating an enabling environment for advancement. Procurement of equipment and materials is facilitated. Once ICT policies and procedures are put in place, they ensure that plans and objectives set are followed. This means that where there is a fall back, corrections and remedies will be implemented to counter the mistake. Maintenance of ICT facilities is costly due to the fact that technology is dynamic and ever changing. Cost implications include those of upgrading, maintenance of software and hardware, license fees, internet usage fees and so forth. Some of these costs may be met by the IT department while at other times they are met by parent organizations or the local or central government. The benefits of automation cannot be over stated. They include fast and reliable access to information, efficiency in performance, and quality delivery of service to users among others. Successful automation of National library service depends on not only the local and central governments but also on the donor community and other stakeholders including library staff. Library staff should be on the forefront to play their role in advocacy in formulating different legal structures due to the information they have at hand. They should make use of this information by conducting research and development and present these proposals to government representative to review and implement. Introduction A national library is a state organization that collects, records, presents and makes publications from its country to the people both national and international, (Lor, 2003). Information Communication Technology is dynamic and failure to embrace its changing nature leads to stagnation of information and economic development. Automation of National Libraries is slow especially in developing countries thus providing a situation where by there exists a gap between the developing nations and the developed in Information Technology. This gap may be termed as the ‘digital divide’. Developing nations lag behind in library technological advancement due to a number of factors among them a lack of awareness of the importance and the link between information services and economic development of a nation, the inability for librarians to market themselves as knowlegable and capable of working together with the government in policy formulation of library ICT strategies, unskilled workers and use of manual and outdated information in place of current and up to date information, Alemna,1995. Situation Analysis Alemna, 1995, states that lack of awareness by government officials of the role played by National libraries in economic development of a nation is one of the major hindrances to development of information technology in libraries in developing nations. Policy and decision makers do not include automation of libraries in the articulation of programs and policies with national development plans, Lor, 2003. The Library profession suffers poor image due to a number of factors among them poor remuneration of especially public librarians, training incentives, poor network and professional cooperation with their counterparts in developed nations as well as insufficiency by librarians to market themselves as knowledgeable and capable of integrating information with national development policies, Lor,2003. Infrastructure plays a key role in promoting innovative climates for automation of national libraries. Where telecommunication, road, transport and a lack of information infrastructure exists, a problematic scenario sets in that hinders positive advancement. This then poses investment challenges from foreign partners and the larger stakeholders, Lor, 2003. In most developing countries, the views of the community are not documented and implemented. Thus the needs of the minority groups, the illiterate and educated are not taken into consideration. The visually impaired, disadvantaged groups such as the physically challenged and the newly literate are not provided for with services that suit their varied needs, Alemna, 1995. Funding of national libraries especially in developing countries is usually a major problem. Initial implementation, expansion and maintenance of national libraries are costly and being state institutions, their main source of funding comes from the local or central government. Donor partners and foundations may chip in once in a while but cannot be relied on forever. The government has to be persuaded time and time again to avail more funds for the libraries, Lor, 2003. Implications and possible solutions Lack of information policies drags the economic development of a nation behind. This is because information found in libraries could be used by library professionals to provide advocacy services to initiate proposals of legal nature on subjects such as trade barriers, taxation, telecommunication tariffs and intellectual property, Lor, 2003. Failure to motivate public library staff results in high staff turnovers and brain drain. Librarians should be well trained and motivated to take up positions of leadership by sitting in committees that conduct programs and policies pertaining to national development of a country, Alemna, 1995. They should be encouraged to take part in research and development of programs in different government ministries and organizations such as in the education industry, information, science and technology thus build recognition as well as national expertise. This will help create a professional business environment that provides adequate and appropriate library services. Poor national infrastructure in national libraries results in provision of poor library services to the community. Once the librarians take part in the national development of a nation by being key leaders in policy making programs, and then the ICT strategies will be put in place. Proper ICT strategies should have objectives that cater for a five year plan or more. This will ensure effective and efficient automation of library services with efficient technical support being put in place. Suitable workstations and software should be provided for thus enhancing standardization of the library services, Lor, 2003. When collection of content is not handled well, it may result in duplication of information, inaccessibility of information and disparity between national standards and international systems. In order to provide better information, national libraries should be upgraded to meet international standards. Efforts should be made to put national content on the web using OPAC thus giving access to the libraries collections and other databases to the public, Lor, 2003. Where information benefits all members of the community despite their varied needs, the community will experience unity and cohesion. Content for national libraries should cater for the needs of the