Alerting Services as Tools For Promoting The Uptake of Open Access Resources in Higher Learning Institutions. Case of the University of Zambia

ABSTRACT This study aimed at identifying and recommending appropriate alerting services to promote awareness and uptake of open access resources in higher learning institutions such as the University of Zambia. It identifies itself with the pragmatic paradigm; using the mixed-methods approach and a case study mixed-methods design to investigate the problem of low uptake of open access resources and how alerting services can improve the uptake. The study further applied the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology to provide the context for examining and explaining open access usage and promotion. The study used University of Zambia students, researchers and librarians as informants. The results reveal low usage of open access as well as alerting services in the University. To improve the uptake, the researchers suggest the use of various social media tools, vendor and Google email alerts, mobile phone sms, customised website, flashcards on Moodle and astria, SDIs and peer-to-peer sensitisations

Cutting out the middle man?: disintermediation and the academic library

Big Deals, open access, and digitisation increasingly mean that selection decisions are being removed from librarians and transferred to the end user. David Ball looks at the forces pushing towards this ‘disintermediation’ and considers the future role of the academic library

Assessment of information seeking behaviour of physically challenged students in selected Nigerian tertiary institutions

This study examined the information seeking behaviour of the physically challenged students in selected Nigeria tertiary institutions. The study made effort to determine the predominant sources of information, accessibility to information materials and information services and the problems faced by the physically challenged students while seeking and using information/library resources and services. The study adopted survey design and data was collected using a questionnaire administered to two thousand respondents selected from three Nigeria tertiary institutions - the University of Ilorin, University of Ibadan and Federal college of education (special) Oyo. The findings of the study show that the majority of the respondents seek educational information, while their source of information is online. The major information material they consult was lecture note/handout, while the services rendered to them in the library are reference, abstracting and indexing services. Textbook is the only information material access by the respondents while the major challenges the physically challenged encountered are inadequate time to carry out information search and inability to locate information from the targeted sources. The physically challenged are encouraged to develop good time management. This will enable them to have enough time to search for their needed information. The library in each participated school should make sure they embark on regular shelve reading so as to help the physically challenged locate information through their target locations

Exploring the information-seeking behaviour of internationally educated nurses (IENs) in Saskatchewan

Abstract: Introduction: To explore the information seeking behavior of Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) and to investigate their exposure to libraries and library training in both their home countries and after being hired in Saskatchewan. Methods: This two-phase multi-method project was carried out in Saskatchewan, Canada. A questionnaire was developed based on survey instruments used in previously conducted studies on the topic. Librarians in two academic institutions assisted with validation of the survey. In Phase 1, data were collected via an online questionnaire from IENs in three health regions: Saskatoon, Regina, and Sunrise. In Phase 2, the study was expanded to IENs in all the health regions in the province. The same questionnaire from Phase 1 was used during telephone interviews with participants. Results: A total of 17 IENs responded (Phase 1, n = 9, Phase 2, n = 8). Results show that IENs, although interested in looking for information for their practice, are hindered by a lack of knowledge of how and where to seek relevant clinical information as well as a lack of library training. As a result, their main source of information is the Internet (Google). Discusion: Despite barriers such as time to information seeking, results revealed that given the opportunity IENs would like to receive library training to enhance their information seeking skills

Challenges of doing research in sub-Saharan African universities: digital scholarship opportunities

