Vision of the Future Academic Libraries in Ghana

Academic libraries in Ghana as a whole face some challenges in supporting teaching, learning, research, and knowledge dissemination. Because of a profound ongoing shift in context, however, the vision for academic libraries in Ghana will be to optimally ensure the survival of values that the library has represented in the academic sphere for its future existence. These include open access to scholarly information and cultural heritage, digitisation, service to students and scholars. Librarians also strongly need to collaborate closely not only as professionals but with partners in other areas of higher education and cognate fields. Their leadership role in information management and provision must create a coherent environment to facilitate the maximum use of scholarly information in all its forms. The future academic library will need a team of flexible experts with a variety of aptitudes and specialisations who collaborate as researchers, managers, skilled technologists, and proactive in the fulfilment of the mission of their respective universities. And there is no doubt that the future of academic libraries will be different from the one we know now. The paper makes use of literature review and attempts to make some recommendations to ensure the survival of future academic libraries as an institution to sustain their values of access to high-quality information, preservation and dissemination. It also makes a case for academic libraries to consider how to remain trusted and indispensable in a fast-evolving environment – while controlling costs.

 Paper presented at the CULD Conference, Tamale. from 28-29 October 2010


Available at   http://dspace.knust.edu.gh:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/567