Unit 11 Report
I started out this unit reminiscing over the map of Africa. I took an international studies class a few years ago and we spent a lot of time on Africa - we even memorized the map!
Looking over the CIA website was scary; I explored the Cote d'Ivoire. Between the number of people with HIV, the life expectancy rate (about 50), and the fact that 37 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, it was really depressing! Reading all of this, I began to wonder how they distribute information - if information was more widespread would these numbers be better? It definitely gave me a lot to think about as I began to explore this unit.
Looking at the LIS schools in the region, I was immediately drawn to the Kenya School of Professional Studies. According to their main site, they are a 'higher institution alternative' to those who immediately when skills suitable for the job market. The Department of Information Science and Technology is only one of five departments at the school. Their faculty is even in charge of dealing with the technologies of the entire school! My favorite quote from their website is: "Right from individual to corporate level, information is a key ingredient to any meaningful development. For information to be usable, its organization is a crucial undertaking." SILS should use this motto! This seems like such a great alternative to going to a formal University - I wonder what the cost differences are? As someone who is very concerned with keeping herself marketable to the job world, I am quite interested in programs such as this one. For an 'American' version of this program, you should check out NCSU's new MBA Services Management degree - its goals are very similar to Kenya's IS degree goals. As much as it pains me to say this (I despise NCSU - my little sister goes there ... it's a family rivalry) I would have applied to this program instead of the MSIS at SILS had it been offered two years ago.
Back to Africa! I explored that National Library of Burkina Faso's website quite a bit. Given that it has been a LONG time since I have studied French, I took me a while to get acclimated. The even a link on the 'World of the Arts' (Le Monde des Arts) that encompassed every angle of culture - from music to cinema to literature. This was certainly a new area for a library to cover - although if you think about it, it's just another aspect of cultural appreciation. Everything on their website was very meticulously organized - even though they weren't exactly a digital repository for images or other digital media, they had so much information for each area of Le Monde des Arts that they truly seemed to be a center of information. They did have some pictures on the site that definitely got me interested and kept me clicking around:
The University of Namibia Library also supplied quite an interesting browsing experience. My first impression was to laugh because at the bottom of the main page in big red letters were the words 'Return items which are overdue!'. I decided to look through their 'Digital Library Display' where I was immediately confronted with the HIV/AIDS problem. It was the first link on the list and clicking on it sent you to a ton of resources. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to view any of the books online - but the fact that the library clearly advertises their existence is important. I found the following book cover on Gender and HIV/AIDS:
I think it's important that these information resources are displayed and that people know how to get them!
I also found it interesting that the National Library of Rawanda, while in French, had lots of references to British resources. I don't know that much about the history of Rwanda, but Wikipedia reports that both the British and the French fought over the area at some point in its history. Very similar to the NL of Burkina Faso, they seemed to be a resource of links to other online repositories (although Burkina Faso had quite a bit more information). It is interesting that these libraries seem to be an organized repository of resources instead of providing its own. Still, the information they provide is important and well-documented.
Compared to the other sites, the National Library of South Africa was very neat and clean-cut - it was the best interface design, by far. The sketch of this building looks amazing! (See below). They say they are there to promote reading especially among children. I think it's great that this resource is available. It's a shame that an organization of this type doesn't exist (at least not that I know of) in other parts of Africa.
I also noticed that they linked to a lot of online databases. This is something you are finding online more frequently and I think it's great that they're keeping up with this trend (they may even have surpassed the US considering that they're free and they're are so many of them).
