INTRODUCTION

Since their inception, libraries have maintained their sovereignty as the main storage of knowledge in society. Today, novel information technologies equipped with the computer, telecommunications and optical media are seriously affecting libraries. ICTS, for short, is used here to include computer hardware, software and telecommunication equipment. It has been an indispensable tool and has great impact globally. Of all the diversified technologies of our time, progress in information and communication technology has no doubt had, and continues to have considerable influence on the global economy. It makes it possible to collect, process and transmit information at breathtaking speed and declining cost. It increases productivity, improves quality and efficiency in all types of services.

The impact is seen in diverse areas such as health-care, finance and banking, transportation, publishing and management. Information technology is already changing our lives in various ways. It facilitates communication irrespective of distance, relieves one of a great deal of hard, dirty and repetitive work and gives control over the natural environment. As Knopp (1984) realistically observed, the library is presently standing on a crossroad and must try to find a useful balance between the traditional library functions and methods, and the new challenges. The African university librarian will pay a tremendously high price in preserving traditional services and embracing the technological advances. This notwithstanding, it must be paid if the African librarian wants to interpose or remain the mediator between the user and information. It is the librarian’s role to ensure that the resulting use of computers and telecommunication and any other appropriate technology contributes in cost effective ways to the needs of scholarship and research since “he librarians have the expertise in acquiring materials in a variety of formats and make them accessible for a variety of purposes” (Simpson, 1984, p.38).

Read the rest of this entry »

What does black education have to do with the Western time line since the European Renaissance? Part 1 of this article established that Western scholars, during the period before Copernicus, believed that the sun revolved around the earth. This may be a possible analogy for what has happened to Westernized black scholars as many educated blacks seem to take Western scholarship as gospel truth without question.

A West African proverb states that until the lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter. As the descendants of African slaves, do we not have the responsibility to question the very foundation and standards of Western education? Don’t worry about answering that question. My job is merely to introduce a perspective you may not have considered before. Reflect on what follows.

In 1492, the Europeans kicked out the African Moors from Europe, driving them back into Africa. For more than 700 years, the Moors had brought into Europe an immense amount of knowledge from Africa, including science, math, art, literature, languages, etc. Most of today’s history books as interpreted by Westerners prefer to identify the Moors only as Arabs. Please note that this is similar to identifying the founders of Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Rock & Roll, R&B, and even Country music only as Americans.

Read the rest of this entry »

Black education most definitely needs more focus in its consideration of black women. Scientists like Louis B. Leakey teach that all races can be traced back to African blood. This means that black women are the mothers of the human race – period. As such, we blacks are the most ancient people on earth and, therefore, our history is the oldest. Our history is not simply thousands of years old: it is millions.

Western education would have you believe that those millions of years were spent in ignorance. This is one reason why black people need to study and interpret their own history for themselves because having such an immense history means that black women (the subject of our discussion) have had millions of years of great achievements.

I will not bore you with millions of years of history. I could not if I wanted to. Too much time has passed and, more to the point, too many invasions have occurred, resulting in burnings of massive libraries, the destruction of an immeasurable amount of records, and grossly distorted interpretations. We can be glad, however, that our ancestors recorded a great deal of their history in stone all over the world.

Read the rest of this entry »