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Browsing Research Publications by Subject "Africa"
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Item Accessing government information in Africa through the Right to Know(IFLA, 2015-07-20) Bamgbose, O.J.; Etim, I.A.From the provisions of African Charter, Resolution 167 XLVI of the 48th Ordinary Session of the African Union and most recently, Lyon Declaration of about 512 signatories, Africa has demonstrated its resolve to avail public information accessible to its citizens, being the bed rock of accountability, good governance and transparency in governance. Hitherto, public information were shrouded in official secrecy and impenetrable bureaucratic difficulties that denied access to public records. Besides the Model Law on Access to Information in Africa, one quarter of countries in Africa have enacted the law to guarantee easy access to public information not in the prohibition list. This study employed the use of content analysis of the African Model Law, various national laws as well as various judicial authorities on the provisions of the law on freedom of access to government information. The study revealed unprecedented opportunity of access to public information including legal information and legislative data. Also, despite a handful of judicial decisions validating the obligation on the part of the government to make disclosure in this regard, regrettably, the law has not been fully utilized by Africans. This study further underscored the role of the library in the post 2015 SDG era to transcend mere provision of information to its information seekers. Rather, the library’s mandates include, empowering its patrons to be able to access public information including legislative data even beyond the walls of the library. Libraries could therefore organise outreaches, exhibition and public awareness activities. Interpretation and repackaging of the law in easy to read expression will also be essential. Mobile Apps and other IT compliant models in line with the Lyon declaration can all be championed by librarians while the library itself as a corporate organisation can seek information request which would be useful for its clients.Item An investigation into the role of libraries in higher education in Africa(2013) Fabunmi, B.A.Libraries have been the companions of higher education for many centuries. Library in higher education is supposed to play a critical role in the teaching, research, and learning activities through selection, acquisition, organization, preservation, and given access to all sorts of relevant and current materials which include books and periodicals, manuscripts, rare documents, journals, maps, etc. needed by teachers and students. This paper therefore made an attempt to examine the state of higher education libraries and how they have been able to support the institutions to which they are attached. The academic library is a vital force at the heart of higher education. Yet, its future seems to be uncertain, hence the need to bring into limelight the challenges facing academic library in Africa and offer possible strategies for responding to them. It was discovered that higher education libraries in Africa have not been providing the expected services effectively and efficiently due to the severe economic challenges facing them such as inability to stock libraries with current and relevant information resources, under staffing among others. The study recommended that higher education library should be well funded in order to employ enough staff, acquire materials such as current journals, books, equipment, integrate the use of Information and Communication Technology to carry out their housekeeping operations and services in order to be more effective and efficient in the information delivery, global access to information, and also to easy retrieval of information.