Universities the world over are responsible for research, knowledge generation, scholarship and innovation. They also serve as conduits for the transfer, adaptation, and dissemination of knowledge generated across the world. Universities are expected to guarantee the most efficient utilisation of research results and their possible application to economic life. Globally, universities are facing renewed external and internal pressure as the push for them to meet the changing needs of society intensifies as a result of trends in the transition towards a knowledge-based economy; massification of higher education; and the integration and assimilation of Information Technology (IT) into the academic environment. Moreover, the emergence and use of IT in higher education has led to an increasingly virtual education system, with implications for the dynamics and conduct of university research. Universities no longer remain sole citadels of research activities, as private or government research institutes are increasingly involved in knowledge creation and dissemination. The internationalisation of higher education, coupled with growing student mobility and increased competition for funding, has recently occasioned efforts to rank universities in terms of their academic quality and productivity at national, regional and global levels. Despite the increased demands on universities, they remain constrained by declining state funding, increasing enrolments, limited physical facilities, etc. New technologies now offer lifelines for African universities to re-engineer and reposition themselves in order to meet these ever increasing societal demands effectively. This paper discusses the challenges of doing research in African universities, and assesses the opportunities digital scholarship can engender for these universities. The focus of the paper is on universities in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding North Africa and to some extent, South Africa. North African higher education is largely influenced by practices in Europe and the Middle East. South Africa has had a separate and distinct political history and governance that differs from other African countries. The country also has a fairly well developed technological and industrial economy, which is quite ahead of other African countries. Their system of higher education is older (most universities were established during the pre-World War II phase, while in most sub-Saharan countries, universities were established post-independence, beginning in the late 1950s) and their universities are well endowed with good libraries, well equipped laboratories, long traditions of scholarship based on European models, and a well established ICT infrastructure that is accessible to both faculties and students. Keywords: Research, digital scholarship, e-research, e-learning, sub-Saharan Africa, higher educatio

Factors that influence zambian higher education lecturer’s attitude towards integrating ICTs in teaching and research

This paper investigates factors that influence Zambian higher education lecturer’s attitude towards integrating ICTs in research and teaching. To determine these factors, we used online administered survey with a total of 163 respondents from public and private higher education institutions in Zambia. Quantitative data analysis based on descriptive and inferential statistics was used in this study. Inferential analysis was employed to investigate the relationships among variables using Pearson correlation analysis and completely randomized design. The results revealed that lack of adequate Internet bandwidth is among the major barrier or obstacle for assimilating ICTs in research and teaching for Zambian higher education lecturers. Additionally, training lecturers on the use of ICTs e.g. email, PowerPoint presentations, electronic boards and its advantages is the most important incentive to motivate lecturers to incorporate ICTs in research and teaching. Therefore, this study contributes to literature on factors that influence higher education lecturers’ attitude towards integrating ICTs in research and teaching. This study also demonstrates a positive correlation between the important factors that influence lecturers in integrating ICTs in research and teachingPeer Reviewe

