Equip libraries to bridge digital gap - Prof. Oduro urges stakeholders
The Technical Advisor to the Minister of Education, Professor George Kwaku Torku Oduro, has urged stakeholders and library policymakers to prioritise the development and equipping of community libraries to bridge the knowledge gap.
“By doing so, we ensure that the benefits of the open movement reach every corner of our society and not just universities. Let us work together to create a future where knowledge belongs to all,” he stressed.
He called for the fight for a future where every person has the right and opportunity to access information and contribute to the wealth of human discovery.
Conference
Professor Oduro made the remarks while addressing the opening ceremony of the Fifth International Conference of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH) at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) last Tuesday.
The four-day conference on the theme: “The Open Movement in Times of Urgency and Rapid Change” brought together university administrators, researchers, policymakers, librarians among others, to discuss ways to champion open movement.
Professor Oduro stated that a nation’s future depended on its ability to ensure equal access to knowledge, saying, “Imagine a Ghana where every student, regardless of background, can use high-quality digital resources and where every scholar has instant access to global research relevant to their field”.
In such a vision, he said, “our universities will become visible contributors to global scholarship informed by our unique perspectives” and added that in realising this vision, there was the need to recognise the pivotal role of community libraries.
Accessible source
Delivering the keynote address, Dr Christopher Prom of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, underscored the need to ground the open movement in values that address today’s complex global realities.
He highlighted the essence of openness in advancing global knowledge equity, particularly for Africa, stressing “it is a pathway for innovation, collaboration and preservation of knowledge, especially through digital initiatives”.
Critical role
Speaking at the event, Otumfuo's Apagyahene, Oheneba Owusu Afriyie IV, who represented the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, said libraries played a critical role not only as repositories but also as living spaces where knowledge is nurtured and put to use for the development of mankind.
“As we embrace digital transformation and global knowledge systems, we must not forget our indigenous knowledge, oral traditions, proverbs, storytelling and communal way of knowing each other,” he said.
Inception
The Chairperson of the CARLIGH Management Committee, Dr Theresa Adu, said that since its inception in 2004, CARLIGH had significantly transformed the landscape of higher education and research in Ghana, growing from an initial membership of six to 42 member institutions.
Over the past 22 years, she said CARLIGH had facilitated access to a wide range of electronic resources, enhanced research capacity and fostered collaboration among library professionals.
The Pro Vice — Chancellor of KNUST, Professor David Asamoah, who represented the Vice — Chancellor, Professor Rita Akosua Dickson, said that in a time when access to information defined opportunity, conversations on open science, open access and global knowledge sharing were more than necessary.
Writer’s email;
