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The study University Libraries in Africa: a Review of their Current State and Future Potential revealed a gloomy picture, but discussions at the second Standing Conference of African National and University Librarians in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (SCANUL-ECS), held in Lesotho in December 1996, opened a dialogue on possible new ways forward. One of the recurrent themes in the discussions was the need for external funding interventions to be more responsive to the environment into which they are being placed and for projects to be sustainable in the long- term by the libraries themselves. The Review and the Lesotho meeting also indicated that there were still many areas where communication between funders and librarians and university administrators in Africa could be improved. 

The Association of African Universities (AAU) and the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) responded to the request to organize a workshop at which several of the issues could be discussed frankly. Participants representing university administrations, libraries and funding agencies were invited. Papers were presented to set the background for four key areas - financing of university libraries in Africa; the relationship between information support to central and departmental, research projects and networks; the communication gaps between project identification and implementation processes; and the place of external funding intervention. 

The workshop was based on a discussion group format and the twenty-five participants broke into groups to focus on key issues under the broad headings of Working together towards self-sustainability, Coordinated information support; Mechanisms for closing the communication gap and The place of funding intervention. A set of twelve recommendations came forward to be placed before four groups-university administrations, university libraries, funding agencies and the AAU. 

This brief report provides edited copies of the background papers and details the recommendations. 

Acknowledgement must be given to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs who, through Danida, provided the funding to bring participants together. 
 
 

Narciso Matos	Carol Priestley
Secretary-General, AAU	Director, INASP

 
  

Policies and practices towards information and library support 

Libraries and librarians can do amazing things, so why is it that few funding agencies have policies for their support to the library sector, and even fewer have a librarian as the responsible person for the support? And almost none are able to put a figure on the scale of their support to libraries even though most libraries in developing countries are highly dependent on assistance from foreign donors. 

The state of libraries in Africa is bleak. Library resources no longer meet even the basic needs of users and many libraries are now highly dependent on external assistance. It is not only in the realm of acquisitions that libraries are donor dependent. Virtually all new initiatives – whether the acquisition of photocopiers, computers, staff, training, new buildings or the development of services like CD-ROM use, on-line searching, e-mail and Internet use and establishing of networks and databases – are the result of outside assistance. 

Donor support is now seen as an acceptable, normal and inevitable way of funding all library functions. As university administrations cut budgets, donor support is the main funding possibility and an alternative to levying fees or direct payment for services. 

Finding themselves being cut out of the university budget has led to a marginalization of the library in the life of the university and a growing use of alternative methods of accessing and acquiring information. Staff and students are seemingly managing to exist without the benefit of a general university library in any real sense of the word. It raises the questions of whether these libraries are needed and what their role and function are. With a few exceptions, libraries are no longer supported by university administrations or academics and there seems to be an unwillingness to recognize and tackle the information problem. 

IT has been seen as the way to solve all information problems and save universities from having to spend money on the purchase of books and journals, by providing the information electronically through CD-ROM, on-line databases and the Internet, with little or no charge. But IT does not come cheap and will not reduce the need for educational material, text books and journals in a foreseeable future. 

Donor policies and practices 

 
During the 1970s and the 1980s donors favoured the establishment of central library systems, university libraries and building national information policies. But as central libraries began to collapse, it became clear that a national information policy did not reflect the reality of the information situation in most of Africa. As it was also clear that the programmes and policies did not stimulate the information sector to play a significant role in the national development process, many donors, without examining the consequences, moved to support libraries through small faculty projects, building of documentation centres or one-time support to purchase IT equipment. Not until the last couple of years have we, the donors, become aware of the contradictions created by supporting individual research projects. Even the World Bank has, as yet, no policy to guide it in assessing applications for loans in this area; and do not even mention the word central or university library in the outline for the 1998 World Development report entitled ‘Knowledge for development’. What is taken for granted in the developed world, a national library system, is completely lacking in developing countries. 

Most donor agencies acknowledge that support to libraries has a multiplier effect on development, but only a few have policies that include support to the information sector. Most agencies give libraries a mention within their programmes for institutional buildings, and a few, like Sida and Sarec, have library programmes. Others are now re-examining their work in the field and working towards development of an information policy. They hope to create programmes which co-ordinate individual researchers, departments and faculties with the central library to prepare union lists, catalogues and other interlibrary networking products. The use of IT in interlibrary networking is being contemplated as one method by which such sharing might be implemented. 
 
