Community Knowledge Centers for Liberia: meeting Africa's millennium goals through a unique collaboration of communities, universities, libraries, and schools for Liberia's economic and social development
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the need for libraries and rural community knowledge centers using appropriate technology.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study discussing new ideas.
Findings
An alternative to traditional libraries is proposed for the dissemination and teaching of agriculture, literacy, health information, etc.
Research limitations/implications
The paper requires the development of prototypes and grant funding.
Practical implications
Although the article discusses Liberia, the information represents any rural community in developing countries where often electricity, libraries, and internet connectivity do not exist.
Originality/value
Rethinking existing ideas and creating new ones.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper was originally presented at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2012, Helsinki, Finland, and published with the kind permission of IFLA (www.ifla.org/). Much of this work is related to the support of a USAID sponsored project, Excellence in Higher Education for Liberian Development (EHELD), AID669-A-00-11-00035-00. For further information about the Community Knowledge Center Project, contact: Martin Kesselman (martyk@rulmail.rutgers.edu).
Citation
A. Kesselman, M., Wu, C., Palumbo, L., Simon, J., Rodolfo Juliani, H. and Rowe, R. (2013), "Community Knowledge Centers for Liberia: meeting Africa's millennium goals through a unique collaboration of communities, universities, libraries, and schools for Liberia's economic and social development", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 30 No. 8, pp. 6-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-07-2013-0045
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited