The status and challenges of clinical informatics development in South Africa

Clinical informatics has enormous potential to ensure healthcare quality in both developed and developing countries. This paper examines the status and challenges of clinical informatics in the South African health care sector, In a recent survey of major international research databases such as Scopus, it was observed that there is a gap in knowledge on clinical informatics particularly as related to the status and challenges in the country’s healthcare facilities . The current status and challenges of clinical informatics in South Africa has not been examined. The present study explores the the current status of clinical informatics in the South African  healthcare system as well as the challenges facing the development of clinical informatics in South Africa. Through a literature review, the paper provides a  conceptual background of clinical informatics, discusses the status and challenges of clinical informatics in South Africa. The last part of the paper discusses the  implications of the reviewed literature through a PEST analysis. The paper provides invaluable information on clinical informatics in South Africa that can be used to inform and support further studies in this growing field. The paper is a contribution to discussions and debates on the development of social informatics.Keywords: clinical informatics, status, challenges, ICT4D, Social informatics, South Afric

Assessment of healthy lifestyle practices among academics through access and use of health information resources

Accessibility and utilisation of health information has become an integral part of managing and achieving healthy lives and social well-being among the elites in the society. The study adopted a survey design strategy since the expected population was over 2000 lecturers. Three federal universities in southwest, Nigeria was purposively selected. A sample size of 1,300 lecturers was drawn from the three universities. Convenient sampling was used to distribute questionnaire to academic staff in these three federal universities. Two hypotheses were used to guide the study. The results showed that healthy lifestyle pattern practised by academic staff was stress management (35.4%). Majority (73.4%) of the lecturers accessed social media at high level while 380 (41.1%) accessed health bulletin at moderate level. The result further showed that doctors was used at high level 563 (61.4%) while health information website was utilised at moderate level (49.7%). The result of the hypothesis one showed non-significant relationship between healthy lives management and accessibility of health information (r=0.27, p=0.136) at 0.05 level of significant. Hypothesis two indicated a significant relationship between management of healthy lives and usability of health information sources (r=0.21, p=0.035) at 0.05 level of significant. The study concluded that management of healthy lives through access and use of health information could minimise the risks of many ailments and helps in the early detection of health problems. The study recommended that the university administration should endeavour to invest heavily in acquisition of health information resources both hardcopy and online resources

Librarians’ attitude toward monetary and non-monetary incentives in university libraries: A case of selected university libraries in Nigeria

The study uses a structured questionnaire to gather information on librarians’ perception towards monetary andnon-monetary incentives in university libraries in Nigeria. Questionnaires were distributed to 45 librarians in the selecteduniversity libraries through the use of simple random sampling techniques to understand the attitude of librarians towardsmonetary and non-monetary incentives. The findings revealed that librarians are aware of both monetary and non-monetaryincentives and that majority of the librarians benefited from monetary incentives. Motivation, job satisfaction and increase inorganizational commitment are some of the benefits librarians derive from monetary and non-monetary incentives.Recommendations include linking of reward directly to performance and the need to pay reasonable salary and wages tolibrarians in order to make them more effective

Use of Electronic Information Sources (EIS) by Faculty Members in Nigerian Universities

Introduction Libraries all over the world are established to enrich the knowledge of the users through provision of vital information. This manifests more in the universities where students and faculty members and other readers are expected to use the library for teaching, learning and research. University libraries in educationally advanced countries support the educational, teaching and research needs of the parents\u27 organization they serve. These libraries see to their responsibility of ensuring that the use of information sources is maximized to the benefit of its users. It has been observed that the basic goal of the university education in any country is to produce graduate whose training in liberal tradition will enable them to deal with the increasingly specialized problems of the country and those intellectual accomplishments and mental perspective will prepare them to operate on a more encompassing level outside their areas of specialization. Before this goal could be achieved, universities in the country needs to provide conducive environment, the facilities and competent personnel that are dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and its practical application to the needs of the modern society. The paper investigates the use of electronic information sources among faculty members in Nigerian universities. Literature Review The introduction of Electronic Information Resources into academic environments particularly universities, is almost predictably followed by rapid growth in awareness and by students and academics as documented by Peled and Rasty (1999). Ekwelem, Okafor and Ukwoma(2007) described EIS as information sources that are available and can be accessed electronically through such computer networked facilities as online library catalogues, the internet, the world wide web and digital libraries . EIS have increasingly become an invaluable asset in education, research, teaching and learning. EIS have transformed the conduct of research and teaching in universities by allowing faculty members a wide range of opportunity for accessing accurate and timely information on various subjects. The use of Electronic Information Sources enables the faculty members and the students to effectively and efficiently access digital information to assist with investigating issues, solving problems, making decisions, product and creative solutions to support learning, develop new understanding in areas of learning and teaching (Aramide and Bello, 2010).With the use of electronic sources faculty members have access to up –to –date information on various subjects and also assist in developing new thinking and learning skills. Corroborating this assertion Chisenga (1997) maintained that internet gives the faculty members a wide range of opportunities, in the creation, processing, transmission and dissemination of information. Rosenberg (2010) stated the various benefits of EIS to faculty members which include; 1. E-learning this is very effective way to deliver instruction particularly for faculty m usly. 3. Faculty members can access EIS anywhere and any time 4. EIS resources serve as a motivating factor to faculty members because they provide them opportunity to transmit acquire or download, and disseminate information on various subjects. Oduwole and Akpati (2003) identified the available electronic resource that are commonly used in Nigerian Universities which includes CD-ROM databases, electronic mail, online public catalogue (OPAC), and Web resources. Aramide and Bello (2010) stated the three major migrations that have occurred in library academic services: from printed resources to online electronic data bases; from CD-ROM data bases to on line internet access to bibliographic and full- text or full image data base Merrill (1996) argued that Online database searching skills would help faculty members to compile bibliographies on particular subjects and direct students in their course works. Electronic information resources greatly increase access to information and its implementation must be carefully planned to ensure optimal use of space and time (Adeleke, 2005). Bropphy (1993) stated the advantages of electronic resources which include speed, ease of use, embers. 2. Faculty members can use electronic resources to reach unlimited number of students virtually simultaneoability to search multiple files at the same time, ability to save, print and repeat searches more frequently updating and ability to access from outside the library. Tenopir(2003) in a major survey of literature on the subject analyzed ,the results of two hundred studies on the use of electronic resources in libraries published between 1995 and 2003.Results drawn from this study indicate that electronic sources have been rapidly adopted in academic spheres, though the behavior varies according to discipline. Manda (2005) studied the use of electronic resources in Tanzania by faculty members. He discovered that use was low, due to inadequate end-user training, low connectivity, limited access to PCS, poor search skills. Smith (2007) looked at South Africa; finding revealed that lack of bandwidth was a major problem