Bibliotheca Alexandrina has a very cool website! I especially loved how their layout for kids is tailored for the intended user - it's fun and colorful. They have a lot of information for kids on everything from games to online searching and information on their collection. I found a page on the 'Friends of the Children's Library' that promotes itself as a service organization for children, by children. Their childrens room should be more colorful like their website:
This is a very exciting library and their website really is beautiful; how can it not be, look where it is located:
And here is a picture of it:
What a cool place to hang out! The library offers many lectures; given that it also includes a museum and a planetarium, you can see that it truly is an information repository - for all types of information. The planetarium is a really cool place that is located under the library; it has some really interesting shows, like 'The Human Body':
The website for this was very similar to the library - not a lot of information to learn, but a lot of metadata about the library/planetarium. The museum is apparently the first to be located within a library; which seems to be a fitting place for a museum - they are information repositories of their own. The museum website was a bit different from the others, given that some of their collection is online:
This picture was of a school girl and included the caption 'Boys and girls learned in the Ancient Bibliotheca Alexandrina' - an aswesome reference to the original library. Besides having some of the collection online, the museuem site also says that they offer theatre classes. Bibliotheca Alexandrina certainly is the place to go to find information on Egypt and the culture of the area - past and present. They also offer lots of information on math and science. For instance, the library has decided to build a site dedicated to science teachings in Arabic. While I can't read any of the information on the site, it looks really cool!
I hadn't heard about the Timbuktu ancient text discovery. I'm really glad these books are being found; I hope that libraries work to preserve them and not sell them to tourists, as the article predicts. Africa deserves to have their historic texts restored just like the rest of the world!
I loved the Camel Library! What an innovative way to get books out to the local population. The literacy rates in this area of the world (85 %) are so sad - I think it's great that local librarians are working to improve the situation. It certainly puts a new spin on community outreach! I wonder if they could expand the program with a Children's Story Hour, or something of the sort, to get more of the kids interested in reading?
The rest of the world should be taking lessons from Rwanda's high-tech plans. We discuss the digital divide and ways to change it, and government's develop policies on it (that seem to never go through) but Rwanda is doing something about it! Although I can't imagine paying $125/month for internet - that has to be even more outrageous for people in Rwanda! Having public places that offer connections is vital to keeping the momentum of this project going. Also, the Kigali Institute of Science, Technology, and Management (KIST) is such a great idea! Not only do they offer 3-year degrees but they recognize the realities of the situation by offering short tracks to save money and quickly prepare people for the job market. Maybe people in Rwanda can get the 'fast track' degree, get a job and make some money, while studying for the 3-year program simultaneously (perhaps they should offer a night school) so as to prepare for the future.
The situation for students in Rwanda is very hard to hear about it - it's so scary! It's so unfortunate that people can't learn things because of a history of conflict. They should be learning their histories - and I agree with one of the teachers from the King David school in that students need to be told the truth! Although, that's the thing with history - the winners of the wars always write history.
Michael Palin's chronoicled journey into the Sahara was a lot of fun to look through. I didn't realize quite how large the area was until I looked at the '3D Map' -- wow! No wonder it took him 99 days! Looking through his photo gallery was a lot of fun - I particularly liked this picture:
Now that is how I think of the Sahara! It's beautiful! I can't even imagine being there! How completely differernt it is from Unit 10's journey into Antarctica! What I can't imagine is the picture below from Palin's adventure: it shows a rally car traveling in the village Tougadh - he reports that 300 vehicles will travel this roads in one afternoon! Wow! I really didn't picture this area to be so busy!
I really enjoyed the search features of the site - the way Palin broke down 'History', 'Nature', etc. Since I couldn't read the whole book (my eyes are just NOT up to it), I used these search features to find things I was interested in from the book. For instance, I read about Dhadi, a woman from Dakar; as she talks about women in the region and the history of submissiveness, she tells Palin: 'This is something crazy. I'm not going to be submissive to my husband, you know. Maybe to respect my husband, but he's going to respect me too.'
The article on the librarian's visit to Ghana brought up an interesting bit of information: he reports that the University of Ghana's library, while seemingly in great shape with a computer lab and online databases, was quite lacking. The computer lab had little to no Internet connectivity, so the new computers did them no good for searching the catalog. The librarian implemented several changes in the library so that it would be better organized and thus provide better services to the University; I wonder if his efforts are still visible? I wonder how the library is really doing?
Terri's photo gallery was great! All of her pictures were mesmerizing! The area is so beautiful and the animals are amazing! I loved looking at pictures of lions and cheetahs. I loved looking at the pictures of the kids Teri is working with; I was surprised to see 'A Toy Story' in the background of one of the library pictures. I'm so proud that a SILS student is doing such cool things!
