Developing Continuing Professional Development in Africa

• What will be the effects of better broadband access?

What will be the effects of better connectivity ?

Developing Continuing Professional Development

in Africa

Current Situation

• No or poor connectivity

• Isolation of health workers

• Difficulties of transport

Current Situation

• Few health libraries

• Even fewer librarians

• Poor resources

Benefits of Broadband Access

• Access to resources• Availability of health

information• Distance learning &

clinical support• Isolation reduced

How will digitization affect African Librarians?

• Sudden change – blogs, wikis, social software

• New information roles• Consumers not

information literate• Librarians need to be

in at the ground floor

Librarians & Broadband Access

• Need for more health librarians

• Specialist roles• New skills needed• Timing of training

Challenges

• Lack of specialist health librarians

• Few training opportunities

• Sidelining of librarian expertise

Sources for perceived training needs in U.K and Africa

U.K.• Survey of practising

health librarians. (Petrinic & Urquhart 2008)

• Survey of advertisements for information posts (Orme

2008)

AFRICA

• Workshops in Kenya and Zambia

(Phi reports)

Same or Similar Training Needs

• Training/teaching skills

• Evidence based health care• Critical appraisal, systematic reviewing –

of research articles

• Research methods and statistics – to identify user needs

Similar Training Needs

• Identifying the evidence - Advanced searching skills for different databases

• Service promotion skills – marketing library services

• Library management systems skills – factors in automating library routines

• Website design & development – website design, creation of portals and gateways

Training wanted by African Librarians

not mentioned by U.K. librarians

• Copyright

• Collection development and template for local application

• IT – general and specific e.g. WIN-ISIS

• Writing for publication, proposals & repackaging for different audiences

Wanted by African Librarianssupport & discussion

• Advocacy - raising the profile of health information as essential to health

• Creating and maintaining database of health research in-country

• Library skills for resource centre assistants

• Professional networking

Wanted by African Librarians information exchange

• Information about trends in information transfer

• Protocol for the identification of reliable websites and information services

Wanted by U.K. Librarians not mentioned by African librarians

• Subject knowledge• Project management• Strategic planning• Performance

management• Change management• Negotiating skills

What else might be needed for both African & U.K. Librarians?

What else might be needed?

• Use of Wikis, blogs, social software

• Better techniques of communication with remote users

• Creation of national/institutional repositories

• Greater cooperation between institutions

• Leadership in developing the information society at a national level

Conclusion

• Greater access & bandwidth can benefit health throughout Africa.

• More specialized librarians will be needed

• More training opportunities are essential

• Librarians in Africa are in a different situation and culture to those in U.K

Training Programmes

• To remain driven by African requests

• But informed by our experience of the changes in our professional roles

Providing support to health librarians

through partnership in:

Kenya, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda,

Zambia

Partnerships in Health Informationregistered charity in U.K. no. 103674