In the early 1970s university libraries in Africa were established or supported through large donor capital investments. The situation had changed dramatically by the end of the 1970s. The budget cuts and a change in donor policies replaced the large investments with smaller, often ad hoc, contributions. Programmes were replaced by projects often financed with small grants directly through the local embassies or agencies. During the 1990s we have seen a growing awareness of the importance of information and knowledge in the role of building academic centres and research programmes. 

The fact that donor support has become much narrower and project-oriented over the past ten years means that, on the whole, library needs are not being met. Only the lender programmes are large enough to include all areas of library development. Finding a donor interested in building a new library is now impossible. Likewise, few agencies feel able to consider programmes with recurrent expenditures, such as journal subscriptions. 

Owing to the lack of policies there has been little, if any, sharing of information and certainly no collection of data among the donors. Libraries are supported through local offices, sectoral programme managers, information officers or country-specific desks. Few agencies have librarians as responsible managers. And even fewer have monitored or evaluated their support; decisions to withdraw are usually made in the context of the termination of agreements or because funding has to come to an end. 

Identification of needs 

 
We see that support often does not achieve its potential because of the lack of understanding between funders and recipients. Both donors and the libraries have their own goals which do not necessarily match up. But although donors usually lay down areas they are willing to support, details can and should always be mutually agreed on in discussions between the librarians and the donors. One of the problems is that the donors often find that the librarians do not know what to ask for and do not think projects through adequately. On the donors’ side the problem is that most agencies do not have information/library qualified officers to manage their information, library or book supply support. This has led to an exaggeration of the value of IT in the identification of projects. 

 
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the project proposals are dealt with through a number of channels and often come in bits and pieces according to the prevailing fashions. The donors think it is up to the librarians to lead the way in co-ordination of support by drawing up realistic development plans. At the moment donors receive proposals which vary from the vast and all-embracing to the highly specific. Only the availability of a library development plan and library qualified managers at the agencies will allow the donor to view the proposals in context. 

Sustainability 

 
Seen from the donors' point of view, sustaining the benefits of aid is the major practical problem facing the library sector. The high level of donor dependency makes lack of sustainability even more of a key issue. 

Libraries have a very poor record of trying to sustain aid, and most donors have realized that demanding a contribution or a commitment from the universities to sustain benefits is not a feasible proposition. For the time being the only possible strategy for the library is to seek another donor to take over when a project finishes. Some donors are now hoping to make library co-operation a more significant element in their support, and hoping that resource sharing and input to the management and running of the projects will bring about more sustainability. 

Donors think that the librarians should lead the way in the co-ordination of donor support to their libraries. They think it is necessary to draw up realistic development plans for their services which involve the academics and researchers; this, they believe, will foster a wider appreciation of the fact that the library is a responsive service. Donors think that development plans would enable them to consider longer term inputs and prove the sustainability of the libraries by persuading the universities that the library has a significant role to play within the university. It is also very important that the libraries evaluate the support they receive. 

Conclusions 

Librarians have no automatic monopoly on information provision, the marginalization of the libraries must be stopped through better co-operation between donors and recipients. It must be part of the libraries' mandate to co-ordinate the information resources that are available within a university. Until today few projects have had a long-term impact or offered a satisfactory solution to meeting the expressed information needs. Too few donors evaluate their support and librarians rarely seem to review and evaluate what they are doing or receiving. The greatest problem seems to be both a lack of information policies and qualified personnel on the part of the donors and the libraries. 

Introduction 

The concept of sustainability of library services in African universities is seldom a factor of importance to those organizations seeking donor assistance, and, unfortunately, sustainability is usually taken very lightly by donor agencies. 

Many recipients in developing countries come up with well written project proposals and, since one of the many criteria for giving financial aid is recipient financial contribution, they work into the proposal items that can be provided for in-house which do not require additional financial commitment. These well written proposals do not, however, provide for the continuity of the project at the end of the determined execution period. 

