Information seeking behaviour of faculty: The case of the College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

The article sought to find the information seeking behaviour of faculty members of the College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. The survey method was employed. Questionnaire instrument was used to collect data on method of selectinginformation, type of information sought, purpose for seeking information, types of tools used and problems involved in seeking information. Seventy out of 110 responded. A little over half of the respondents sought information through reviewing articles; close to the same proportionconsulted the Internet; about four out of five of the respondents sought information for doing research work; and over three out of five sought information for preparing lecture notes. Majority of the respondents consulted textbooks for information while half consulted periodicals;and almost all the respondents used Google search engine to access information on the Internet. Sciencedirect and Ebscohost were the most used online journals. The commonest problems faced by respondents were unavailability of information, abstract instead of full-text documentsand very old textbooks in the library. Involvement of faculty members in the selection of textbooks and purchase of full-text documents by the library on behalf of faculty members among others were recommended to address these problems

Staff development of Library Assistants in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

The study utilized the questionnaire instrument to collect and analyze data to determine the state of staff development of Library Assistants in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. All Library Assistants were taken through staff orientation and on the job training. They also received instruction in user/reader services. Over 89% of the Library Assistants were satisfied with the in-service training given. Only 29% of them had enjoyed study leave with pay, while over 55% were desirous to be granted study leave to pursue further studies in Library and Information related programmes. It was revealed that most Library Assistants did not have the opportunity to participate in seminars, workshops, Library Association Meetings and Conferences. Recommendations have therefore been given to correct these anomalies.Keywords: Librarianship, Paraprofessionals, Training, University Librarie

The emerging roles of academic librarians in the electronic information environment at Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science And Technology (KNUST), Kumasi

This paper discusses the traditional and emerging roles of the academic librarian. It sees the traditional roles as functions that have enabled the librarian to provide the needs of his clientele mostly within the walls of the academic library. It also enumerates and expatiates on the roles of the academic librarian in the Electronic Information Age with its attendant explosion of knowledge. It emphasizes the fact that infrastructural boundary is virtually non-existent in provision of information today. Finally, it uses the situation of the KNUST to establish parallelism between the conventional and emerging roles of the academic librarian and also the importance of library professionals in information provision. Keywords: traditional roles, emerging roles, parallelism, electronic information, academic librarian Journal Of Science And Technology Vol. 25 (1) 2005: 58-6

The challenges and frustrations of librarians in three public libraries in Ghana

Universities in the world have a common goal of promoting teaching, learning research and knowledge dissimenation. This common goal puts the staff of the university into different categories, basically academic (teaching and non- teaching), administrative and support staff. The categorization is often based on function. This paper, through a survey, analyses the category to which professional librarians in three Ghanaian public universities belong and the challenges concerning status, scholarship, general line of progression and frustrations they are faced with in the university set-up. Their parallel role as partners with faculty and researchers in promoting teaching, learning, research and knowledge dissemination in Ghanaian universities is also analysed. The paper concludes that much as the determination of status remains the prerogative of individual institutions, fairness should be the guiding principle so that designated non-academic professionals should not be assessed by the standards of academics while they do not enjoy the status of academics. . Keywords: Professional librarians, status, public universities, Ghana, challengesGhana Library Journal Vol. 18 2006: pp. 57-6

Libraries Driving Access to Knowledge in the Academic Environment.

The paper seeks to take a technical view of access to knowledge resources and highlights the role of libraries in facilitating access to knowledge in the academic environment. It analyzes the processes involved in organization and retrieval of knowledge resources, which encompasses collection building, organization of knowledge through metadata extraction, and the use of retrieval systems to facilitate access to knowledge. The importance of, and the need for authority control in collocation, networking of the catalogue and facilitation of resource sharing locally and internationally are emphasized. The challenges associated with the use of controlled vocabulary as against free-text search in retrieval systems are not only highlighted but also addressed in order to improve efficiency of retrieval systems in general and precision in particular. The paper finally explores new ways of driving access to knowledge through social networking tools.Keywords: University Libraries, Knowledge Resources, Information Organisation, Controlled Vocabulary, Information Retrieval Systems, Social Networkin

Trends in acquisiton and their impact on library services at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) library

The paper evaluated the various categories of acquisition of library materials over a period of seven years (1997/98-2003/04) in the KNUST Library. The methods of acquisition involved in the study were: purchase; donation; legal deposit theses and exchange. The study showed that the University Library has not been adequately resourced financially and therefore relied heavily on donation, which does not allow the Library full participation in the selection of library materials. This has brought imbalance in the collection, which does not support postgraduate programmes and research pursued in the university. It also came out that most of the donations were print resources with only a small percentage of electronic resources. Good connectivity and effective utilisation of e-resources in and outside the Library were therefore proposed. The paper concluded that the University Library be well resourced to enable it purchase library materials especially core text and journals, which are mostly lacking among donated ones to support teaching, learning and research in the university. Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 25(2) 2005: 110-11

From user education to information literacy: The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science Technology library’s experience

The user education programmes of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Library since the inception of the Library in 1961 were reviewed. Personal observation of the current user education programme was also made between 2007 and 2009. The study focused mainly onstudents both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It was observed that the user education programmes had gone through metamorphoses – from guided tours through video instruction and currently Information Literacy Skills programme (ILS), which is in the process of being implemented. The basic problem that has bedeviled all the user education programmes was found to be escalating student enrolment which renders the programmes ineffective. The study recommended among others: Sensitization of users, expansion of ICT infrastructure and eservices, and finally providing capacity at the college level to deal directly with students and faculty members to ensure that the ILS programme does not suffer from increased student enrolmen

Networking the library catalogue: Lessons from the Kwame Nkrumah university of science and technology library, Kumasi, Ghana

This paper describes the general procedure that the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Library followed for carrying out the automation and subsequent networking of its library catalogues. The highlights of these activities include choice of software, selection of vendors, conversion of records and training of staff. It emphasizes networking of catalogues as a sure way of providing gateways to library resources and a solution for the problems of accessing library materials. It finally highlights the lessons from KNUST Library’s experience with automation, challenges encountered and presents it as an example for other Ghanaian academic libraries which have plans to automate to learn from it. Recommendations have also been given to pave way for modest beginnings for libraries which cannot afford automation of catalogues with comprehensive but expensive library management systems to use CDS/ISIS

Networking the Library Catalogue: Lessons from the Kwame Nkrumah

Abstract This paper describes the general procedure that KNUS