Unique collaboration to support university libraries in Mozambique and Zimbabwe

The department Information & Library Services of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT ILS) is involved in the organization of a training-of-trainer s (TOT) workshop on the use of an open-source library system. The aim is to strengthen the capacity of university libraries in Mozambique and Zimbabwe in the provision of modern service delivery.

Eight university libraries in Mozambique and  Zimbabwe are in the process of migrating from a licensed cataloguing system to a free open-source library system. While some library catalogues already are automated, it is difficult for library users to retrieve information.

The more than twenty participants work at six Mozambican and two Zimbabwean universities as librarian or ICT officer. In cooperation with the Flemish Interuniversity Council – University cooperation for development (VLIR/UOS), KIT ILS developed a customized workshop in English on the use of a free, user-friendly open-source library system at both a managerial and a technical level. The system also has a Portuguese interface, which is an added benefit for the Mozambican libraries.

After this interactive workshop, the participants will be able to train the staff at their universities. This is a quick and effective way to increase the knowledge of the users in their own libraries. It will also help to achieve the goal of access to information for all users and will allow knowledge to contribute to development.

The ToT workshop is the result of collaboration with the Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, VLIR/UOS, KIT ILS, University Maastricht, UNESCO, Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) and INASP.

Date: 30 November, 1–2 December, 2011
Trainers: Peter Hessels (KIT) and Egbert Desmet (VLIR)
Location: Eduardo Mondlane University, Central Library, Maputo, Mozambique

• Tags
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• information management |
• library operations |
• library systems |
• open source software |
• workshop

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