The funding agencies do not in any way make this situation better. Often it appears they are more interested in starting a project than in concerning themselves with the long-term goals of the funded project. This perception is drawn from the fact that when projects are approved for funding, the funding agency rarely seems to concern itself with the ability of the institution they are funding to sustain or continue with the project when they withdraw their funding. 

In Africa, the education and information management sectors attract the most external financing. In the past, most of the universities in Africa were extended campuses of universities in UK, US and Germany and most of the libraries, if not all, started with donations of books and money from individuals and organizations like the Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation. Today most university libraries in Africa still depend on donations in some form to remain functional. In many African universities, the library is considered last in terms of budgetary allocation and infrastructure development. The situation became so bad that the Nigerian University Commission made it mandatory for universities in Nigeria to allocate three percent of their total budget to funding libraries. 

As information managers in Africa, we know that this falls far short of what a university library needs to function properly, certainly in this age of information technology and the globalization of knowledge. 

Given this situation, it is not surprising that university libraries turn to donor and funding agencies. This financial aid covers all aspects of the library, from basic equipment, to books, journals, the training of staff and, sometimes, even the building to house the library. The situation seems irreversible. Whilst the government of these countries fund the running of the universities, the libraries are left to look for external funding. 

This long dependency relationship between African university libraries and external donor agencies has resulted in a parasitic relationship. Parasitic, because the university libraries depend on these donors for their sustenance; but this relationship can and should be improved upon by making the university libraries more financially independent. 

How can the university library be made financially independent? 

In Nigeria, university libraries can generate funds by providing some very important services to its external community for which it should charge nominal fees. These external users are corporate bodies or students reading for external or professional examinations. For corporate bodies, the university libraries could engage in specialized information packages that meet the specific information needs of the organization. This type of service will be highly appreciated since most corporate bodies place a high premium on information and will be ready to pay for such service. 

Working students reading for professional examinations are often in need of books, journals and other information. It will be a great service to these potential users if, for a small amount, they are given access to the library. The university library could organize seminars to educate the literate public on the use of the library. The culture of using libraries in Nigeria is still far from what is desired and this is due to a poor reading culture, a situation that is made worse by the high cost of books. A seminar/workshop in the mass media on the use and importance of libraries will encourage their patronage. To the general public, who may want to use the library, an annual subscription fee should be charged. 

The University book shop should be under the management of the university library and run as a commercial venture. Funds generated from these ventures will, if well managed, provide the much-needed funds to support externally financed projects. 

An inward-looking approach by university libraries, not only in Nigeria but on the African continent as a whole, will improve the capacity and sustainability of externally funded projects. 

Case study 
 

Currently, the university libraries jointly or singly send proposals to a funding agency through a national agency. A proposal on library automation is sent to the donor agency for funding in Nigeria. 

Existing situation 

• library staff are not computer literate;
• there are no computers in these university libraries;
• there is no computer network facility;
• the university authorities are not computer-receptive;
• the electricity supply is very erratic;
• the library budget is currently highly inadequate to run existing facilities.

At the time project is approved 

• five out of 50 library staff have computer awareness training;
• still no computers in the libraries;
• the ‘Existing situation’ (above) remains the same.

• twenty library staff trained on library automation;
• two computers purchased;
• no UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply);
• all previous existing conditions remain.

  
On the part of the university library 

• failure to create computer awareness among its staff and the university authorities;
• no extra budgetary provision to sustain the project;
• no attention paid to the infrastructure needs to effectively manage a computerized system;
• misrepresentation of existing situation to funding agent.

No qualitative analysis of the project in relation to: 

• the infrastructure on the ground to ensure functional automation;
• the degree of computer literacy available among those who will operate the system;
• access to any extra funding sources that can effectively support the project;
• the future plans (ultimate goal) of the university libraries for the project.

This is the situation of most externally funded projects in university libraries in Africa. The question we should like to find answers to, using the forum of the forthcoming workshop in Accra, is how to reverse or, better still, improve on this ‘non-functional’ relationship between funding agencies and African university libraries in working towards self-sustainability of projects. 