society while putting into consideration the needs of the blind, physically challenged as well as the newly literate. Literacy programs and other related promotional information services should be conducted by librarians to enhance literacy and knowledge to the community, Lor2003. This means investing in hardware and software equipment for the blind and the disadvantaged groups. Lack of funds in the national libraries results to not only poor services being provided to users but also encourages illiteracy and lack of knowledge. Libraries can be on the forefront in preparation of funding proposals to donor assistants as well as ensure that the government puts in place a sound budget to boost its information services, Chisenga, 2004. What have others done? While Botswana National Library Services receives funding from central, provincial and local government, it lacks specific library policies. A draft policy is under consideration, but much more needs to be done. OPAC is inaccessible via the web and a library website is yet to be developed, Alemna, 1995. The maintenance and hardware and software support and upgrades is funded through donor assistance and may sometimes be outsourced. Among the challenges experienced by the Kenya National Library Service include inadequate ICT skills, high training costs both local and international, economic barriers and resistance to change. Most of the staff are afraid to embrace ICT automation fearing losing their jobs due to the fact that automation comes along with changes in the organization structure and functions, Chisenga, 2004. This barrier was overcome by sensitization of staff through workshops and training seminars where staff were taken through the benefits of automation. The Kenya National Library Services strategic plan (2001-2010) intends to integrate ICT with its vision and strategy. Plans include formulating an ICT policy that includes audit trials, disaster recovery, data security, and procurement and disposal procedures. Among the success story of this library is the putting up of a cyber café within the library with fifteen computers with internet facility. The services provided here which include web browsing, access to CD ROM, email, word processing and online books, databases and periodicals go a long way in earning revenue for maintenance of ICT facilities within the library. Nairobi City Library, formerly known as Mc Millan Library, (named after the British lady who founded it), has made great strides in ICT development despite the fact that it is owned by the City Council. Among the challenges it faces include lack of manpower with ICT skills, bureaucratic policies and procedures for procurement of materials and equipment, funding inadequacies as their budget allocations are always regarded as non-priority, Chisenga, 2004. Lack of policies that support the development of ICT facilities is a major barrier to positive growth in ICT in this library. In Malawi, there is a general fear of computers by the library staff, posing a barrier to advancement of ICT automation in the library services. This causes a heavy reliance by the staff on the computer vendors who end up charging high costs for the services they provide as they want to make profits, thus making computer services very costly. Another barrier is the fact that the government is the sole funder for the library services and shifts library budget allocations from time to time for other more urgent state issues, meaning library services are not a priority. Plans are underway to forward proposals to the donor community to support ICT projects for the Malawi National Library Services, Chisenga, 2004. Most libraries in South Africa are fully automated, with some of them having ICT units that purchase, install, deal with maintenance of equipment and conduct in-house ICT training for library staff. They have also put in place a sound internet and electronic access policy for the staff and the public and some of their libraries in some provinces have been integrated through a library system, Chisenga, 2004. One of the major draw backs in the Nigerian National Library Services is frequent power black-outs. This erratic power supply poses serious effects on the ICT facilities which has resulted in the acquisition of powerful generators but with the additional challenge of incurring fuel costs to run them. The success story in Nigeria is the plan to teach computer usage in Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba languages, an effort that will help members of the community embrace ICT. Evaluation Evaluation of ICT facilities in National Libraries should be done based on what is realistic in order to have data which allows for comparisons and benchmarking. It is vital to access on a number of factors among them the ICT services or web services being offered. The connectivity, quality control, technological infrastructure all need to be monitored and assessed, Chisenga, 2004. Capital invested is another area that needs to be well monitored. Budgetary allocations need to be followed up to ensure they move according to plan. This will enable internet initiatives become self-sustaining, Lor, 2003. ICT policies and strategies should be followed up to ensure proper plans are put in place and objectives set are being met. Information should be collected regularly and systematically so that data on the implementation, impact as well as the outcome of the automation or services rendered can be assessed, Aleman, 1995. Procurement of equipment and materials should be purchased following government procedures. This ensures availability of spare parts for the equipment purchased when needed and readily available repair services, Aleman, 1995. The best evaluation is done by the community and their governments especially when they own the products or services. Ownership of the public library services by staff ensures efficient and effective service delivery to the users. Human resource policies should emphasize on self-evaluation within the library staff as this is key to improving performance and identification of best performers to benefit from bonus awards, Lor, 2003. Recommendation National Libraries in developing countries need to set up strategies that outline their strengths and weaknesses and take up the responsibility for making policies with government planners thus enhance implementation of programs that benefit the national library services. They should ensure up-grading of the libraries to international standards in order not to lag behind and should ensure that capacity building is consistent in order to maintain a motivated workforce, Lor 2003. ICT strategies should be put in place to give direction from the development of ICT in public libraries in order to ensure efficiency. Library websites should be more informative