ACTEA Librarians eNews #8, October 2003

The mission of ACTEA is to promote quality evangelical theological education in Africa by providing supporting services, facilitating academic recognition, and fostering continental and inter-continental cooperation.

Greetings fellow Librarians and Information Specialists!

I hope you are all well and are having interesting times in your respective Libraries/Resource Centres. Since this is a rushed time of year for most of us I will launch right in with this edition of eNews.

In this issue read about:

1.  Report on library staff training workshop
2.  New missions journal available on-line
3.  Newsletter for Christian development available
4.  250 years of theological journals on CD-ROM
5.  Listing of recommended journals
6.  Collection development policies
7.  Phyllis Masso¹s column

1. Report on library staff training workshop 

What a wonderful week that was!

The CALA-Kenya (Christian Association of Librarians in Africa) workshop was held at Daystar University (Nairobi Campus), 11-15 August. There were 30 participants from all over Africa. The workshop was divided into two groups.

Group A provided basic library training, including cataloguing, taught by Ephrahim Mudave, and classification (Caroline Ndemaki).

Group B (advanced library training) covered subjects such as website design (Charles Nandain/Jerry Mugambi), distance learning (Dorcas Muthoni), marketing your library (Daniel Ruheni), research skills (Augustine Gitonga), and cooperative cataloguing (Wakuraya Wanjohi/Terry Ngatia).

Groups A and B joined together for sessions on serials management (Charles Nandain), MS Word and MS Excel in the library (Jon Masso), computer maintenance (Eddy Mugo), and searching using INASP (Dorothy Njiraine). Phyllis Masso, whom we have come to appreciate as one of our most valuable resource persons in the area of library automation, led sessions on library automation principles and preparing for automation, library automation choices, library automation for serials and acquisitions, introduction to the internet, search strategies, and introduction to computerized cataloguing using international standards MARC and computerised cataloguing using ITS/TheoMARC.

The week ended with a really interesting visit to the National Archives in Nairobi.

These workshops are really worthwhile and a wonderful opportunity to network with fellow information workers.

ACTEA is hoping to hold a similar workshop in South Africa next year! Watch this space!

Thank you to Phyllis and the team for a wonderful week in the vibrant, friendly city of Nairobi. Africa is still the best continent, with the friendliest information workers!

2. New missions journal available on-line

The Missions Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance has begun to publish a new journal entitled "Connections". The journal, edited by William Taylor, intends to address the issues of mission from a global, and not just Western, perspective. Thus, articles in the first issue covered such topics as "Members Services to National Missionary Movements", "Two-Thirds World Mission Partners Network", and "Repositioning Nigerian Missions for a Leading Role in Africa". The Missions Commission is making all past and current issues available free of charge on the internet at: http://www.globalmission.org

So far, the following issues are available in downloadable pdf format:

October 2002 Global Leadership for a New Century February 2003 Member Care: From Recruitment to Retirement June 2003 Globalisation and World Mission

3. Newsletter for Christian development available

If your school is involved in training people for ministries with involvement in development work, then your library will want to subscribe to "Footsteps".

Footsteps describes itself as a quarterly newsletter linking health and development workers worldwide. Tearfund, publisher of Footsteps, hopes that it will provide the stimulus of new ideas and enthusiasm. It is a way of encouraging Christians of all nations as they work together towards creating wholeness in our communities.

Footsteps is free of charge to individuals working to promote health and development. It is available in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

To be put on the mailing list, write to Footsteps Mailing List, giving details of your work and stating preferred language: Judy.mondon@tearfund.org

4. 250 years of theological journals on CD-ROM

Galaxie Software is offering its new Theological Library Journal CD-ROM. This one CD contains 250 years of evangelical theological journals as follows:

