Library and Information Services and Human Resource Development: Imperatives for Meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Abstract

Developing human resources has become an issue of concern among librarians worldwide, current developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), gender issues and women empowerment, HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation have indicated that Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals will, in the immediate future, need to re-position themselves to meet up with the challenges of the ever-growing information society. Secondly, the inter-dependent nature of the disciplines have necessitated that librarians in the twenty first century must possess specialised skills in order to maximise opportunities in the knowledge economy. More than ever before, the Library and Information Science (LIS) sector has been challenged by the dearth of information professionals in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), cataloguing and classification, information literacy, knowledge management, intellectual property and other areas of democracy and governance. In Africa, some of the issues that have dominated the LIS landscape include the need to develop the needed competencies among LIS professionals in each of these areas through training of future librarians at higher education level and continuing education and staff development of current professionals to meet up with the challenges of the emerging global order. This paper highlights the urgency for a coherent plan of action to align the roles and responsibilities of LIS professionals in Africa in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.