This column of news, views and snippets from the international literature of books, libraries, and information, was written in July and appeared in the September 2024 issue of LIASA-in-Touch, the quarterly newsletter of the Library and Information Association of South Africa.

South and southern African researchers are increasingly publishing excellent and relevant research findings in overseas journals, to which not all of us have access. In this instalment of “Global Gleanings” I draw attention to fourteen articles published overseas in 2023 by South African authors and other authors (such as postgraduate students from other African countries) connected to South African universities. Seven of the articles appeared in IFLA journal and six in Information development, both good choices to ensure that colleagues in the Global South take note of South African contributions.

The lingering legacy of COVID

Two articles deal with the effects of COVID. Asare and Aggrey (2023) report on a quantitative study of how ten national library associations in sub-Saharan Africa responded to the pandemic. Most of them had to postpone their annual conferences and continuing professional education programmes. The authors recommend that the associations make use of technological platforms to bridge the communication gap when future pandemics occur, and that the associations adopt policies to this effect. In a thoughtful qualitative study of crisis-driven innovation in response to COVID, van Wyk (2023) focussed on how the pandemic suddenly exacerbated the existing digital exclusion (barriers such as lack of connectivity) experienced by students, forcing academic libraries to face the challenges of delivering services remotely. She reflects on the response and offers a model to prepare for future crises. Library managers should take note of both articles. Whether COVID is still a pandemic or is now endemic is a subject of debate (cf. Colarossi 2024), but it has not gone away. Other pandemics may well arise in the future.

Social justice

It is widely accepted that the three core missions or functions of a university are teaching/learning, research, and community engagement. However, in South African universities, community engagement receives the least attention (Council on Higher Education 2020). Bangani and Dube (2023) examined the extent to which South African academic libraries contribute to social justice. They consider social justice “as all acts of libraries aimed at fostering human rights and social redress that are underpinned by the ubuntu values”, and present the findings of a qualitative study in which the relationships between community engagement activities, social justice and ubuntu were explored. Ubuntu is an important African philosophical concept that is much used and abused, for example by management gurus and politicians. It is worth quoting here the conclusion arrived at by Ewuoso and Hall (2019) on the basis of a systematic review of existing studies of Ubuntu:

…this ethical theory [is] an essentially relational ethics that prizes relationships of interdependence, fellowship, reconciliation, relationality, community friendliness, harmonious relationships and other-regarding actions, in which actions are morally right to the extent that they honour the capacity to relate communally, reduce discord or promote friendly relationships with others and in which the material world (horizontal line) and the spiritual world (the vertical line) are fundamentally united (p.101).

Archives

Archives studies are well represented in our literature. Articles by Prof Patrick Ngulube and Prof Mpho Ngoepe of UNISA and their students feature regularly. Sindiso Bhebhe, formerly at UNISA and now at Charles Sturt University in Australia, is another prolific author in the field. He specialises in community, indigenous, and subaltern archives, as exemplified by his article on “Borderlands’s theory in indigenous ethnic community archiving” (Bhebhe 2023). Borderlands theory concerns politically and economically marginalised communities which are neglected by the ruling political group. In Zimbabwe, there has been a proliferation of community archives and cultural initiatives created by marginalised ethnic groups as a means of preserving their culture and asserting their identity. In the article he focuses on two of these groups, the Ndou and the Tonga communities.  

Indigenous knowledge remains a topic of interest in our literature. Chigwada and Ngulube (2023) discuss the role of digital technology in the preservation of indigenous knowledge, including poetry, folklore, artefacts and dance, by libraries in Zimbabwe. Librarians can build bridges between traditional knowledge systems and the digital world, but this must be done ethically, and initiatives require respectful relationships with the knowledge holders. There is a considerable literature on the ethics of dealing with indigenous knowledge. These include the Guidelines for ethical research in indigenous studies of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (2012) as well as recommendations from scholars in sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. Mosimege 2019; Ondari-Okemwa 2014).

South African archives hold resources that provide valuable evidence of past land dispossession, that can be used as evidence in land restitution cases. However, in a qualitative study, Mabapa and Ngoepe (2023) found that in many cases land claims are dogged by problems such as missing records, language barriers and access restrictions. This situation seems to be in violation of the eight Batho Pele (“people first”)  principles of the South African Department of Public Service and Administration (Department of Public Service and Administration, n.d.).. Mojapelo, Modiba and Saurombe (2023) argue that public programming is an essential tool for implementing the principles. However, this form of outreach does not receive much attention. For critical research on the general implementation of Batho Pele in South Africa’s public service, see for example Hemson and Jones (2008) and Ngidi and Dorasamy (2013).   

