Sierra Leone is a small West African country bordered by Guinea, Liberia, and the Pacific Ocean. The country has 5 million people with a GDP of just over $ 4 billion with an average per capita income of about $ 900 per year. In Sierra Leone there are very rich and very poor. About half of the population is involved in agriculture, and about half of export revenues generated by diamonds. Sierra Leone is a young democracy. The median age of the population is 19 years of age. A median age so young is an indication that life is hard there. 10,000 children fought in the year of the civil war in Sierra Leone. And now, another 500,000 are in the paramilitary groups.(Http://www.un.org/
As of September 2010, the University Sierra Leone does not have online page dedicated to their library or library catalog and there are very terse instructions on a website of the institution: http://www.tusol.org/. Njala University has a website http://www.njalauniversity.net and a page for their library that says "Coming Soon". There is no other information. Much of this information is by John Abdul Kargbo, Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Library, Information and Communication Studies at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.
Getting a good book to read is generally not a priority of a population facing major problems of life and possible early death in their daily lives. However, for the long-term health of Sierra Leone’s democracy it would be great if they could increase their collections in order to serve its people.
Being a native of Sierra Leone, I do find your interest in the country quite touching. You are correct that the conditions are deplorable and not likely to improve soon. I also happen to be very familiar with library technologies, particularly online technologies, and am actually in the process of putting together a plan to help the University of Sierra Leone get better access to online resources not only for their library but for the whole university community. You should know that one of the practical reasons for the lack of online resources at the university is the lack of true broadband in the whole country. At the moment the country is connected to the Internet only through satellite which is slow and very expensive. This is the same for many African countries. Fortunately, the World Bank is currently funding a loan program that is expected to have many countries including Sierra Leone connected to Europe through fiber-optic cable by the end of 2012. The program also includes connecting institutions such as universities, hospitals, and government offices by fiber-optic cable to the new trunk line. This will make it much easier for university students and faculty to access online content.
ReplyDeleteQuite recently the new American ambassador to Sierra Leone has taken interest in the University of Sierra Leone and has pledged to find funding and partnership agreements with US universities to share knowledge and technologies.
I would love to continue this discussion with you so we should keep in touch. We may be able to work together to help make the university of Sierra Leone a better institution.
Joe, please contact me via my email address on my page. I may be able to help!
ReplyDelete