giving access to periodicals and other research databases if they are to capture the attention of the users. Librarians should be creative and take initiative and come up with ways and means of raising cash for the ICT facilities for instance, the use of cyber cafes within the public library as a means of raising fund to sustain internet connectivity is a sound idea and has been used successfully in Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria, Chisenga, 2004. It is prudent to have a working budget as this enables the institution to stick to the budget and it helps minimize the barrier of not having funds. It promotes self-sustainability. These recommendation strategies have worked in other countries like South Africa and Europe and if keenly implemented, can work for any country that embraces them. This will go a long way in minimizing the ‘digital divide’ that exists between the developed and developing nations, Lor, 2003. Cost Implications of Automation Automation of National Libraries comes along with costs thus the need to put in place strategies for sustainability of the ICT facility. Cost implications include maintenance costs, internet usage as well as upgrading of systems costs. Maintenance costs come between US$ 2000 to 1,142,850 and include costs of hardware and software, software license fee, telecommunication charges and so forth. Internet usage could be anything between US$14 to US$ 8333 per month. Upgrading costs come between US$10,188 to US$ 47,000. Some of these costs are met by the IT department in parent institutions, while others are met by the Library services from their budgets. Some national libraries use their IT department to do the maintenance while others out-source or contract ICT firms and pay them for maintenance. Benefits of Automation Innovation brings with it numerous benefits and so does automation. Among the benefits that library automation brings include improvement in efficiency, performance and quality delivery of services to end users, Lor, 2003. Automation comes along with the need for expansion for example in the internet, use of CD ROM, emails and web access. Through automation, cataloguing is streamlined, acquisition of books and their circulation is made easy and access to information stored is faster. Users are able to access periodicals, electronic journals and other bibliography materials with ease and the library services are able to store a wide variety of information, Chisenga, 2004. Conclusion It is vital to point out that successful automation of National libraries requires joint effort from Central and local governments as well as the donor community. This will provide access to global information to the users, Chisenga, 2004. Training programs to equip librarians in developing countries with professionalism to enable them communicate and interact with key decision makers and officials in government offices their countries should be emphasized. Implementation of ICT automation in developing countries calls for dedication by governments to put in place policies that support ICT usage, Chisenga, 2004. National Libraries also need to have ICT strategic plans that can be evaluated and monitored. They need to be consistent in formulating budgets, following up on them in order to ensure sustainability of the library services Reflection and self-assessment of grade Introduction This is a self-reflection of the proposal on National Library Services and slow ICT growth in developing countries. I have cited reasons for slow growth of ICT facilities in developing countries, the benefits of ICT in national libraries and implication and solutions as well as made recommendations and conclusions on the subject. I realize that national libraries all over the world have a very important part to play in the national development of a nation and that information alone can be so powerful to the extent of determining the economic development of a country. At first I was not very sure whether I was in line with the topic that I had selected, but as I continued with the research, I got very good points that made me realize that I was on the right track. The information on the importance and benefits of ICT was well tackled and clearly stated. I believe the solutions I proposed are sound and will go a long way in making a difference in a long way in the country and governments which choose to implement them. This is because throughout the research work I did, I was able to get reference material that was relevant and well researched. Most of the solutions I used were references from a survey that was done in Africa in different countries. This survey went a long way in opening up my intellect and it expanded my knowledge on how different countries tackle varied challenges that they face in ICT connectivity. My recommendations and conclusions were well linked to the body of the proposal as they reflect examples of actual scenarios that took place in different parts of the world. I concentrated more on African countries as this is where the real challenges of slow growth in ICT occur. I believe I have written sound and solid conclusions and recommendations. I have sufficiently used evidence from the literature to support my proposal as I believe the references I have used were very relevant to the topic and problem I identified. If I was to undertake this research for a specific organization, my involvement would definitely be more practical than theoretical. I would probably use more paper work as I would maybe be required to conduct a survey. I would have a questionnaire and collect data on computer facilities that are available. I would hold one on one interview with library staff and probably even make appointments with government officials to get their take on the whole issue of library automation and get an understanding and lobby for a library ICT policy and strategy. The strengths of my proposal include my content, style and organization of the proposal that I have used. I have managed to construct the sentences by rephrasing them to depict what I have read. My weaknesses include repetition of the same phrases, for instant the use of the words ‘National Library Services’, and ‘ICT facilities’ although this could not be avoided. I learnt that understanding the problem requires skill and concentration yet it is vital before embarking and focusing and proposing solutions. I would give myself a B+ grade of 71 % in marks. References Alemna A., 1995, National Library and Information policies for Africa, Dominican University Chisenga J.,2004, The use of ICTs in Africa Public Libraries – A survey of ten countries in Anglophone Africa, International Network for the availability of Scientific Publications (NASP) Lor, P J., 2003, National Libraries and the digital divide, University of Pretoria Read More