Is It Feasible to Offer Library and Information Management Higher Education in Swaziland?

Abstract

This paper discusses a study that investigated the feasibility of providing Library and Information Management (LIM) higher education in Swaziland. The study centred on two major concerns / problems facing the country with respect to LIM higher education. The first concern is the dependence by the country on foreign schools to acquire higher education and training, and secondly, the required funding to import such education and training into the country. Also highlighted were issues of the relevance of the imported higher education and training to the country, and the major concerns of the government concerning funding for higher education and training in other countries. The study targeted five population groups as follows: prospective entrants to the LIM profession, existing and practicing LIM personnel, job advertisements for LIM personnel, existing and potential employers of LIM personnel, and training institutions likely to host LIM higher education and training. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained using survey questionnaires, interviews, content analysis and observation. Questionnaires gathered data from prospective entrants to the profession of LIM and existing employees / personnel in the profession. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with current and potential employers in the government and major LIM service organizations. The content analysis of newspaper advertisements was done on two local dailies covering a period of four years (2005-2008) to assess the job market in Library and Information Management. Observations were carried out in two higher education institutions to check whether or not they were capable of hosting LIM higher education. The results revealed that prospective entrants, personnel, employers and the training institutions were in support of higher education in LIM within the country. The content analysis of job advertisements produced low results, which suggests low feasibility, but only if the expectation is that job advertisements for a profession would run every day in a local newspaper. Employers in LIM insisted on the availability of jobs in the local market and highlighted several positive indicators of a growing market in this profession. We conclude the paper with recommendations for hosting education, stakeholder participation, balanced relevance and tracer studies.