Kevin Sites' in the 'Hot Zone' had some great resources and I love what is doing for mass media - grassroots reporters are great! I looked through his photo essay on Boga in the Congo - it is really amazing to think about what happens after troops leave. The chief of the village doesn't think that Congalese soldiers are enough to protect the area now that the UN soldiers have left. The pictures give the impression that the area is in ruins because of the rebels; how quickly the rest of the worlds forgets about victims once we think their problems are solved.
The water issues in the developing world are scary. The story on the Zambian mine water pollution is terrible - it's hard enough for these people to get not just running water, but a water pump in general, in the first place - and now the water they have is polluted. Jay-Z's initiative to get youth involved with the water crisis is wonderful - I'm glad that MTV is doing something productive. The Kibera video was so alarming - I've read a lot about water crises, but until you see pictures or video, it just doesn't stick. Governments need to step in and help because water is a basic human right!
The Conflict Diamonds issue hit home. Reading all the articles, I found the Certificate of Origin for my engagement ring to make sure it did NOT come from a war zone (luckily, it did not). This is yet another way that the rich utilize the resources of the poor. Africa is in a position of power with diamond resources, only I'm not sure their governments realize that. Rich people in the Western world want their diamonds - and Africa is in a position to sell them. Unfortunately, it seems that bad groups are taking advantage of the situation and killing innocent people. With 'Blood Diamonds' about to come out in December, diamond sellers (of non-conflict diamonds) need to start marketing NOW, unless they want to end up like the fur industry. Having some sort of certification and guarantee with diamonds will be important now more than ever, as the issue is brought to the public eye. The Kimberly Process is definitely a good thing!
The videos of Africa were beautiful - it's a shame that this area of the world is full of so much suffering (it's terrible that any area of the world has this much suffering!). Looking back over the information issues and resources with this unit, it seems that the nations of this region are doing the best they can with what they have - which is all any of us can do. There are many information needs in the area that need to be met - education for all, raising the literacy rate, educating on HIV/AIDS, etc. But an issue unique to Africa is that their information needs include transmitting their issues to the rest of the world. Jay-Z's project to discuss water issues in this region is one way to do this; people like Palin who publicize this area of the world have a responsibility to educate the masses on the various needs of the people of this region.
Looking over the CIA website was scary; I explored the Cote d'Ivoire. Between the number of people with HIV, the life expectancy rate (about 50), and the fact that 37 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, it was really depressing! Reading all of this, I began to wonder how they distribute information - if information was more widespread would these numbers be better? It definitely gave me a lot to think about as I began to explore this unit.
Looking at the LIS schools in the region, I was immediately drawn to the Kenya School of Professional Studies. According to their main site, they are a 'higher institution alternative' to those who immediately when skills suitable for the job market. The Department of Information Science and Technology is only one of five departments at the school. Their faculty is even in charge of dealing with the technologies of the entire school! My favorite quote from their website is: "Right from individual to corporate level, information is a key ingredient to any meaningful development. For information to be usable, its organization is a crucial undertaking." SILS should use this motto! This seems like such a great alternative to going to a formal University - I wonder what the cost differences are? As someone who is very concerned with keeping herself marketable to the job world, I am quite interested in programs such as this one. For an 'American' version of this program, you should check out NCSU's new MBA Services Management degree - its goals are very similar to Kenya's IS degree goals. As much as it pains me to say this (I despise NCSU - my little sister goes there ... it's a family rivalry) I would have applied to this program instead of the MSIS at SILS had it been offered two years ago.
