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 amonglibrarians worldwide, current developments in Information andCommunication Technology (ICT), gender issues and women empowerment,HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation have indicated that Library andInformation Science (LIS) professionals will, in the immediate future,need to re-position themselves to meet up with the challenges of theever-growing information society. Secondly, the inter-dependent natureof the disciplines have necessitated that librarians in the twenty firstcentury must possess specialised skills in order to maximiseopportunities in the knowledge economy. More than ever before, theLibrary and Information Science (LIS) sector has been challenged by thedearth of information professionals in the field of Information andCommunication Technology (ICT), cataloguing and classification,information literacy, knowledge management, intellectual property andother areas of democracy and governance. In Africa, some of the issuesthat have dominated the LIS landscape include the need to develop theneeded competencies among LIS professionals in each of these areasthrough training of future librarians at higher education level andcontinuing education and staff development of current professionals tomeet up with the challenges of the emerging global order. This paperhighlights the urgency for a coherent plan of action to align the rolesand responsibilities of LIS professionals in Africa in order to achievethe Millennium Development Goals.