Career Development in African Librarianship

Abstract

African librarians need to embrace enormous changes in technology and in social and economic circumstances during the course of their careers, but the methods that the profession should use to renew itself are not clear. At present the emphasis is on the possession of diplomas and degrees, but there is no special reason to believe that adding a second (master's) degree to a bachelor's in LIS appreciably increases the professional expertise of an individual library worker. Furthermore, the PhD (now increasingly sought) is a research degree and of debatable relevance for most kinds of higher library posts. It is argued in this paper that continuing professional development (CPD) is more capable of delivering the necessary new skills and professional orientation. The profession, through its library associations, needs to discuss the problems of career development with policymakers; persuade employers to modify their qualification-based appointment and promotion requirements; and encourage and support professional associations in providing more CPD opportunities.

Continuing professional development in Cambodia: Perspectives of different stakeholders

“…It seems that Cambodia is no exception as its national library association has faced similar setbacks. The strong presence of the national library association is critical for Cambodia not only because it ‘is one that promotes and supports CPD’ (Sturgess, 2012: 49), but also because it can better advocate for the library profession. Other researchers have also alluded to the important role of professional bodies in the CPD ecosystem and the need for them to work closely with other stakeholders to develop a viable CPD plan (Moonasar and Underwood, 2018).…”

“…Inactivity or hiatus is a phenomenon that is usually experienced by LIS professional bodies in developing countries, which tend to be weak because of their small membership base (Sturgess, 2012). It seems that Cambodia is no exception as its national library association has faced similar setbacks.…”

“…From a South East Asian perspective, Majid (2004) notes that, compared to training needs, the level of CPD activities for LIS professionals in the region is quite low. Given the varying standards of LIS schools in the South Asia and South East Asia regions and the absence of strong national professional associations, the need for CPD programmes is more critical in these countries (Majid, 2004(Majid, , 2018Sturgess, 2012). As such, it is desirable to investigate the availability, frequency, adequacy and quality of CPD programmes for LIS employees in these countries.…”

A review of the library and information science profession in the Maldives: Development, challenges and opportunities

“…Although some of the delineated outcomes were realized, the relative inactivity of the MLA is evidenced by the absence of MLA newsletters from the late 1990s to 2004, and from 2007 to 2009, and, more recently, updates on activities on the MLA blog from 2014 to 2016, and again from 2020 to date. The periods of hiatus in the MLA are a phenomenon that has been experienced by LIS professional bodies in developing countries, which tend to be weak because of their small membership base (Riyaz et al, 2012b; Sturges, 2012).…”