A Comparison Study of Oral History Programs at National Archives of Botswana and Zimbabwe

The influence of the postmodernist school of thought has touched archival science. This chapter looks into how one of the notions of postmodernism in archival science which advocates for the challenging of the dominant narrative discourse by equally including into the archives the voices of the minority, the marginalized, the ordinary, and the underrepresented people is faring both at National Archives of Zimbabwe and Botswana National Archives and Records Service.

Snapshot of the Status Quo of Selected Zimbabwe School Libraries

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by selected school libraries in Zimbabwe. It is based on the observation that the school's library system in Zimbabwe, including rural schools, is plagued by a plethora of challenges ranging from neglect in relation to funding and policy issues. It is from this perspective that this chapter seeks to deeply understand and address the challenges and opportunities faced by Zimbabwe's school libraries. The study adopted interpretivism approach and was qualitative in nature. It is a multiple case study with purposively eight schools being selected to be part of the research. Some of the findings noted were that expensive schools mainly frequented by the elites had modern libraries which are manned by qualified librarians with most of them being well remunerated. This was not the case with rural schools in which there were no libraries whilst those with libraries had few outdated and irrelevant books and there were no trained librarians in those schools.

Media Information Literacy

Media and information literacy skills are critical contemporary skills to enable the 21st century citizen to effectively and efficaciously function in the information glut economy. This chapter explores what MIL is, outlining the relationship between media literacy and information literacy. The chapter builds a case for adoption of MIL by organizations, educators, and information practitioners. Significance of MIL against the backdrop of media convergence is interrogated. Various ways in which MIL can be integrated into the curriculum and necessary competencies required to deliver MIL by teachers and librarians are explored and a section on MIL into curriculum was developed from the UNESCO MIL curriculum for teachers. MIL evaluation was also tackled focusing on the capacity of teachers and students to evaluate sources and access information. The chapter concludes with MIL learning environment and resources.

An Open Access Model for Quality Scientific Outputs in a Quasi-Linear Information Society

The study provided an open access model for quality scientific outputs in a quasi-linear information society: a pareto optimality approach. The qualitative research method was used and involved a three-stage sampling technique to select participants. The findings of the study revealed that respondents were of the opinion that paying APC or publishing costs constitute burden for authors and that the publishers should have other ways of making profits in business such as library subscription, among others. Thus, all stakeholders should collaborate and be involved in the maintenance of the information society to enhance open access initiatives, especially in developing countries.

Documenting Nigeria's Social and Cultural History Through Cinema

In recent times, cinema has emerged as an alternative technology to document reality. This could be seen in the fact that both fictional and non-fictional films are increasingly deployed to chronicle various aspects of history. In the Nigerian moving pictures industry (Nollywood), this paradigm could be illustrated by the recent release of historical epic movies such as Lancelot Imasuen's Invasion 1897, Jeta Amata's Black November, Biyi Bandele's Half of a Yellow Sun, and Kunle Afolayan's October 1, among others. Drawing on this relatively old trend, this chapter examines the extent to which some of Nollywood epic films are “trustworthy” records of Nigerian history. The chapter begins by examining the controversy over the nature of film as a historical document in its own right. It goes further to exploring the issue of historical film making in Nollywood and ends with a reading of Biyi Bandele's Half of a Yellow Sun and Kunle Afolayan's October 1 as forms of historical films.

The Future of LIS and Media Training in the Global Era

There is growing concern among information science practitioners and librarians on their relevance in the constantly changing world of technology where their work is seemingly under threat. This has been caused by increase in technological advancement and processes that are automating the processes which basically entailed their work. This chapter thus seeks to provide these practitioners, particularly their trainers, with some insight into the future prospects and the place of LIS and media in the coming years by attempting to define roles and processes that they may play for them to remain as relevant as they have always been.

Governance of Liquid Communications in the Botswana Public Sector

Botswana government uses ICT to deliver services and communicate with the public to increase access and usage of services. One of the platforms for such communications is social media which generates liquid communication. Liquid communication is defined as a type of communication that can easily go back and forth between participants involved which is neither restricted by time nor space. This can be shared and re-tweeted many times beyond the control of the creating agency, resulting in challenges regarding its management. The question that arises is, How do government agencies ensure governance of such records? Using literature review, this chapter explores governance of liquid communications by Botswana government. The study established that there are no guidelines for managing liquid communications. The chapter recommends that Botswana government should design a governance framework to guide ministries in the management of liquid communication. Failure to regulate this environment would result in trouble for the country such as loss of memory.

Media as a Threat and Subordinate of Cultural Heritage in Zimbabwe

The major focus of this chapter is to discover how the media can be a subordinate of cultural heritage and at the same time pose a threat to cultural heritage. It explores the link between media and cultural heritage. Attention is also on the use of the internet in the promotion of cultural heritage in Zimbabwe. Media use of internet permit cultural heritage of different groups to be uploaded, downloaded, and accessed by other people around the world, presenting opportunities for cultural exchange.

Status of Electronic Thesis and Dissertations (ETDs) in India

INFLIBNET (information library network) has gradually emerged as the backbone of the higher education sector of India. The remarkable initiatives taken by the INFLIBNET strive for strengthening and supporting information needs of the students, scholars, teachers, scientists, and peers. Scholars all around the world would be thankful to the INFLIBNET for their marvelous and ambitious project in the direction of bringing millions of theses and dissertation under the umbrella of OA. With 166,675 full-text ETD items and growing, it qualifies to be called a massive digital library (MDL). This chapter discusses the salient features, significance, and implications of the Shodhganga. It also discusses Shodhgangotri, a database consisting of approved research proposal submitted by the research scholars. The chapter concludes with discussion on the evaluation report of the Shodhganga website with the web-analyzer software Nibbler.

Economics of Resource Sharing via Library Consortia

The chapter seeks to discuss the role played by library consortia in resource sharing among libraries, media organizations, and archives. It will outline the existing models that are functioning effectively especially in the developing countries and discuss the best practices. The target audience being libraries, archives, and media. While unravelling the economics of resources sharing among the information players, the chapter will address the challenges and opportunities in supporting research, teaching, and learning. The value of the book chapter is that it will give an insight into the development of library consortia and their significance as opportunities to provide equal access to research in libraries, archives, and media. The chapter will also provide a comprehensive comparison between library consortia in developing countries and developed countries highlighting how resource sharing in developing countries has helped to bridge the gap of information access, thereby showing progressive development.