Information and communication technologies: opportunities and challenges for national and university libraries in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa

Organizations, including governments, in the world today are taking advantage of the many opportunities provided by modern Information and communication technologies (ICTs). To libraries, ICTs present an opportunity to provide value-added information services and access to a wide variety of digital-based information resources to their clients. Further, libraries are also using modern ICTs to automate their core functions, implement efficient and effective library cooperation and resource sharing networks, implement management information systems, develop institutional repositories of digital local content, and digital libraries; and initiate ICT-based capacity building programmes for library staff and information literacy programmes for library users. However, for most libraries in sub-Saharan Africa, including the SCANUL-ECS region, use of ICTs is largely restricted to traditional library automation, i.e. replacing manual operations by computerised methods. Innovative use of information and communication technologies in libraries is not widespread and it is made difficult, if not impossible, by several challenges or constraints, including lack of funds to sustain the ICT infrastructure, inability by librarians/libraries to keep up with the pace of developments in ICTs, inadequate ICT facilities in the libraries, lack of staff with appropriate skills to manage ICTs both at the strategic and operational levels, absence of institutional policies and strategies to support and guide the use of ICTs, and lack of adequate knowledge and skills to manage digital information resources and to deal with issues relating to copyright intellectual property rights in a digital information environment