The role of Knowledge manangement in enhancing government service-delivery in Kenya

This article explores the role that knowledge management (KM) can play to support governance, performance effectiveness, and service delivery in government agencies in Kenya. It further addresses the challenges and problems which act as impediments to introducing KM and engendering a knowledge society. A major factor impeding the effective introduction of knowledge management practices is that the Kenyan civil service is particularly embedded in bureaucracy and very few incentives are provided to encourage civil servants to generate, distribute and share knowledge and information. Many employees in the Kenyan civil service are traditional career civil servants, who cannot envisage and appreciate the potential of knowledge management and the benefits of knowledge leveraging. They are also wary of sharing knowledge, as they think that by hoarding knowledge they enhance their value and competitiveness. The paper is based on data derived from the literature that was integrated with results obtained from a study conducted by Ondari-Okemwa (2006) for a PhD research project

Students’ Perceptions of Information Literacy at two South African Universities

The purpose of this study was to find out students’ perceptions of the information literacy intervention programme at two Universities in a developing country. The study adopted a survey research method in which both questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data about how students perceived information literacy in relation to its contribution to improved academic performance. Results show that students perceived information literacy as very relevant to their academic success. The respondents indicated that they gain skills on how to find and use information in all formats to address their day to day assignments. This study reveals the connection between information literacy provision and how it can improve students’ academic success. However, for the connection to be successful, there is a need for all campus stakeholders to work together both in the development, delivery and assessment of information literacy programmes. This study provides a further dimension on how students perceive information literacy in relation to their academic success, an area which has been hardly researched particularly in a developing country such as South Africa. This therefore helps to add depth to the limited literature on students’ perceptions about information literacy

Ethical Issues and Indigenous Knowledge Production and Use in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 21st Century

This paper addresses the ethical issues which relate to the sharing, use, access, research and personal as well as social benefit of indigenous knowledge produced in sub-Saharan Africa. Close to two decades into the 21st century, which supposedly ushered in the “knowledge/information society,” communities in sub-Saharan Africa still depend on indigenous knowledge to have access to information which they use for making crucial decisions and solve day-to-day critical problems. In the information age, indigenous knowledge may be the only source of information that communities and individuals in sub-Saharan Africa have control over and are comfortably familiar with. Indigenous knowledge is recognized as having relevance to sub-Saharan Africa’s people’s daily life, economic development, cultural preservation and political transformation which may lead to poverty reduction in the region that is categorized as one of the least developed, if not the least developed in the world. Important as indigenous knowledge is to communities in sub-Saharan Africa, the issues of ethics relating to access and use of the knowledge do not feature prominently. The broad objectives of this paper include examining the ethics that should be observed when producing indigenous knowledge in sub-Saharan Africa; how the knowledge is shared ethically; who should have access to the knowledge; find out the extent to which research findings in indigenous knowledge may be used to address local concerns such as projects in health, agriculture and education in sub-Saharan Africa; establish how ethical use of the knowledge may lead to sustainable social, economic, technical, cultural and political development in sub-Saharan Africa; and suggest ways of formulating policies which may promote and encourage ethical exploitation and use of indigenous knowledge in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods for collecting data for the paper will include a review of available relevant literature review, seeking views of a few indigenous knowledge practitioners, which will be supplemented by the author’s knowledge of indigenous knowledge systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Findings of the study would add value to the existing body knowledge on the ethical issues relating to the management of indigenous knowledge produced in the sub-Saharan Africa region. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p238

Information needs and constraints of access to educational information in the Fort Beaufort Education District

Types of educational information needed by learners, their level of access and librarians’ supportive roles in learning are pertinent to the attainment of quality education. This study seeks to identify the types of educational information needed by high school learners and the barriers of access. The study is underpinned by the jurisprudential theory of freedom of speech augmented by the theory of access to establish the reality of access. The study adopted a mixed methods approach to obtain data from 331 grade 12 learners, 29 teachers and 3 librarians. The findings reveal that information on requirements for admission into university, subjects taught at school, and career guidance were the most needed by learners. Access challenges include inadequate information resources and the absence of and/or non-functional school libraries. Recommendations include the adequate provision of educational information, information literacy education, employment of qualified librarians by education authorities as well as provision of functional school libraries and information technology tools. The study has shown a need to further examine, in a more rigorous way, the coping strategies of teachers and learners in information-poor communities.Keywords: educational information; high school learners; information access; information literacy education; information needs; information resources; information technology tools; school librarie

Digital media usage and prevalence of internet addiction among undergraduate students in South Africa