•  Bibliotheca Sacra Journal (1934-2001)
•  Chafer Theological Seminary Journal (1995-2001)
•  Conservative Theological Journal (1995-1998)
•  Emmaus Journal (1991-2001)
•  Grace Journal (1960-73)
•  Grace Theological Journal (1980-91)
•  Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (1995-2001)
•  Journal of Christian Apologetics (1997-1998)
•  Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society (1988-2000)
•  Master¹s Seminary Journal (1990-1999)
•  Michigan Theological Journal (1990-1994)
•  The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (1966-2001)
•  Trinity Journal (1980-2000)
•  Westminster Theological Journal (1960-2000)

Its features include:

•  Libronix Digital Library System format
•  Complete text, footnotes, graphics and book reviews of each journal
•  Page numbers preserved for ease of citation
•  Hypertext jump from table of contents to journal article
•  Hypertext jump from verse references to that verse in your Bible (Logos version).
•  Cut and paste or export portions of articles to your word processor
•  Print directly from browser
•  Greek, Hebrew and Tansliteration fonts included (You can use the fonts in other applications as well)
•  Topics defined so you can search just article titles
•  Authors tagged so you can search just for articles written by a certain author

Further information can be obtained on-line at: 

http://www.galaxie.com/store/product.asp?ProductID=46

Some schools in the developing world have obtained a 50% discount upon request, making the cost of the CD-ROM only US$50. It's worth asking. Contact information is on the Galaxie website.

5. Listing of recommended journals

We are now compiling a list of recommended journals and periodicals for African theological libraries. If you subscribe to journals in your library which you think others may not have heard of please send me (David Fitz-Patrick) the publishing details, the cost, and ordering information (if you have it). Also include a short note on why you think the journal should be recommended and for which academic level(s) the journal is appropriate (secondary, post-secondary, post-graduate, or any combination of these).

The more contributions we have, the more helpful the list will be for all of us!

6. Collection development policies

Not all librarians believe that collection development policies merit the time and effort spent on their creation and subsequent regular revision. What do you think? Certainly in terms of ACTEA¹s library development standards we already have some guidelines (e.g., a certain percentage of books on Africa, breadth and depth in subject areas), and I personally view these as a wonderful excuse to do some real book buying! If you are interested in your library being more than a book room, certainly you should think long and hard about collection development.

Even if you do not do the book selection on your own (this would be rare, unless you are well trained theologically and even then it is better to have a committee to prevent bias), it would be a good idea to make faculty and administrators aware that the Library does have a selection policy. Whatever purchasing is done, it is your job as librarian to inform faculty of the library¹s needs and certainly they should run any acquisitions past you for your approval. Your job is to maintain the "big picture" - the overall view!

•  The mission and goals of the library and the parent institution
•  The purpose of the CDP
•  Composition and nature of the user community or clientele
•  Evaluation of the collection - past, present and future
•  What type of access is provided to the collection
•  The way in which funds are allocated from the library9s budget
•  Relevance and use - is the material relevant to the curricular requirements?
•  Criteria which should be applied in the selection of material
•  Redundancy - is the material or similar material available in another format in the library or is it already in the collection of a nearby library or other members of the consortium to which the library belongs?
•  Relationship to existing collection - does the item complete, supplement, duplicate or supplant items already in the collection? Does that item fill a gap in the collection or is it merely a rehash of information already available?
•  How authoritative is the author, publisher?
•  Suitability of subject and style
•  Cost of the item
•  Is the information accurate and impartial?
•  Is the item recent?
•  Presentation - accurate, clear, logical
•  In the case of periodicals, is the item indexed in major indexing and abstracting journals and databases?
•  Are there features which make the item unique? Is the approach to the subject matter original?
•  Language - are local indigenous languages represented?
•  Is the item listed in standard guides?
•  Timeliness - is the material appropriate for the present time?