Back to Africa! I explored that National Library of Burkina Faso's website quite a bit. Given that it has been a LONG time since I have studied French, I took me a while to get acclimated. The even a link on the 'World of the Arts' (Le Monde des Arts) that encompassed every angle of culture - from music to cinema to literature. This was certainly a new area for a library to cover - although if you think about it, it's just another aspect of cultural appreciation. Everything on their website was very meticulously organized - even though they weren't exactly a digital repository for images or other digital media, they had so much information for each area of Le Monde des Arts that they truly seemed to be a center of information. They did have some pictures on the site that definitely got me interested and kept me clicking around:
The University of Namibia Library also supplied quite an interesting browsing experience. My first impression was to laugh because at the bottom of the main page in big red letters were the words 'Return items which are overdue!'. I decided to look through their 'Digital Library Display' where I was immediately confronted with the HIV/AIDS problem. It was the first link on the list and clicking on it sent you to a ton of resources. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to view any of the books online - but the fact that the library clearly advertises their existence is important. I found the following book cover on Gender and HIV/AIDS:
I think it's important that these information resources are displayed and that people know how to get them!I also found it interesting that the National Library of Rawanda, while in French, had lots of references to British resources. I don't know that much about the history of Rwanda, but Wikipedia reports that both the British and the French fought over the area at some point in its history. Very similar to the NL of Burkina Faso, they seemed to be a resource of links to other online repositories (although Burkina Faso had quite a bit more information). It is interesting that these libraries seem to be an organized repository of resources instead of providing its own. Still, the information they provide is important and well-documented.
Compared to the other sites, the National Library of South Africa was very neat and clean-cut - it was the best interface design, by far. The sketch of this building looks amazing! (See below). They say they are there to promote reading especially among children. I think it's great that this resource is available. It's a shame that an organization of this type doesn't exist (at least not that I know of) in other parts of Africa.
I also noticed that they linked to a lot of online databases. This is something you are finding online more frequently and I think it's great that they're keeping up with this trend (they may even have surpassed the US considering that they're free and they're are so many of them).Bibliotheca Alexandrina has a very cool website! I especially loved how their layout for kids is tailored for the intended user - it's fun and colorful. They have a lot of information for kids on everything from games to online searching and information on their collection. I found a page on the 'Friends of the Children's Library' that promotes itself as a service organization for children, by children. Their childrens room should be more colorful like their website:
This is a very exciting library and their website really is beautiful; how can it not be, look where it is located:
And here is a picture of it:What a cool place to hang out! The library offers many lectures; given that it also includes a museum and a planetarium, you can see that it truly is an information repository - for all types of information. The planetarium is a really cool place that is located under the library; it has some really interesting shows, like 'The Human Body':The website for this was very similar to the library - not a lot of information to learn, but a lot of metadata about the library/planetarium. The museum is apparently the first to be located within a library; which seems to be a fitting place for a museum - they are information repositories of their own. The museum website was a bit different from the others, given that some of their collection is online:
This picture was of a school girl and included the caption 'Boys and girls learned in the Ancient Bibliotheca Alexandrina' - an aswesome reference to the original library. Besides having some of the collection online, the museuem site also says that they offer theatre classes. Bibliotheca Alexandrina certainly is the place to go to find information on Egypt and the culture of the area - past and present. They also offer lots of information on math and science. For instance, the library has decided to build a site dedicated to science teachings in Arabic. While I can't read any of the information on the site, it looks really cool!I hadn't heard about the Timbuktu ancient text discovery. I'm really glad these books are being found; I hope that libraries work to preserve them and not sell them to tourists, as the article predicts. Africa deserves to have their historic texts restored just like the rest of the world!
I loved the Camel Library! What an innovative way to get books out to the local population. The literacy rates in this area of the world (85 %) are so sad - I think it's great that local librarians are working to improve the situation. It certainly puts a new spin on community outreach! I wonder if they could expand the program with a Children's Story Hour, or something of the sort, to get more of the kids interested in reading?
The rest of the world should be taking lessons from Rwanda's high-tech plans. We discuss the digital divide and ways to change it, and government's develop policies on it (that seem to never go through) but Rwanda is doing something about it! Although I can't imagine paying $125/month for internet - that has to be even more outrageous for people in Rwanda! Having public places that offer connections is vital to keeping the momentum of this project going. Also, the Kigali Institute of Science, Technology, and Management (KIST) is such a great idea! Not only do they offer 3-year degrees but they recognize the realities of the situation by offering short tracks to save money and quickly prepare people for the job market. Maybe people in Rwanda can get the 'fast track' degree, get a job and make some money, while studying for the 3-year program simultaneously (perhaps they should offer a night school) so as to prepare for the future.
The situation for students in Rwanda is very hard to hear about it - it's so scary! It's so unfortunate that people can't learn things because of a history of conflict. They should be learning their histories - and I agree with one of the teachers from the King David school in that students need to be told the truth! Although, that's the thing with history - the winners of the wars always write history.