Recommendations 

This problem can be examined from two perspectives, the funding agency and the university libraries 

University libraries should: 

• be encouraged to state their problems in very clear terms and in great detail;
• ask for what they need, rather than what they want;
• plan their projects in phases;
• make deliberate and concerted efforts to internally generate funds to support the project and ensure its sustainability;
• invest in functional training of library staff;
• seek advice where possible from funding agency;
• ensure accurate accountability.

• make an effort to get a holistic view of the situation;
• insist on budget provision for the project long after the external funding has been withdrawn;
• monitor and evaluate the project two to three years after withdrawal of funding;
• provide technical advice when necessary;
• request accurate accountability in the use of funds.

This paper will present a brief background on the University of Botswana’s planning processes for the financing of library materials and short-term training programmes from donor sources. It will also analyse the lessons which have been learnt in the process. 

Background 

Donor funding for library materials and short-term training programmes at the University of Botswana is normally linked to formal, bilateral relationships forged between the University of Botswana and funding agencies. Such relationships are based on common interests which are negotiated between the university and the funding agency. 

Library and information aid projects are usually part of larger projects which support academic courses or programme development. Such projects will normally provide financing for human resource development, curriculum development or, in recent years, purchasing of materials or equipment. 

Requests for donor funding are initiated by individual departments and processed through established committee structures. This ensures that the proposals are in line with the approved short- and long-term plans of the university. Funding agencies are targeted on the basis of their areas of interest. 

Departments introducing new programmes are required to indicate course descriptions and proposed textbooks for purchase by students, supplementary materials available in the library and evidence of assessment for adequacy or otherwise of library collections in support of the proposed programme. All departmental submissions are scrutinized for cost and sustainability. If the assessment is positive, the new programme will be approved. Where conditions are not conducive for approval, the programme may either be rejected or be accepted in principle, but delayed in implementation, subject to adequate provision of needed resources. These resources may be forthcoming from the university or from funding agencies. 

In the earlier years of library development, library book presentations from donors were based on an assessment of needs by library management. It was during this period that much unsolicited material was received, and accepted, from the stand point that a gift horse should not be looked in the mouth. Experience in sifting donations through assessment of relevance, reading levels and compatibility of the English language, etc., in an attempt to build a library collection provided early lessons in the cost-benefit analysis of donations. It indicted clearly that donations are not ?free? in the sense that they demand staff time if they are to be of use to users. It encouraged development of internal library-based guidelines for selection and incorporation of unsolicited donations into nascent library collections. 

Lessons 

The best donor funding relationships have been those negotiated through the university link programmes. The institutionally established policies for link agreements provide a framework from which projects may be proposed. Since channels for donor funding for all library-related materials (regardless of any special donor relationship with the primary recipient) are well defined, they provide a framework through which subject librarians and faculty personnel engage in consultation and collaboration when selecting materials. Networks established during collaboration on a proposal are useful for on-going, informal consultative work on issues that affect library service. 

Short-term benefits arising out of a successful partnership between a funding agency and a recipient library are access to those resources which advance the mission of the institution. The long-term benefits are derived from learning the methods for accessing independent funding, establishing a track record/history on good management of projects, and creating supportive relationships with donor agents. Such success might provide a springboard for the establishment of on-going communication in other areas and a deeper appreciation by library staff of macro-level challenges facing the university's primary customers, the students. 

Book presentations and unsolicited donations of library materials have been found to be the most demanding of donor interventions. Generally such donations are not based on well analysed recipient institutional needs; they may be donor-interest driven, politically motivated, or a public relations exercise involving influential persons within the recipient institutions. It is not unusual for such donations to have conditions which conflict with internal policies. 

Such gifts are time-consuming. They require vetting for identification of useful additions and discarding of duplicates. However, there is a tendency to take the easy way out – retaining the materials if they look new or for political reasons. 

Experience has shown that guidelines to which all such gifts are subjected are essential. They should be readily available as information to donors and institutional contacts. They provide a guide to library personnel who have to be seen to be even-handed in the handling of donations and who may also need to implement library policy under conflicting professional and political signals. Guidelines should include the assessment of the following: relevance to curricula, library collection plans, currency of imprint, avoidance of unplanned duplication, appropriateness of reading levels, language, etc. These guidelines should be agreed upon by appropriate governance structures. 