The use of Internet and digital media in the academic sector has significantly improved knowledge creation. The Internet has particularly proven itself to be a valuable resource in the enhancement of knowledge production and dissemination. The purpose of the study on which this chapter is based was to establish how excessive non-academic use of the Internet detrimentally affects daily lives of undergraduate students. A survey was conducted of 390 university undergraduate students, comprising mainly of adolescents or young adults, who were selected using stratified random sampling at two South African universities. The universities selected were Fort Hare and Nelson Mandela. Data was collected using the Modified Internet Addiction Test for Undergraduates (MIATU), a modification of Internet Addiction Test (IAT) questionnaire. 282 (72.3%) of the respondents indicated that they make use of the Internet daily with 34.8% spending more than 10 hours. More than 60% have access to at least two electronic devices. Most of the respondents stayed online longer than intended (x̅ 2.88), slept less at night due to Internet use (x̅ 2.63) and hence spent less time studying owing to Internet surfing (x̅ 2.27). Furthermore, the amount of time spent on the Internet had a significant relationship with the level of influence the use of the Internet had on respondents (B = 0.250, t = 4.850, p<0.05). The findings are indications that the excessive amount of time spent on the Internet served as a distraction from school work; a situation that disadvantaged students in academic productivity. These findings suggest that the uncontrolled use of new media is both a hazard and a potential danger to academic productivity. This is the first study in South Africa that empirically investigates Internet use pattern by undergraduate students, Internet use rate and problematic Internet use among undergraduate students. Keywords: Internet addiction, Internet use, Undergraduate Students, Problematic Internet use, South Africa

Designing capacity-building in e-learning expertise: Challenges and strategies

This research study looks at how organizations in developing countries perceive the challenge of building capacity in e-learning expertise. Data was collected on six such organizations, and a range of perceived rationales and constraints were identified. The paper hypothesizes a four-part framework to define the e-learning capacity gaps that these circumstances appear to represent: the 'instructional design capacity gap', the 'production capacity gap', the 'tutorial capacity gap' and the 'community building gap'. The framework is used to re-examine the data to explore the ways in which the organizations' e-learning activities might constitute strategic responses to the hypothesized capacity gaps

Knowledge production and distribution by institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities and challenges

This article focuses on available opportunities and challenges which institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa face in producing and distributing knowledge. Institutions of higher education are also expected to produce knowledge workers for the knowledge economy. Knowledge production falls into Mode 1, in which problems are set and solved in a context governed by the largely academic interest of a specific community, and Mode 2, considered more socially accountable, accessible and reflexive. Knowledge produced by universities falls more into Mode 1. Objectives of the article are: to find out the potential role of sub-Saharan Africa-based institutions of higher education in producing and distributing knowledge; to explore ways of supplementing Mode 1 knowledge with Mode 2 knowledge, which has more social relevance; identify challenges faced by sub-Saharan Africa-based institutions of higher education in producing and distributing knowledge; find out how information technology may enhance knowledge production and distribution by institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa; establish how the environments in which institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa operate impact on knowledge production and distribution abilities of the institutions. A literature review was conducted to establish the state of knowledge production and distribution by institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa. It was found out that institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa face numerous challenges in producing knowledge. Challenges include poor infrastructure, declining budgetary allocations, brain drain and competition in knowledge production. Universities in sub-Saharan Africa can play a major role in producing knowledge and contributing to economic development in the region

Knowledge production and distribution by institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities and challenges

This article focuses on available opportunities and challenges which institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa face in producing and distributing knowledge. Institutions of higher education are also expected to produce knowledge workers for the knowledge economy. Knowledge production falls into Mode 1, in which problems are set and solved in a context governed by the largely academic interest of a specific community, and Mode 2, considered more socially accountable, accessible andreflexive. Knowledge produced by universities falls more into Mode 1. Objectives of the article are: to find out the potential role of sub-Saharan Africa-based institutions of higher education in producing and distributing knowledge; to explore ways of supplementing Mode 1 knowledge with Mode 2 knowledge, which has more social relevance; identify challenges faced by sub-Saharan Africa-based institutions of higher education in producing and distributing knowledge; find out how information technology may enhance knowledge production and distribution by institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa; establish how the environments in which institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa operate impact on knowledge production and distribution abilities of the institutions. A literature review was conducted to establish the state of knowledge production and distribution by institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa. It was found out that institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa face numerous challenges in producing knowledge. Challenges include poor infrastructure, declining budgetary allocations, brain drain and competition in knowledge production. Universities in sub-Saharan Africa can play a major role in producing knowledge and contributing to economic development in the region