In the related field of knowledge management, Mamabolo and Fombad (2023) investigated knowledge retention among professional nurses. As nurses move from job to job, critical nursing knowledge is lost, which negatively affects patient care. On the basis of in-depth interviews with a sample of nurses at a rural hospital in South Africa, they developed a knowledge retention strategy. Knowledge retention in this context should not be confused with learning retention in education, but with the retention of organisational knowledge, as discussed for example by Moira Levy (2011).

Information needs and uses

At the University of the Free State’s Neville Alexander Library, Mashiyane, Makhurpetsi and Kgosiemang (2023) studied information-seeking behaviour of members of that library’s book club. The authors looked inter alia at the extent that information-seeking skills are acquired by members of the book club, finding that book clubs are an effective pedagogical tool for this purpose. We do not often hear of book clubs in our academic libraries, but a quick search shows that they are mentioned on the websites of university libraries in various countries. In the USA a case study and toolkit for book clubs in academic libraries was published at the University of Washington (Kiciman, Bull, and Whitney 2019), while the COVID pandemic led to the founding of a student-led book club at the University California, Santa Barbara (Regan and Beal 2021). Information literacy and information-seeking skills continue to receive attention in our research literature. Also at the University of the Free State, Molepo and Blose (2023) conducted a literature review and document analysis to develop a theoretical framework, the Authority Pedagogy Socialization framework, for communicating library training to first-year students.

Masephula and Olorunfemi (2023), from the School of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Mpumalanga, studied the information needs of smallholder poultry farmers in their province – a reminder of the overlap and potential synergy between agricultural extension and LIS. Are we librarians taking note of the work being done on information needs and uses by researchers in agricultural extension? The same question can be asked of research in communication studies. Two researchers in the Department of Communication at the University of Fort Hare, Olaoye and Onyenankeya (2023), researched the effectiveness of community radio (Mdantsane FM) as a source of health information in the Eastern Cape Province. I noticed that libraries did not feature among the sources of health information mentioned by their respondents, the major sources being community radio, television, and social media, in that order. Are any South African public or community libraries partnering with community radio stations?

Ngula (2023), the Namibian mother of two children with albinism, applied the auto-ethnography method, a qualitative research methodology,  to explore her experiences in searching for information about the condition. Autoethnography is a methodology that draws on, analyses and interprets the researcher’s own lived experience. It is described as follows by Poulos:

Autoethnography, simply put, is an observational, participatory, and reflexive research method that uses writing about the self in contact with others to illuminate the many layers of human social, emotional, theoretical, political, and cultural praxis (i.e., action, performance, accomplishment). In other words, autoethnography is an observational data-driven phenomenological method of narrative research and writing that aims to offer tales of human social and cultural life that are compelling, striking, and evocative (showing or bringing forth strong images, memories, or feelings) (Poulos 2021, 4–5). 

The methodology goes back to the mid-1800s. Since the 1990s it has been moving into the mainstream of social research, and we are seeing more of it in LIS, for example a study by Alex Byrne, a former president of IFLA of his own career of almost forty years in research and practice in the library profession (Byrne 2017).

Finally, in a review of continuing professional development (CPD) strategies for digital transformation in Africa. Nakaziba and Ngulube (2023) brought together two important themes in the African LIS literature: CPD and digital transformation. They found that African academic libraries are employing various strategies for CPD, but that policies, budgets and staffing dedicated to this function are still lacking.

Is your article missing? If I’ve missed or misinterpreted any contributions, please let me know by commenting on my blog (https://peterlor.com/temp/).

References

Asare, Comfort AB, and Samuel Bentil Aggrey. 2023. “Effects of COVID-19 on Sub-Saharan African Library Associations.” IFLA Journal 49 (2): 315–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352221130777.

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 2012. Guidelines for Ethical Research in Indigenous Studies. 2nd rev. ed. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. http://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/docs/research-and-guides/ethics/gerais.pdf.

Bangani, Siviwe, and Luyanda Dube. 2023. “South African Academic Libraries as Contributors to Social Justice and Ubuntu through Community Engagement.” IFLA Journal 49 (3): 541–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352231166751.

Bhebhe, Sindiso. 2023. “Borderland’s Theory in Indigenous Ethnic Community Archiving.” Information Development, May, 02666669231173060. https://doi.org/10.1177/02666669231173060.

Byrne, Alex. 2017. “Possibility and Imagination: A Personal Exploration of Research and Librarianship.” Library Management 38 (1): 11–19. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-08-2016-0065.

Chigwada, Josiline, and Patrick Ngulube. 2023. “Librarians’ Role in the Preservation and Dissemination of Indigenous Knowledge.” IFLA Journal, December, 03400352231217270. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352231217270.

Colarossi, Jessica. 2024. “Is COVID-19 Still a Pandemic? Or Is It Becoming an Endemic Disease?” Boston University. March 5, 2024. https://www.bu.edu/articles/2024/is-covid-19-still-a-pandemic/.