Information Seeking Behaviour of Polytechnic Students: The Case of Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana Nigeria

This study investigated the information-seeking behaviors of polytechnic students. Five hundred students were randomly selected and a questionnaire was used to gathering data. The findings revealed that academic information is the major reason why students seek information and the library is the major source of information

Utilization of Library and Information Centres in Promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria

This paper examines the utilization of library in promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria. The paper argues that libraries as important resources for achieving these goals must provide relevant and adequate information to the public in an accessible way. This paper, therefore, outline the roles library and information centres play in promoting sustainable development goals. This paper also highlights the challenges associated with libraries towards promoting sustainable development goals. The paper, among others, recommends that libraries should regularly organize seminars, government should ensure that libraries and information centre are fully integrated into the scheme of activities at both the local and national levels, government and the parent institution should support the library and information centres financially

Applying UTAUT in Clinical Informatics Research

The paper discussed unified theory of acceptance and use of technology UTAUT as theoretical foundation for clinical informatics research. Highlighting the efforts to promote the use of clinical informatics in sub-Sahara Africa cannot be over-emphasized. UTAUT theory has evolved to become a key model in understanding factors that influence human behaviors toward acceptance and rejection of technology. Qualitative content analysis through conceptual and literature analysis was used to explore previous studies in the research domain. Research has been conducted on application of UTAUT in various fields such as internet use, mobile banking and e-learning. But not much has been done on application of UTAUT in clinical informatics research. The research used SCOPUS database to find out that the number of research that used UTAUT between the years 2005 to 2015. The finding revealed that 1,582 articles, journals and conference paper used the theory, in which USA has 311 publications followed by Malaysia with 166. Coming back to Africa, South Africa came first with 45 publications followed by Nigeria with 06. The result indicated that there is a gap in knowledge due to paucity of literature on application of UTAUT in clinical informatics particularly among studies from Africa researchers. Based on this, the study provides insightful knowledge on academic literature on application of UTAUT in clinical informatics research and contributes to discussion on UTAUT. The study recommended the need to include the teaching of theoretical frame work as a part of research methodology in the universitie

Information and Communication Technology and Society: Re-Examining the Roles of Libraries in Nigeria

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionalised every aspect of library operations and services. This paper discusses the changing roles of libraries in Nigeria brought about by advances in ICT. Through review of literature from various databases such as SCOPUS, Google Scholar and Ebscohost, the study provides a conceptual background of ICT application in Nigerian libraries; examined its importance and opportunities for librarians; as well as the associated challenges. The paper therefore provides useful insight on the importance of ICT in knowledge society and Nigeria in particular, through libraries. The last part of the paper further explores the implications of the reviewed literature through a PEST analysis. This paper will therefore be useful to policymakers on library issues as it contributes to the debate on the need for ICT tools in library operations and social informatics development in Nigeria

Qualitative interpretation of high resolution aeromagnetic data of abeokuta metropolis for geological characterisation

Qualitative interpretation of aeromagnetic maps involves the visual inspection and pattern analyses of produced maps to identify potential geological structures in the magnetic field by processing the dataset to characterize the Earth's magnetic variations and map subsurface geological structure which is important to tackle the challenges of resource management, environmental assessment and infrastructure design in the study area. This technique has been employed to a part of Abeokuta metropolis of Ogun state, Southwestern Nigeria, using high resolution aeromagnetic dataset acquired from the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA). Pre-processing analyses such as data transformation, map re-projection and power spectrum plot were performed on the dataset to minimize noises and remove unwanted variations. The application of Reduction to Magnetic Equator (RTE) filter was to remove asymmetries in the data and position the peaks of magnetic anomalies over their sources while the Gaussian (low pass) filter was aimed at improving the signal-to-noise ratio. Low magnetic zones indicated by blue colours from the total magnetic fields possibly reveal the sedimentary intrusions into the area, intermediate magnetic regions having green, yellow and red colourations suggest transition zones and the Northeastern portion of the maps indicated with pink colours correlate to the core basement regions. Derivative filters are applied as enhancement techniques to accentuate the inferred linear subsurface structures interpreted as cracks, fractures, lineaments, etc. These structures are predicted mineral entrapments or fault lines whose NE-SW orientation conforms to the Pan African Orogeny and they can aid environmental assessments generally