Should established criteria not be met, it is preferable to give donations away to less endowed libraries or to discard materials to avoid processing costs, occupancy of valuable shelf space and related maintenance costs. The discarding of donations, however, may alienate friends of the library if the philosophy driving these decisions is neither understood nor supported by the parent institution and the users. 

Donor support for human resource development has provided a sound vehicle for staff exchanges, attachments and a transfer of needed skills from a library in the developed world to one in the developing world. Project definition has been initiated by the applicant, based on perceived staff training needs of the library and the extent of limited local expertise. Identification of potential partners and negotiation for donor support through the institutional governance structures has been the responsibility of the applicant. The content of staff development training is based on consultation at various levels, memoranda of agreement, terms of reference, objectives and available human resource skills in the partner institutions. Donor funding normally supports travel costs whilst local costs may be the responsibility of the host through independent sources of funding. 

Conclusion 

Experience has shown that a backing by clear institutional policies and well-defined procedures for sourcing external financial intervention is the foundation for a successful funding agency and recipient library relationship. 

The provision of frameworks for negotiation are empowering to all participants. Parameters within which agreements are made between donors and recipients give structure to communication. They also provide scope for enhancements that relate to long-term sustainability, local responsibilities and accountability of partners. Ultimate success in partnership between a funding agency and a recipient library may be judged according to the degree of leverage provided by funding intervention for long-term empowerment of the recipient to convince the parent institution of its obligation to commit its own resources to maintain its institution's academic support services in a systematic and holistic manner. 

The Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar has 17 libraries and, apart from the central library, these libraries are administered by the university's teaching and research institutions. 

Until 1994, there was no institutional link among these libraries; they operated separately and had only informal relations and systems of exchange. There was an absence of an overall documentation policy, a lack of co-operation and consultation among professional staff, and glaring disparities between the various libraries in terms of resources. 

The fact that several collections of documents were scattered all over the university, with no links between them, constituted a major handicap for the user. There were no statistics on how frequently documents were consulted or the number of users of the libraries. Furthermore, the autonomy of these various libraries prevented the professional staff from developing a concerted strategy to improve services to users. Finally, the lack for most of these libraries of any official guidelines regulating their organization and operation resulted in the marginalization of the libraries within the university. 

In 1994, the reorganization and modernization of the teaching and research programmes gave the professional staff the opportunity to present to the university authorities the problems of documentation. The librarians of the various libraries were invited by the university administration to propose a programme to reform and reorganize the university documentation system. 

What was needed was to make the system more efficient for users, more economical for the administration and more rational for the professional staff in their day-to-day management. It was decided that a single documentation service should be set up by consolidating the university's libraries into a network, with the central library constituting the central focus. The collections that were dispersed and isolated in the 17 libraries of the university would become a shared asset under the new service and be accessible to all users wherever they were held. 

A decree establishing a common documentation service at the University of Dakar was passed, and, on the recommendation of those responsible for running the libraries ,a set of regulations were adopted by the relevant authorities. These texts set out in detail how the university's libraries are to operate as well as their organization into the network. The central library is the focal point and the director of that library is the person in charge of the university's network of libraries. 

In addition, through the network director, the libraries are now represented on the governing bodies of the university: the senate, the reform and pedagogy board and the research board. There is also a documentation council chaired by the university rector and charged with resolving any problems arising from the development of the activities of the libraries that are members of the network. Sectoral consultative scientific committees (composed of researchers, teachers, students and librarians) have also been established and it is here that issues affecting the development of collections in relation to the teaching and research programmes are discussed. 

As the co-ordination of the libraries of the University of Dakar is a programme that is currently under way, it is not possible to provide an assessment of it or present an overall balance sheet of the experience. But it has already achieved a number of results. The main ones are: 
 

• common management of users of the university's libraries through centralized registration and the issuing of a single library card;
• common management and development of collections;
• introduction of a systematic policy of consultation and exchanges among professional staff responsible for managing these libraries for all technical and professional matters.

In a context of diminishing resources, both internal and external, centralized co-ordination of libraries must rest on proper articulation among the various components of the network and a proper distribution of tasks and services among the various partners. Compatibility and interdependence must be the watchwords for organizing relations between the central and departmental libraries to ensure that users have on-going access to information. 