Council on Higher Education. 2020. “Community Engagement as One of the Core Functions of Universities: Revisiting the Idea of a University.” Briefly Speaking, no. 11 (February).

Department of Public Service and Administration. n.d. “Eight Batho Pele Principles to Kickstart the Transformation of Service Delivery [Poster].” Accessed July 10, 2024. https://static.pmg.org.za/docs/Principles_of_Batho_Pele_0.pdf.

Ewuoso, C, and S Hall. 2019. “Core Aspects of Ubuntu: A Systematic Review.” South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 12 (2): 93–103. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2019.v12i2.679.

Hemson, David, and Benjamin F. Jones. 2008. “Batho Pele: Season of Discontent.” HSRC Review 6 (4): 12–14.

Kiciman, Johanna Jacobsen, Alaina C. Bull, and Kari Whitney. 2019. Book Clubs in Academic Libraries: A Case Study and Toolkit. UW Pressbooks. https://uw.pressbooks.pub/bookclubs/.

Levy, Moria. 2011. “Knowledge Retention: Minimizing Organizational Business Loss.” Journal of Knowledge Management 15 (4): 582–600. https://doi.org/10.1108/13673271111151974.

Mabapa, Lyborn, and Mpho Ngoepe. 2023. “Empowering or Disempowering? Archives as a Tool to Support or Hinder Land Restitution in South Africa.” Information Development, April, 02666669231170397. https://doi.org/10.1177/02666669231170397.

Mamabolo, Josias Kgwadi, and M C Fombad. 2023. “A Knowledge Retention Strategy for Professional Nurses in South Africa.” Information Development, November, 02666669231209956. https://doi.org/10.1177/02666669231209956.

Masephula, L, and O D Olorunfemi. 2023. “Correlates of Smallholder Poultry Farmers Extension and Marketing Information Needs: Evidence from North-Eastern South Africa.” Information Development, January, 02666669221148694. https://doi.org/10.1177/02666669221148694.

Mashiyane, Dina Mokgadi, Tebogo Agnes Makhurpetsi, and Thuto Kgosiemang. 2023. “The University of the Free State Neville Alexander Library Book Club and Information-Seeking Behaviour.” IFLA Journal 49 (May):573–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352231172801.

Mojapelo, Makutla, Mashilo Modiba, and Nampombe Saurombe. 2023. “Applying Batho Pele Principles in South African Public Archives – Do Public Programming Initiatives Count?” Information Development 39 (2): 357–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/02666669211049382.

Molepo, Mahlaga J, and Sihle Blose. 2023. “Framework for Communicating Library Training at a South African University.” IFLA Journal 49 (3): 596–609. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352231172804.

Mosimege, Mogege. 2019. “Research Protocols and Ethical Considerations in Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice.” In Handbook of Research on Theoretical Perspectives on Indigenous Knowledge in Developing Countries, edited by Patrick Ngulube, 714–30. Advances in Knowledge Acquisition, Transfer. and Management. Hershey PA: IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-8057-7.ch036.

Nakaziba, Sarah, and Patrick Ngulube. 2023. “Continuing Professional Development Strategies for Digital Transformation among Academic Librarians in Africa: A Systematic Review.” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, November, 09610006231207659. https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006231207659.

Ngidi, T L, and N Dorasamy. 2013. “Challenges on Application of Batho Pele Principles: A Case Study of Department of Home Affairs, Durban Regional Office.” Bangladesh E-Journal of Sociology 10 (1): 30–50. https://openscholar.dut.ac.za/bitstream/10321/1022/1/dorasamy___l.ngidi_2013_output.pdf.

Ngula, Anna. 2023. “The Power of Information and Coping with Albinism: An Autoethnographic Study.” IFLA Journal 49 (2): 432–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352221103892.

Olaoye, Adewale, and Kevin Onyenankeya. 2023. “Effectiveness of Mdantsane FM Community Radio in Health Information Promotion among Residents of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.” Information Development, July, 02666669231187362. https://doi.org/10.1177/02666669231187362.

Ondari-Okemwa, Ezra. 2014. “Ethical Issues and Indigenous Knowledge Production and Use in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 21st Century.” Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 5 (23). https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p2389.

Poulos, Christopher N. 2021. “Conceptual Foundations of Autoethnography.” In Essentials of Autoethnography, 3–17. Essentials of Qualitative Methods. Washington DC: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000222-001.

Regan, Alex, and Alana Beal. 2021. “Student-Led Book Clubs: Creating a Reading Community for College Students.” Programming Librarian. November 10, 2021. https://programminglibrarian.org/articles/student-led-book-clubs-creating-reading-community-college-students.

Wyk, Brenda van. 2023. “Library and Information Services’ Reflections on Emergency Remote Support and Crisis-Driven Innovations during Pandemic Conditions.” IFLA Journal 49 (3): 610–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352231166747.