The Experience of African University Libraries in the Digital Era: The Case of a Kenyan University Library

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The library is the heart and soul of the university. Its goal is to assist users in the process of transforming information into knowledge by providing support to the educational endeavours of their respective institutions. Traditional libraries consisted largely of information resources in print format. But with developments in technology, the percentage of electronic format collections in libraries has grown exponentially and may soon overtake the print format. Libraries now have larger and fast growing collections of digital resources, leading to digital libraries. The evolution of electronic books and journals has further accelerated the growth of digital libraries. In Sub-saharan Africa, a few university libraries are making efforts to convert their collections and documents into electronic institutional repositories. These repositories are forming the basis of digital libraries. Many operate on little or no budgets at all. Their ICT infrastructure is underdeveloped, bandwidth is small, the required software and hardware come at a cost. Electronic Journals and books are expensive. Despite all these, there is a determined will and spirit to digitise. This paper looks at the experience of an African university library in the digital era, its response, challenges and achievements.

Stream: Literacy, Language, Multiliteracies; Languages Education and Second Language Learning

Paper: Experience of African University Libraries in the Digital Era, The

I am a librarian, with interests in higher education. My training is in Information Sciences (Bsc.) and Library Studies (MPhil.) and I am currently enrolled in a PhD programme in library studies, with a focus on knowledge management. I have taught Library and information studies in various colleges before proceeding to full time management of libraries. As an information professional, I am at my best selecting and organizing information that can be translated into relevant knowledge for the benefit of users. My specific interests are libraries, knowledge management, communication and ICT. I have done research and written a number of papers in these areas. The papers can be found at www.katonga.iwarp.com.