Librarianship as a bridge to an information and knowledge society in Africa / edited by Alli Mcharazo and Sjoerd Koopman.

Selected papers from the XVII Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL XVII) held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, July 10-14, 2006.

International conference proceedings.

Copyright by International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Includes bibliographical references.

Harnessing knowledge management for Africa's transition to the 21st century / Kingo J Mchombu (p. 15-46). -- Politics of information and knowledge in Africa : the struggle for an information inclusive society in a globalised world / Shiraz Durrani (p. 47-70). -- Libraries and democracy / Mohammed M Aman (p. 71-82). -- Management of agricultural research information and knowledge : a case for the SCECSAL region [Standing Conferrence of Eastern, Central and South African Librarians and information science] / Justin Chisenga (p. 83-96). -- The digital library in a rural malaria research centre in Africa : the Kenyan experience / J Kaduda (p. 97-110). -- The management and administration of manuscript collectyions within library environments in eastern and southern African region / Nathan Mnjama (p. 111-121). -- Making a contribution to the civil society : knowledge management and the information professional / Stephen A Roberts (p. 121-154). -- Information vaccine : information and Uganda's reduction of HIV / AIDS / Kendra S Albright (p. 155-166). -- Socio-cultural determinants of HIV / AIDS information impact : experiences from Babai district in Tanzania / Paul Akonaay Manda (p. 167-182). -- Maasae Resource Centre for indigenous knowledge in Tanzania / Nathan Ole Lengisugi (p. 183-190). -- What can be the role of African libraries in counterbalancing the "knowledge power" of the West? can we create new knowledge together? / Thore Hem (p. 191-196). -- Working in partnership to build knowledge societies / Sara Harrity (p. 197-211). -- Knowledge management and indigenous knowledge for development of Africa's information systems and services : some legal issues for information system experts / Paul Faustin Kihwelo (p. 211-224). -- Cross-cltural information retrieval : searching for English documents using Zulu queries / Erica Cosijn (p. 225-238). -- Knowledge management : issues for Africa's library and information professionals / Alli A.S Mcharazo (p. 239-248).

Knowledge Management was the theme of the Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL XVII) in 2006. This selection of conference papers provides a cross-disciplinary approach to knowledge, information and development and how the three together can mould a new and more informed society. The challenge is to make our libraries more people-centered and Afro-centric, not simply serving the interests of the elite and paying little attention to the plight of the less well off. This needs to change, with libraries becoming more inclusive and serving the needs of all. These papers raise provocative questions, and provide an insight into the struggle of information services in this part of Africa to be part of an emerging information and knowledge society.

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