Dissertation Information for Hudwell Mwacalimba NAME: - Hudwell Mwacalimba
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- University of California, Berkeley (USA) (1981)
ADVISORS: - Raynard C. Swank
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Norma Jean Shosid - Robert Prueger
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: DESIGN FOR LIBRARY HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN ZAMBIA
Abstract: Libraries and related information agencies, whether in developed or developing countries, are created for the specific purpose of facilitating the organization, retrieval and dissemination of information in society. That is their raison d'etre. The efficiency and effectiveness of any library are contingent, inter alia, upon the availability of knowledgeable personnel. It was recognized that no formal training program could equip a librarian with all the skills and knowledge he is likely to need in order to continue to render an acceptable level of service to his clientele because of the effects of technological obsolescence to which no occupation can claim immunity.
The prime aim of this study was to explore the possibility of providing a way of thinking about the planning or evolution of a design for the development of the library human resources in Zambia.
A characteristic of Zambia, as of other developing countries, is the paucity of adequate training facilities for librarians and information specialists. This results in the non-availability of many well trained library personnel, which in itself presents a strong case for the provision of insights into the planning of human resource development (HRD) programs that potentially could be used by Zambian libraries in order to assist their staff persons in improving their knowledge and skills. A review of the HRD literature in librarianship and other fields was undertaken in order to facilitate the conceptualization of a framework for the library HRD planning in Zambia.
Every HRD effort should be undertaken as a response to identified problems that may be causing an organization to be dysfunctional. In order to determine the existence of a need for HRD planning in Zambian libraries, a self-administered, semi-structured mail questionnaire was developed and distributed to a sample of libraries in Zambia. Questionnaire responses from 30 institutions were computer analysed and interpreted.
Meanwhile, a review of library development in Zambia was carried out, using the Zambia Library Service as a paradigm. It was noted, in general, that the colonial administration--the British South African Company and the British Colonial Government--had both neglected the development of public libraries in Zambia. A review of library surveys in Zambia for the years 1928, 1950, 1953-1954 and 1955 revealed a consistent lack of government support for libraries during Zambia's colonial era. It was also shown that the post-independence government support for libraries was not strong.
The development of the Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland Joint Publications Bureau and its role in the evolution of the public library movement in Zambia were traced and assessed respectively. The Country Book-Box libraries which were established in Zambia in 1959 were short-lived and gave way to the Northern Rhodesia Library Service (N.R.L.S.) in 1962 with the help of a grant-in-aid from the Ford Foundation of New York. At the attainment of Zambia's independence in 1964, the N.R.L.S. was renamed the Zambia Library Service (Z.L.S.).
The development of library education in Zambia was reviewed and found to be as wanting as the development of libraries. This was blamed on the previous Colonial Administrations.
From a review of the background to library and library education development in Zambia and the interpretation of the findings from the mail survey, the library HRD needs for Zambia were identified; methods for meeting such needs were suggested and discussed; and, finally a detailed process for attaining library HRD needs in Zambia was presented in the form of contiguous and logically sequenced phases. The process was considered to be applicable to any library in any developing country that might be interested in solving its human resource development problems. Some implications of this study for other developing countries were suggested and discussed.
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MPACT Scores for Hudwell Mwacalimba A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-05-30 11:51:34
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