Institutional background 

The German Foundation for International Development (DSE) is one of many German institutions in the field of development assistance. It provides a forum for development policy dialogue and offers initial and advanced training of specialists and executive personnel from developing and transitional countries. The DSE contributes to development co-operation on the basis of the guidelines of the German federal government’s development policy. Most of its funds come from the federal ministry for economic co-operation and development with a very small portion of additional financing from other federal ministries, the federal states and the European Union. 

In the context of the theme of this workshop, it is very important to point out that the DSE is not a funding institution in the traditional sense but a government-related institution, which provides only training to recipients of its programmes. The DSE co-operates with partner institutions at home and abroad. A considerable number of its short- and long-term dialogue and training programmes take place in developing countries, and the rest in Germany. Since 1960 the DSE has given advanced professional training to more than 140,000 decision makers, specialists and executive personnel from over 150 countries. Nowadays more than 10,000 participants take part in DSE programmes every year. 

For the execution of its tasks the DSE has several specialized centres, one of which is the education, science and documentation centre (ZED) in Bonn. ZED’s objective is to contribute to a sustainable and broadly effective development process by the promotion of educational systems. All its programmes support the developing countries’ efforts to achieve the goal of ‘Education for all’. 

ZED is divided into two programme-implementing sections, the basic issues of education systems section and the basic education section. A third section, the documentation and information centre on issues of development co-operation, is the largest of its kind in Germany. 

The priority work areas of the basic issues of education systems section are currently the following: 
 

• education policy, with emphasis on the implementation of the recommendations of the Agenda 21 formulated in the Rio Summit 1992;
• educational research and planning, with emphasis on the promotion of younger researchers in the use of qualitative research methods;
• training of educational planners and administration specialists, with emphasis on efficient management in educational establishments;
• information and documentation, with emphasis on the training of librarians and other information specialists for the systematic collection and use of data for educational policy.

• the use of native languages in basic education;
• the improvement of basic education curricula;
• the promotion of effective instruments to assess learning achievements (especially in science subjects);
• the training for the planning, management and evaluation of basic education systems.

Instead of implementing ‘one-off’ training activities, as useful and successful as these may have been in previous years, ZED now operates programme ‘packages’ through which a few selected partner institutions can be supported to a higher degree than before, and through which ZED can integrate the activities of more than one of its priority work areas. 

Since about 1992, ZED has collaborated with the regional NGO Educational Research Network in Eastern and Southern Africa (ERNESA), the umbrella organization for national educational research associations of 12 countries: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In most cases, these national chapters are based at the faculties of education in the respective countries’ universities. 

At the beginning of the series of joint ZED/ERNESA activities, middle- to senior-level researchers received training in the use of qualitative research methods, coupled with the execution of small research projects for which the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) provided the funds. It soon became clear that for the dissemination of the research results, especially to decision-makers and planners, it would be necessary to involve educational documentalists and information specialists in the programmes organized together with ERNESA. 

In 1994 ZED started training courses for teams of educational researchers and documentalists from each member country of ERNESA. These courses aimed to develop national databases – later to be integrated into a regional database – containing analytical abstracts of educational research, planning and policy documents formulated by using the UNESCO:IBE Thesaurus on Education. 
 
The content of these courses is based on the successful example of a similar Latin American network called Red Latinoamericano de Informacion y Documentacion en Educacion (REDUC) operated by the Centro de Investigacion y Desarrollo de la Educacion (CIDE) in Santiago, Chile. REDUC consequently became another partner of ZED in the implementation of the training of ERNESA personnel. In a sense, this programme package can also be regarded as one of the few examples of South-South co-operation. 
 
In order to make the on-going training programmes even more effective, it is envisaged that scholarships be provided to library personnel of ERNESA-related institutions to pursue the diploma course in library and information studies as offered by the University of Botswana, from 1998 onwards. As most of ERNESA’s national member associations are affiliated to universities, it can safely be assumed that the majority of these scholarships will be awarded to staff of university libraries which can, therefore, benefit from the ZED/ERNESA co-operation programme by improving their services in educational documentation and information. 

