Information Behaviours of Non-Users of Libraries in Botswana

Public libraries are established to be used by communities. Surprisingly, many people in communities where there are public libraries do not make use of them. This descriptive study investigated the information needs andinformation-seeking behaviour of such nonlibrary users, so that the libraries could redesign their services to attract them. Also examined are the barriers encountered by nonlibrary users in getting information, their reasons for not using the library, and their perceptions on current outreach efforts by libraries in the communities. The target population for this studywas the community of non-library users in Botswana. The snowball sampling method was used to select 302 respondents from 34 researchsites in the country. The findings indicated that respondents knew about the existence of the library through friends, Kgotla meetings, and advertisements in local media, and they were also willing to participate in the activities of the library. However, lack of time, distance to the library and inadequate relevance of the library resources and services to the activities the respondents were engaged in seemed to be the main barriers to library use. In terms of information required, it was difficult for therespondents to express their information needs; nevertheless, the study was able to establish that the respondents often needed information on current affairs, education, business and agriculture, and they used radio, newspapers, friends, work supervisors and personal experience to meet their needs. Keywords: Community information needs, information-seeking behaviour, information sources, libraries, non-users of libraries

Proteomic analysis of anti-angiogenic effects by a combined treatment with vinblastine and rapamycin in an endothelial cell line

Angiogenesis controls the new blood supply routes into the tumor mass via the host endothelial cells (ECs). In this study, the EA.hy926 endothelial cell line has been treated with vinblastine (VBL) and rapamycin (RAP), both separately and in combination at low doses. Recently, we demonstrated the synergistic antiangiogenic effects of a combination of VBL and RAP at very low doses in vitro and in vivo. Herein, we confirm the ability of this combined treatment to statistically inhibit the proliferation of ECs, in a synergistic manner, by inducing apoptosis. The aim of this study was to substantiate these findings at the protein level. Differential proteomic analysis was performed on untreated control cells, treated with VBL, incubated with RAP, or subjected to a drug combination. Differentially expressed 113 polypeptide chains were visualized and 65 were identified via MALDI-TOF analysis. Some of the regulated proteins are involved in the processes of angiogenesis, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. The down-modulation of ATP synthase, annexin A2, heat shock p70, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein, proteasome 26S, tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase, and stathmin/OP18, as well as the up-modulation of carbonyl reductase, Rho-GDI, and histone H1.0 correlates with the synergistic antiangiogenic activity of VBL and RAP. © 2006 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA