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The 2nd Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on University Libraries
in Africa was held in Accra on May 24-25, 1999 at the Secretariat of the
Association of African Universities. All members of the Ad hoc committee
attended the meeting.
The meeting was opened by the Chairperson, Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah,
Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana. The report of the Secretary of the
Ad hoc Committee was added to the agenda.
1) Report of the 1st meeting of the Ad hoc Committee
: this was presented by the Secretary of the Committee, Mr Zoumana Bamba,
Head Information & Communication (Association of African Universities)
and was approved by the participants as a correct record, after pointing
out that the implementation of library statistic was not mentioned.
2) Discussion and approval of a document on "The Role of University
Libraries" : the document on "the Role of University Libraries in Africa",
was written and presented by Mrs K. Raseroka, Librarian, University of
Botswana. After the presentation the participants congratulated Mrs K.
Raseroka for her good work. However, they noted that the historical background
of the document should include the libraries development of Arabic, French
and Portuguese speaking countries, and important recommendations to that
effect have been made. During the discussion, the need to give greater
priority to the improvement of university libraries in Africa and the issue
of access to the new information technologies were stressed. The participants
in their comments emphasized the need to train students and lecturers to
use university libraries. They stressed that library staff and the users
should cooperate for the benefit of the libraries and the right perception
of university libraries should be created through the establishment of
partnerships between librarians, department or faculty staff and students.
They underlined the need for governments to make university libraries
one of their priorities. Governments should know that it is their responsibility
to provide the necessary infrastructure for the libraries.
They outlined the importance of the development of the new information technologies as part of university libraries and the training of the student on how to access them. University librarians should be empowered to establish well equipped training facilities of ICT. They pointed out the central role of library in the development of research
by clearly showing that meaningful research cannot be done without libraries.
Some important recommendations have been made on funding, library staff
development, training of end-users, information and communication technologies.
Participants then asked Mrs Raseroka to review the paper in conformity
with the suggestions made, which she kindly accepted to do.
3) Discussion and approval of the "General Rules" of the Ad hoc Committee
: the General Rules of the Committee have been approved after some modifications
brought to the document.
The participants pointed out that the Ad hoc Committee on libraries,
established to be the link between the AAU governing bodies and university
libraries, should be responsible for coordinating and implementing decisions
and recommendations related to libraries taken by the Executive Board of
the AAU.
As far as membership is concerned, the Ad hoc Committee should be composed
of a Chairperson who shall represent the Committee at meetings of the Executive
Board, of a Secretary, who shall organize Committee meetings and obtain
funds to support the operating costs, and of Representatives selected from
member institutions of the AAU, who shall disseminate information on the
activities of the committee in their sub regions. The members of the committee
shall served for 3 years, renewable once.
The meeting of the Ad hoc committee should be called and chaired by
the Chairperson once a year. In his/her absence, the committee shall nominate
from among the present, one person to preside over the meeting.
The activities of the Ad hoc committee should be reported regularly
to the Executive Board. These activities should be published for dissemination
to higher education institutions and other stakeholders. The Secretariat
was asked to nominate as soon as possible a representative from North Africa.
A revised text of the "General Rules" containing the contributions made
was circulated and was approved.
4) Discussion and approval of the "future activities, time schedule
and budget of the Ad hoc Committee" : participants addressed both the
main activities to be undertaken between 1999 and 2001 and the associated
costs. While agreeing to all activities proposed, it was recommended that
the plan of activities and budget should be improved. This should include
more detail on each activity proposed, and collection and dissemination
of statistics on university libraries should be added to the role of activities.
It was further recommended that the work plans and budgets of the ad hoc
Committee should constitute integral part of AAU annual plans and budgets.
The Secretariat was also charged with the preparation of a proposal comprehending
all the activities and meetings of the Ad hoc committee, and to submit
this to selected donor agencies.
5) Preparation of the Representation of the Ad hoc Committee at the
54th Meeting of the Executive Board of the AAU : it was
decided that the Chairperson, Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah and Mrs Kay Raseroka
would represent the Ad hoc Committee at the 54th Meeting of
the Executive Board. Should there be financial difficulties, then only
the Chairperson should participate at the meeting.
6) Any other Business - Date and Venue for the 3rd meeting
of the Ad hoc Committee :it was proposed that the next meeting will
be held in Botswana or Kenya. The Secretary-General of AAU will confer
with both universities on an appropriate date.
Conclusion
In their evaluation of the meeting, participants felt the objectives had been achieved. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks given by Prof. Narciso Matos, Secretary-General, Association of African Universities, who thanked participants for their contributions to the success of the meeting, and hoped that they would continue to help in the activities of AAU through their various universities. The meeting was closed by the Chairperson.
Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah,
Prof. Narciso Matos, Secretary-General
Mr. Zoumana Bamba
Mr. Tyrong Arap Tanui, Librarian
Mr. Henri Sene, Bibliothèque Central
Mr. Stany Mezeme Be' Ndong
Mrs. Kay Raseroka, Librarian
Mrs Christine Kisiedu, Liabrarian
Mrs Annick Agbotame
1. Document on "The Role of University Libraries in Africa" 2. Report of the Secretary of the Ad hoc Committee 3. "General Rules" of the Ad hoc Committee 4. Work Plan July 1999- June 2001
These recommendations are additional suggestions to those set out in
the document "the Role of University Libraries in Africa".
1) Users training / Awareness
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