Apart from the example outlined above, ZED has recently started providing scholarships for university libraries’ personnel to follow the two-year master’s degree course in library and information studies at the University of Botswana. 

This new scholarship programme was publicized in October 1997 in all university librarians in Eastern and Southern African countries which do not possess their own training facilities in this field. It is hoped that the respective university libraries will make use of this offer and encourage one of their younger members of staff to submit an application. 

Probably the most interesting new ZED programme for university libraries is the planned 15-week course on modern information resources management to be held for the first time between August and September 1998 in Berlin, Germany. The leading theme behind this programme is ‘Beyond traditional library work: Handling and provision of electronic information resources and services’. 

ZED believes that this course is timely in view of the on-going computerization process in virtually all African university libraries, and that it should provide the participants with an opportunity to make better and more efficient use of the new information technology installed in their home institutions. The eight modules of the course will deal with the following: 

• general concepts of traditional and electronic information for library application;
• content analysis and knowledge representation in information systems;
• design of data bases for information retrieval systems;
• application of information retrieval systems;
• searching international on-line systems;
• searching the Internet (search engines and HTML);
• subject-oriented information systems and services;
• multi-media information, off-line (CD-ROM, DTP, etc.).

It is also intended to publish most if not all of the modules some time in 1999 and to make them available on the Internet at a later stage; this will, facilitate self-study and encourage distance learning. The latter aspect could be one of the most tangible benefits derived from the rapid expansion of the modern information and communication technologies. 

Outlook 

The DSE, like any other state-funded German development assistance institution, has to execute its programmes within the given framework of the development policy as formulated by the federal government. These days there seems to be a tendency to favour the implementation of training programmes in Germany, whereas in the past such activities took place more often in the developing countries themselves. This may eventually undermine the efforts of these countries to develop their own training capacities and capabilities, and could contribute to the prolongation of the existing North-South gap with regard to the access to education and advanced training in general. 

 
Association of African Universities 
 

1. That the proposed AAU Committee on Libraries develop a policy document on the role and activities of the university library in Africa, for adoption by the AAU General Conference. 

2. That the AAU request Vice-Chancellors, through the General Conference, to facilitate the attendance and participation of their university librarians in national, sub-regional and regional meetings, which are relevant to their work. 

Funders 

3. That funders employ information qualified personnel for the negotiation, management and evaluation of information-related projects. 

4. That funders have stated policies towards the information field. 

5. That funders share information between themselves concerning their activities in the information field. 

University librarians 

6. That, if university librarians are to achieve a relationship of equal partnership with the university administration and academic staff, this can only be achieved through communication¹ and satisfactory performance² of library services. 

7. That, in recognizing the importance of co-operation and resource sharing, librarians involve themselves in small-scale activities towards this end, e.g. databases of journal holdings, of theses, of special collections. 

8. That, recognizing that subject specialization by librarians will help to create and sustain a partnership with academic staff, qualified subject specialists should be employed whenever possible. 

9. That university librarians take an active role in supporting their local and regional professional associations. 

10. That university librarians actively co-ordinate the awareness of and the organization of the information resources that exist both within and without the university library. 

University Administrations 

11. That financing of university libraries is the responsibility of the university and therefore donor funding should be regarded only as a supplement. 

12. That any finance which is generated by the library through its own activities be used for the maintenance of library activities and be expended within the context of the existing university accounting system; it will not replace the core budget of the library. 

¹ - by ‘communication’ is meant: participation in university committees; communication with users; user-based services. 
² - by ‘satisfactory performance’ is meant performance carried out to the satisfaction of the library user 

Background 

In 1995 a review of the current state and future potential of university libraries in Africa was undertaken by the International African Institute (IAI). Whilst the general problems facing these libraries were fairly well known and the deteriorating state of book and journal collections, let alone buildings, were very evident results of dwindling university funds, it was felt that there was a lack of current information on the activities of university libraries, both individually and comparatively. Strategies aimed at revitalizing university level education had been widely discussed by bodies like the AAU, but libraries had remained strangely neglected. There was little or no information on the steps taken by university librarians to clarify their own functions, finances, efficiency and cost effectiveness in the light of moves by universities to establish new management structures and to diversify their financial bases. Enormous amounts of donor money had been spent supporting libraries, but there were few assessments on the impact of these programmes. How did library users view their libraries? What were their current information needs and levels of satisfaction? It was possible that the successes and achievements of some libraries might provide examples to be followed by others. 

