EXPLOITING E- RESOURCES TO EXPAND EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

Information Communication Technology (ICT) is recognized as one of the enablers of the Kenya’s Vision 2030 and is expected to accelerate the rate of knowledge generation and acquisition, its dissemination and application which is a prerequisite for our socioeconomic development.  Technology has revolutionized teaching, learning and research and more so with the advent of the internet creating a wealth of information resource in the World Wide Web better known as e-resources. There are now various modes of media for learning, making it more interesting.

E-resources enable the breaking down of barriers to access to information enabling dissemination of information through public databases and open-access journals and books. E-resources facilitate academic discourse, avails timely information necessary for decision making and avails current material for learning and research.

Open access maximises the scholarly benefits that arises from research and provides the necessity for its dissemination and application for economic development. Through open access, educational content and research results can be accessed online without legal, technical or financial barriers. Open access also increases access to knowledge which offers opportunities to foster collaboration and interdisciplinary research. It also benefits the researcher by bringing his work to the public domain. Open access can also lead to research- driven policymaking through improved decision making at all levels.

Libraries all over the world are turning to electronic resources. Kenyan libraries can utilize the internet to revolutionize knowledge acquisition in learning and research institutions by educating and training their users to develop their information literacy skills in order to easily and effectively locate, filter, retrieve and synthesize information online.

The Ranking of Higher Education Institutions by Webometrics assesses useful information about the performance of these Institutions largely based on their web presence and impact. African Universities in general and Kenyan Universities in particular can improve their performance in the rankings through the following strategies;

Building digital libraries by converting print mode resources to electronic mode. Purchasing access licenses to commercial databases, e-books and e-journals to their libraries, developing Institutional e-repositories and databanks and have their scholars upload their books or dissertations in them, link their libraries to open-access e resources providing wider readership to their users not forgetting to give author’s control over the integrity of their work through proper acknowledgement and citation.

In the recent past, there has been an increasing need for public funded research results to be in the public domain for accountability purposes and the requirement in the Constitution of right to information.  In cognizant of this, the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation is keen to establish its website as a one stop shop by establishing an online-library with abstracts from reports, publications and e-books which are regularly updated as well as establishing a database of experts in Science, Technology and Innovation. The ST&I Research Grant application process has also gone online.

Making the transition to digital libraries requires synergic action from all stakeholders including Research funders, Universities, research institutions, libraries, scholarly associations and publishing houses.

The web is a powerful scholarly communication tool with the potential to showcase talent and attract funding and resources. Most importantly, Universities and Research Institutions must recognize that e resources are the mode of education of the future as well as the gateway of transferring the knowledge they generate to the whole Society.