0805 developing cpd in africa w pictures
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Helsinki conference EAHILTRANSCRIPT
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