Volume 55, Issue 1

This article discusses the roles of academic library Web sites, summarises the findings of research aimed at comparing the contents and usability of Polish and American academic library Web sites and presents conclusions regarding the basic functions they perform. Twenty-five Polish and 25 American Web sites were evaluated according to a detailed questionnaire prepared specially for this purpose. In total, 275 different elements of academic library Web sites were evaluated and analysed, including 237 elements regarding their contents and 38 regarding their usability. It became evident that these groups of Web sites differ significantly as regards to the contents but their usability features are quite similar. Generally speaking, as the research proved, Polish academic libraries treat their Web sites as “shop windows” and points of access to the information about their book collections (through OPACs). American academic libraries, on the other hand, tend to perform all their functions completely on the Web and have moved as many services and resources as they can to the new online and digital information environment. While the users of Polish Web sites are only informed about the services offered in “real life”, those who use American Web sites – “virtual versions of libraries” – can complete their tasks and satisfy many of their information needs wholly on the Web.

The changing educational environment in China requires new functions for university libraries, and these functions demand that librarians possess different skills and talents. The quality and skills of university library staff are decisive factors for the development of both librarianship and national education in China's digital and networked environment. On-line distance learning is playing a more and more important role in improving both the theoretical knowledge and practical ability of practitioners in LIS. In China, over 40,000 staff work in more than 1,000 university libraries, but the lack of staff with professional education in some libraries should be recognised and continuing education offerings need to be strengthened. In this paper, the current situation is introduced, some major cases are described, and issues faced by most university libraries in professional education at all levels are analysed. Suggestions are put forward on how to expand the scope of education, and how to utilise the networked environment to supply e-learning to library staff to improve their ability in organising information resources and in providing higher quality information services.

The first decade of democracy in South Africa has seen intensive policy-making in the higher education sector with a view to transforming the teaching and learning practices to be more consistent with a modern democracy on the African continent. In addition to addressing specific problems and gaps caused by the destructive policies of the past, the government has sought to ensure that the higher education institutions improve the government's performance with respect to global competitiveness. This paper analyses the key policy trends that are likely to impact on academic libraries' efforts to extend their information literacy education programmes. The authors discuss the progress made by librarians in establishing partnerships with academics to deliver quality education and so participate in the transformative agenda. These efforts are viewed against the background of global moves towards definitions of graduateness and the establishment of quality assessment management systems for universities. The paper shows how librarians have developed their conceptions of information literacy education and makes the case that they can accelerate the uptake of information literacy education interventions in the curriculum by more pointed leverage of higher education policy initiatives.

The Kitengesa Community Library is a small library built from the ground up near the rural village of Kitengesa, Uganda. The library, formally opened in 2002, currently has a collection of over 1,000 books, and a small staff who work with the community and local secondary school to provide access to books and other services to roughly 50 members of the community and over 300 school students. During the summer of 2004, researchers, both librarians from the Hunter College Libraries, traveled to Kitengesa to study the use and users of this library. The research focused on who in the community uses the library, how they use the library, an analysis of the collection, and the impact the library has had on the community. The methodology included several means for gathering data, including observation of library use, focus groups, individual interviews, and home visits, as well as examination of library circulation and membership information kept in a database. The findings consist of several implications for ongoing development of the library, including the importance of the library to local teachers, and the impact of the library on classroom activities and learning; differences in the reading habits of boys and girls who use the library and some possible reasons for those differences; and how the collection of reading materials in local languages and about local situations might be key in terms of community libraries and the development of a reading culture elsewhere in Africa.

Four resource-poor farmer groups in KwaZulu-Natal participated in a study to explore how to meet their need for printed agricultural information materials (PAIMs) to promote small-scale commercial organic farming. Participatory rural appraisal methods (focus groups, semi-structured questions, information tabulation, voting, ranking, sorting and observation) were used to determine how farmers access innovative agricultural information, their preferences for information channels, the effect of literacy and language on their use of printed information, and the provision of relevant printed information materials. Participants evaluated five PAIMs. The findings show that there is a critical need for appropriately repackaged PAIMs to reach farmers. Intermediaries, on whom farmers rely for external (mostly oral) information, could expose farmers to alternative information channels and/or sources. Materials written in the farmers' first language, isiZulu, were preferred, while at least one functionally literate farmer was a member of each of the participating groups, thereby facilitating group literacy. The study concludes that printed materials on their own are not sufficient to meet small-scale farmers' new information needs, and recommends a collaborative, action research approach to ensure that farmers are involved in developing their agricultural knowledge and information systems.