•  Ease of use - is the resource user-friendly? Can it be used with the minimum of training
•  Accessibility of resource to users - are there problems in providing access to users or restrictions in the licensing contract which will deny use to certain users? Are provisions made for only a restricted number of concurrent users?
•  What kind of vendor support is offered?
•  When identical material is available in print and electronic format, do the benefits of using the latter weigh up favourably against the added cost (which might include additional hardware) of choosing the non-print format? Will less users have access to the electronic format than to the print version or will it be possible to reach more users, possibly at remote locations?
•  Is additional hardware and equipment necessary?
•  How much staff and user training would be needed?
•  Is the technology involved standardised?
•  Is the interface attractive and informative?
•  Longevity?
•  In the case of electronic journals, will the publishers continue to provide access to those issues to which you subscribed even after you have cancelled the subscription? Are these journals archived adequately?
•  The speed of retrieval is important in the selection of electronic resources including online or internet resources
•  In the case of full-text databases, how sophisticated is the search function?
•  Are the publishers of electronic journals willing to negotiate with regard to the licensing agreement to accommodate your library?
•  With bibliographic databases, are all those journals which are considered to be core journals in the field indexed? How many of the journals indexed are held in the library?

•  Responsibility. This must be clearly assigned. Who is responsible for selecting electronic resources and for negotiating and signing contracts? Who is responsible for selection of other items? If faculty members and other users undertake selection, what control does the library exercise over these recommendations and who makes the final decision?
•  Duplicate copies. Will the library purchase only one copy of each item? Under what circumstances will duplicates be acquired?
•  Weeding policy. Responsibility, criteria used for deciding which material should be discarded, how regularly the weeding is performed and what is done with the discarded material. Which missing or discarded material will be replaced?
•  Censorship and intellectual freedom. Important for theological libraries?
•  Categories to be excluded from the collection
•  To ensure that the collection development policy is relevant and appropriate, a policy regarding the regularity of, and procedure for evaluation of the collection should be included.
•  Clear guidelines regarding the revision of the policy are essential to ensure that the CDP does not become obsolete and irrelevant.

[Acknowledgements to (with alterations and additions) : Carol van Zijl, "The why, what, and how of collection development policies" in South African Journal of Library and Information Science, Volume 66 (3) September 1998.]

7. Phyllis Masso¹s column

Phyllis, it was great meeting you! Phyllis, in case you don¹t know, is a very experienced and qualified librarian/computer automation consultant. She is based at the Nairobi International School of Theology. Phyllis also runs (in her spare time) an orphanage for 45 street children. She is a great character and full of fun!

Phyllis writes: Mandarin Library Automation has decided to discount their product to small educational institutions. If you have fewer than 300 students, you qualify. I asked if the pricing could also be extended to research institutes, and their answer is YES.

Mandarin¹s core package of Cataloguing, Circulation, OPAC, Inventory and Reports is now normally selling for $3,570, but for small educational institutions, the price is now $1,875. Don¹t forget that with Mandarin, this is a site license. You can have as many computers as you want on the LAN (Local Area Network), and the price doesn¹t increase. Also, the OPAC switches at the touch of a button to 5 different languages. That¹s especially appealing to those of you in French-speaking countries. (The user guide is now available in French also.) Mandarin can also print barcodes and import records from many other programs if you are automated already but want to become MARC compatible. You can even do it yourself at no extra cost because an import program is built in.

If you are part of a consortium, you¹ll be glad to know that Mandarin can also help you make a union catalogue. A $2,000 program will enable you to have 5 institutions sharing. Each additional user is $400. You can even do interlibrary loan requests. Mandarin also works nicely with MARC Magician, BookWhere, ITS for Windows, and several other popular library programs. It meets ISO standards and MARC, the international library standard. The cataloguing template even checks your cataloguing to see if you¹re MARC compliant.

Let me know if you would like some help preparing a Request for Proposal, and I will do that for you. Those who have requests out, let me know, and I¹ll help you rewrite them. This is really exciting, and I know may enable many of you to order right away.

If you have been thinking about taking the big step towards automation, this is a good time to do it. I have compared Mandarin to many other programs and find it to have the best features for the money, and now it¹s even better with this pricing.

I look forward to hearing from you! Contact me at: phyllism@jpmasso.com

Well, friends, that is all for now. Those of you from the Nairobi Workshop who promised to write and have not done so - it is lonely out here! Write! Please!

God bless.

David Fitz-Patrick 
Editor, ACTEA Librarian¹s eNews 
dfitz@new.co.za