Divided Diasporas: Southern Africans in Canada

The protracted economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe led directly to a major increase in mixed migration flows to South Africa. Migrants were drawn from every sector of society, all education and skill levels, equal numbers of both sexes, and all ages (including unaccompanied child migration). Many migrants claimed asylum in South Africa which gave them the right to work while they waited for a refugee hearing. Many others were arrested and deported back to Zimbabwe. Migrants who were unable to find employment in the formal economy turned to employment and self-employment in the informal economy. These migrant entrepreneurs used personal savings to establish small and micro enterprises in many urban areas. The businesses focused on retail trading, manufacturing and services and contributed to the South African economy in various ways, including providing employment for South Africans. Nationwide xenophobic violence in 2008 targeted all migrants, irrespective of origin and legal status. From 2008 onwards, violent attacks on migrant-owned informal businesses began to escalate. This culminated in a second round of nationwide xenophobic violence in early 2015 when migrant-owned businesses were targeted by mobs. Migrants send essential remittances to family in Zimbabwe and return migration is not a viable or long-term response until Zimbabwe’s economic crisis is resolved. As a result, informal migrant entrepreneurs have adapted to hostile business conditions by adopting a range of strategies to avoid and protect themselves and their businesses from xenophobia. Against this backdrop, this report first discusses the nature of the crisis in Zimbabwe and its connections with large-scale out-migration, particularly to South Africa. The South African response to crisis-driven migration is reviewed showing how the government shifted from a predominantly coercive and control-oriented policy towards a more realistic assessment of the need to accommodate migrants through an immigration amnesty and the right to work in the formal and informal sector. One of the major challenges facing migrants and all stakeholders in South Africa is xenophobic violence. Nationwide attacks on migrants and refugees in 2008 and 2015 have been interspersed with ongoing lower-level episodes of violence. These attacks have increasingly targeted migrants and refugees, including many Zimbabweans, seeking to make a living in the country’s urban informal economy. The research for this report focused on the business activities and responses to xenophobic violence of Zimbabweans in the informal economy. Amongst the key findings were the following: Between 20-30% of Zimbabwean migrants in South African cities are involved in the informal economy and the importance of informal sector employment to Zimbabweans has increased over time. Zimbabweans operating enterprises in the informal economy are predominantly young (50- 75% under the age of 35) and male (60-70%). Nearly two-thirds of the migrant entrepreneurs arrived in South Africa in the peak years of the Zimbabwean crisis between 2000 and 2010 (42%). Another 32% migrated after 2010. Less than 2% migrated to South Africa before the end of apartheid. Economic hardship, unemployment and political persecution are the main push drivers of migration to South Africa. Pull drivers include the assistance of relatives already in South Africa and the prospect of employment. The majority of the Zimbabwean migrant enterprises are in the retail, trade and wholesale sector, followed by services and manufacturing. Around three-quarters of the migrants relied on their personal savings to start their businesses and many worked in the formal economy first. Business expansion has occurred despite the prime obligation of the entrepreneurs to support family still in Zimbabwe. Instead of reinvesting all of the business profits into further expansion, a portion is therefore diverted into remittance channels. Over one-third remit funds at least once per month and only 12% never send remittances. A significant number of the entrepreneurs had been victims of or knew other who had been victims of crime such as looting and robbery, xenophobic abuse and police misconduct abuse. The report then presents the results of in-depth interviews with Zimbabwean business-owners who had experienced xenophobic violence in 2008 and 2015 or at other times. The narratives of the migrants provide insights into the unpredictable nature of the violence, their vulnerability to attack, the loss of business goods and property during mob violence and the need to restart from scratch, and the various strategies that they adopt to reduce risk. These strategies include operating in safer areas (not feasible for all), avoiding areas where corrupt police tend to operate, paying for protection and flight when xenophobic violence erupts. Return to Zimbabwe is not considered a viable option because of the economic conditions there. The interviews also provide insights into the migrants’ perceptions of government and stakeholder responses to the xenophobic violence. Almost without exception, the migrants felt that neither government (the Zimbabwean or South African) had done anything to protect or assist them during and after the violence. This perception of inaction also extended to international and non-governmental organisations. The migrants were particularly harsh in their comments about the police who were widely seen as either conniving in the violence or uninterested in protecting migrants. The perceptions of the migrants that nothing is done may simply be a function of who was interviewed and does not necessarily reflect the actual reality. The report therefore evaluates the response of the South African government to the ongoing crisis of xenophobia and concludes that some actions – such as sending in the army – are taken during episodes of nationwide violence but that ongoing daily and weekly attacks are generally ignored. There is a strong official line that these attacks are not motivated by xenophobia and. Indeed, that xenophobia does not even exist. This is clearly contradicted by the migrants who view the attacks as motivated by xenophobia. A second element of the official response is that the migrants are partially to blame for what happens to them as their business success builds resentment amongst South Africans. Government has yet to acknowledge that migrant-owned informal enterprises make a valuable contribution to the economy of the country, including through job creation for South Africans. The primary response to the violence of 2015 was the launching of a military-style Operation Fiela which was justified as a crime-fighting initiative but appears to have targeted migrant enterprises. The final sections of the report examine the responses and programmes of various non-governmental and international organisations to the crisis of xenophobia. During large-scale xenophobic violence there is considerable mobilisation of anti-xenophobia civil society organisations to offer protection and protest. Their effectiveness and impact tends to dissipate when the violence is more scattered and random. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has played a major role in the past in holding government to account and articulating extensive recommendations for remedial action, most of which have not been taken up and many of which are still highly relevant. International organisations have tended to target integration and education programming at the community level but there has only been one systematic evaluation (of the UNHCR’s response) which was highly critical of the organisation. These organisations and other governments are considerably hamstrung by xenophobia denialism at the highest level because it means that government will avoid the kinds of partnership that are urgently needed to address this endemic crisis