The study was discussed at the Standing Conference of African National and University Libraries Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (SCANUL-ECS) in Lesotho in December 1996. One of its resolutions was that AAU be approached with a request to set up an Ad Hoc Committee on Libraries, to sensitize university administrators on the crucial role that libraries play in higher education and research. This request was agreed in principle by the Secretary-General and, during the recent Workshop on Funder-Recipient Relationship in African University Libraries, held in Accra in February 1998, the opportunity was taken to further discuss the proposed committee=s status, composition, role, aims and objectives. 

Objectives of the Sub-Committee 

• to represent the needs of African university and other higher education institution libraries to African Vice-Chancellors and university administrations, as well as supporting bodies;

• to provide a high-level forum, representing the major stakeholders in African university libraries, for discussing the development of university libraries and to define the key problem areas;

• to coordinate the identification of and commissioning of research into the problems facing university libraries in Africa;

• to monitor the state of university libraries and to encourage the creation and maintenance of minimum standards for information provision.
• to co-ordinate the holding of conferences/seminars/workshops on matters relevant to the development of university libraries;

Membership 

The Ad hoc committee shall be composed of representatives from the sub regions of Africa. A representative should come from a member institution. Others may be invited to attend the Committee as observers. Members of the first Committee shall be nominated. This interim Committee shall work out a modality for the election of members in the future. 

  
Chairperson - Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana 

Secretary - Mr. Zoumana Bamba, Head, Information and Communication, AAU 

Members - Prof. Narciso Matos, Secretary-General of the AAU 

- Mr. Tirong Arap Tanui, (Moi University, Kenya) Representative, East Africa 

- Mr. Henri Sene, (Université Cheik Anta Diop, Senegal) Representative, West Africa 

- Mrs. Kay Raseroka, (University of Botswana) Representative, Southern Africa 

- Mr. Stany Mezeme, (Université Omar Bongo) Representative, Central Africa 

- Representative, North Africa (to be nominated) 

- 1 Vice-Chancellor, member of the AAU Executive Board 

The Ad hoc committee on library shall be a link between the librarians and the AAU governing bodies. It is established to be a >think tank= for higher education institution librarians. The Ad hoc committee should be a sub-committee of the AAU Executive Board Committee of programmes. It shall be a permanent organ with the responsibility of taking concerted action with a view to re-enforcing the development and the role of libraries in higher education. 

Role 

The Ad hoc committee shall be responsible for the definition and implementation of measures to and recommendation of the Executive Board related to higher education institution libraries and shall be empowered to debate on all questions concerning the development of higher education institution libraries. 

Mandate of the Secretary 

1. organize Committee meetings, manage correspondence and prepare reports on behalf of the Committee;

 

2. search for, obtain and manage funding to support the operating costs of the committee;

 

f) at the request of the sub-committee, commission research activities, organize conferences, etc.; 

4. liaise with the wider AAU community;

 

5. implement all other decisions of the committee.

 

Functioning 

 

1. the committee will meet at least once a year, at the time of the Executive Board, to evaluate and define activities to be undertaken. A second meeting may take place in connection with other forums;

 

2. meeting is called by the Chairperson in conjunction with the Secretary;

 

3. members have the same rights and responsibilities;

 

4. a member can resign by giving 3 months in writing to the Secretary which in turn will forward the letter of resignation to the Chairperson. The Secretary is therefore charged with the responsibility of proposing a new member to the Chairperson;

 

5. the Chairperson has the right to expel any member who does not fulfill the tasks assigned to him.

For the next three years, it has been decided by the representatives to develop the following activities: 

• within a maximum of three years, to work out membership and methods of election for the substantive Committee;

• to write a document to sensitize Vice-Chancellors on the role of university libraries (as resolved by the Funder-Recipient Relationship in African universities libraries);

• to arrange for the collection and compilation of continental-wide university library statistics. The methodology of the current Sida-SAREC pilot project in African universities libraries (managed by INASP) could provide the necessary base.