Michael Palin's chronoicled journey into the Sahara was a lot of fun to look through. I didn't realize quite how large the area was until I looked at the '3D Map' -- wow! No wonder it took him 99 days! Looking through his photo gallery was a lot of fun - I particularly liked this picture:
Now that is how I think of the Sahara! It's beautiful! I can't even imagine being there! How completely differernt it is from Unit 10's journey into Antarctica! What I can't imagine is the picture below from Palin's adventure: it shows a rally car traveling in the village Tougadh - he reports that 300 vehicles will travel this roads in one afternoon! Wow! I really didn't picture this area to be so busy!
I really enjoyed the search features of the site - the way Palin broke down 'History', 'Nature', etc. Since I couldn't read the whole book (my eyes are just NOT up to it), I used these search features to find things I was interested in from the book. For instance, I read about Dhadi, a woman from Dakar; as she talks about women in the region and the history of submissiveness, she tells Palin: 'This is something crazy. I'm not going to be submissive to my husband, you know. Maybe to respect my husband, but he's going to respect me too.'
The article on the librarian's visit to Ghana brought up an interesting bit of information: he reports that the University of Ghana's library, while seemingly in great shape with a computer lab and online databases, was quite lacking. The computer lab had little to no Internet connectivity, so the new computers did them no good for searching the catalog. The librarian implemented several changes in the library so that it would be better organized and thus provide better services to the University; I wonder if his efforts are still visible? I wonder how the library is really doing?
Terri's photo gallery was great! All of her pictures were mesmerizing! The area is so beautiful and the animals are amazing! I loved looking at pictures of lions and cheetahs. I loved looking at the pictures of the kids Teri is working with; I was surprised to see 'A Toy Story' in the background of one of the library pictures. I'm so proud that a SILS student is doing such cool things!
Kevin Sites' in the 'Hot Zone' had some great resources and I love what is doing for mass media - grassroots reporters are great! I looked through his photo essay on Boga in the Congo - it is really amazing to think about what happens after troops leave. The chief of the village doesn't think that Congalese soldiers are enough to protect the area now that the UN soldiers have left. The pictures give the impression that the area is in ruins because of the rebels; how quickly the rest of the worlds forgets about victims once we think their problems are solved.
The water issues in the developing world are scary. The story on the Zambian mine water pollution is terrible - it's hard enough for these people to get not just running water, but a water pump in general, in the first place - and now the water they have is polluted. Jay-Z's initiative to get youth involved with the water crisis is wonderful - I'm glad that MTV is doing something productive. The Kibera video was so alarming - I've read a lot about water crises, but until you see pictures or video, it just doesn't stick. Governments need to step in and help because water is a basic human right!
The Conflict Diamonds issue hit home. Reading all the articles, I found the Certificate of Origin for my engagement ring to make sure it did NOT come from a war zone (luckily, it did not). This is yet another way that the rich utilize the resources of the poor. Africa is in a position of power with diamond resources, only I'm not sure their governments realize that. Rich people in the Western world want their diamonds - and Africa is in a position to sell them. Unfortunately, it seems that bad groups are taking advantage of the situation and killing innocent people. With 'Blood Diamonds' about to come out in December, diamond sellers (of non-conflict diamonds) need to start marketing NOW, unless they want to end up like the fur industry. Having some sort of certification and guarantee with diamonds will be important now more than ever, as the issue is brought to the public eye. The Kimberly Process is definitely a good thing!
The videos of Africa were beautiful - it's a shame that this area of the world is full of so much suffering (it's terrible that any area of the world has this much suffering!). Looking back over the information issues and resources with this unit, it seems that the nations of this region are doing the best they can with what they have - which is all any of us can do. There are many information needs in the area that need to be met - education for all, raising the literacy rate, educating on HIV/AIDS, etc. But an issue unique to Africa is that their information needs include transmitting their issues to the rest of the world. Jay-Z's project to discuss water issues in this region is one way to do this; people like Palin who publicize this area of the world have a responsibility to educate the masses on the various needs of the people of this region.
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