Open Access Scholarly Communication Practices at the University of Zambia

Open access plays a significant role in expanding access by enabling scholars more equitable participation in research and development activities globally. However, little is known about researchers’ awareness and adoption of open access at the University of Zambia. To address this gap, this study investigated open access scholarly communication practices at Zambia’s premier University. Using a survey research design, data were collected from a sample of 67 participants via an online questionnaire. Findings showed that though all (67) of the respondents were aware of open access and were upbeat towards this new form of scholarly communication, 79.1% had used OA platforms more to access scholarly content than to disseminate their own research output while 21.9% used open access publishing models to disseminate their research output. The misapprehension about open access and lack of digital skills were the major barriers to open access adoption. The paper recommends that the open access committee at the University should proactively sensitise the University community on the benefits of open access. This study contributes to the growing literature on scholarly communication practices in Zambia by offering evidence from the University of Zambia

Educational Technology Topic Guide

This guide aims to contribute to what we know about the relationship between educational technology (edtech) and educational outcomes by addressing the following overarching question: What is the evidence that the use of edtech, by teachers or students, impacts teaching and learning practices, or learning outcomes? It also offers recommendations to support advisors to strengthen the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes that use edtech. We define edtech as the use of digital or electronic technologies and materials to support teaching and learning. Recognising that technology alone does not enhance learning, evaluations must also consider how programmes are designed and implemented, how teachers are supported, how communities are developed and how outcomes are measured (see http://tel.ac.uk/about-3/, 2014). Effective edtech programmes are characterised by: a clear and specific curriculum focus the use of relevant curriculum materials a focus on teacher development and pedagogy evaluation mechanisms that go beyond outputs. These findings come from a wide range of technology use including: interactive radio instruction (IRI) classroom audio or video resources accessed via teachers’ mobile phones student tablets and eReaders computer-assisted learning (CAL) to supplement classroom teaching. However, there are also examples of large-scale investment in edtech – particularly computers for student use – that produce limited educational outcomes. We need to know more about: how to support teachers to develop appropriate, relevant practices using edtech how such practices are enacted in schools, and what factors contribute to or mitigate against successful outcomes. Recommendations: 1. Edtech programmes should focus on enabling educational change, not delivering technology. In doing so, programmes should provide adequate support for teachers and aim to capture changes in teaching practice and learning outcomes in evaluation. 2. Advisors should support proposals that further develop successful practices or that address gaps in evidence and understanding. 3. Advisors should discourage proposals that have an emphasis on technology over education, weak programmatic support or poor evaluation. 4. In design and evaluation, value-for-money metrics and cost-effectiveness analyses should be carried out

Developing End-user ICT skills: case of Higher Learning Institutions in Tanzania

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) constitutes an infrastructure that permits higher learning institutions to perform their key function of teaching, learning, research and consultancy in an efficient and effective way (Mikko, 2006). However, before any new technology can be utilized those who will be using it need to have skills to do so (Okpaku, 2003). Studies done by scholars including Wanyenda (2008); Lwehabura (2008); Mostert and Quinn (2009); Archibong and David (2009); Ademodi and Adepoju (2009) as well as Swarts and Wachira (2010) shows that, Information searching skills, Information evaluation skills and skills on ethical use of information are vital in higher learning Institutions. The emphasis shown by scholars on the need to develop end-user ICT skills tempt one to believe that Higher Learning Institutions invest heavily in this area so as to equip such skills to all students and staff. However, based on findings only 6.1%, 4.7% and 6.8% had adequate skills on searching, evaluation and ethical use of information respectively; 50.7%, 43.9% and 52% had little knowledge while 43.2%, 51.4% and 41.2% had no such skills respectively. This paper examines the environment in which end-user ICT skills are being developed; deduces the effectiveness of strategies used in developing such skills; identifies challenges and finally recommends means through which the process of developing End-user ICT skills among students and staff could be improved. Keywords: ICT, End-user ICT skills, Higher Learning Institutions, Tanzani