Kenya Events

Below are details of some recent events run by INASP and local partners

For more information on these workshops, or to download training materials, see the Training Activities and Materials page.

12th AHILA Congress, October 2010
University Study Visits, June 2010
Regional Publishing Workshop, November 2009
Finding and Using Scientific Information, August 2009
Seeking Online Health Information, June 2009
Accelerating access, usage and management of e-resources, June 2009
Promotion of academic journals at Daystar University multimedia centers, February 2009

12th Congress of the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA), 11-16 October, 2010. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
INASP has previously supported work of AHILA towards development of their strategic plan.  This year sponsorship was provided to facilitate attendance and presentation of a paper by Nasra Gathoni (Medical Librarian, Aga Khan University).  Nasra is an active member of the Kenya AHILA (KenAHILA) chapter and during the congress was elected as AHILA president for the coming term, running until end of 2013.

"Information plays a vital role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Specifically, progress towards the health MDGs 4, 5 and 6 , would be accelerated through the provision of accurate, relevant and up-to-date information resulting  in better decisions by healthcare providers and ultimately better healthcare".  

More can be seen on the AHILA website.

During the past two years, Nasra along with others from KenAHILA, implemented a project to train nurses on access and use of electronic resources in Kenya.  Her presentation on the data collected as part of a review of the project was received with interest by participants of the congress. 

Institutional Repository skills training for nurses (1.24MB)
Information Literacy at Aga Khan University (445kb)

Alongside Nasra in leading the work of AHILA, will be the newly elected AHILA vice-president Flatiel F. Vilanculos.  Currently working at the World Health Organisation (WHO) Mozambique country office, Flatiel is the former PERii Country Coordinator in Mozambique and facilitated electronic resources training workshops in collaboration with INASP, WHO and the Information and Training Outreach Centre (ITOCA).

University Study Visits, Maseno University, June 2010
Recognising that her staff lacked exposure to new technologies Sylvia Ogola, Maseno University Librarian, organised with INASP support a series of study visits to 6 major libraries in the country to see how they incorporate ICTs in their daily work. A team of seven staff was chosen for the visits which  included librarians in charge of various branch libraries and heads of sections. The libraries chosen were: Kabarak University, University of Nairobi, US International University, Kenyatta University, Daystar University and Strathmore University.

The visits were a great success and all those who travelled were amazed at the differences in organizational culture and work attitudes in the different universities. The participants were generally very enthusiastic even though they felt that the time provided for discussion was limited. It was felt by all that this is a way in which librarians can get to know each other, network and learn from one another instead of keeping to themselves in their own small cocoons. Following the return of the seven participants a workshop was organised to communicate the experiences and findings to the remainder of the library staff.

• "If it were posible to take all library staff on this trip, it would have been wonderful. It was quite a fulfilling trip. Apart from information on library services, we were able to network and know our peers from other libraries. Any new ideas will be passed on to our other colleagues". Event Participant

Regional Publishing Workshop: Editorial and online peer-review. Nairobi, Kenya 4-6th November 2009
This workshop was the result of a collaboration between INASP, the University of Nairobi and African Journals Online (AJOL). 24 journal editors from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and the Sudan came together to discuss the peer review process and Editorial Office management with particular focus on the roles and responsibilities of Authors, Reviewers and Editors. They discussed problems and solutions associated with attracting authors and reviewers and they developed plans for the future development of their journals.

The participants were also given the opportunity to use the online peer-review process available on the OJS software which is used by AJOL. All the participants were very enthusiastic about it and the possibilities it offers for the professional management of their journals.

Finding and Using Scientific Information: Training of trainers workshop for Paliamentary staff. Nairobi, Kenya, 3-7 August 2009

This five day workshop was aimed at parliamentary staff from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda - specifically, the ICT, Library and Research departments. One staff member from each department was invited to attend. Participants from Uganda were supported to attend by the POST Africa programme. The workshop was facilitated by Prof Peter Underwood along with a co-facilitator from each country (Faith Akiteng, Uganda; Dr Evans Wema, Tanzania and Dr Sophia Kaane, Kenya). The workshop was held at the Multimedia University of Kenya Hotel and Conference Centre.

We aimed that by the end of the course participants would be able to:

• Recognise problems as information problems
• Identify the language associated with a problem- specifically identify appropriate online search terms
• Feel more confident handling science/research information
• Know of at least three reliable sources of information on science topics
• Critically evaluate sources of information for quality, credibility, relevance and bias
• Have enhanced skills in how to make use of science information to inform parliamentarians
• Have enhanced skills in small group training methods

Feedback from participants indicated that they had gained new skills in finding information on science topics which they could use in their day-to-day work of informing Members of Parliament. In addition, each of the three country groups came up with an implementation plan to pass on training in finding and using scientific and technical information within their own parliament. It is hoped that the co-facilitators will maintain links with the parliamentary staff and will assist in the implementation of training activities.

Finding and Using Scientific Information workshop report ( 140kb)
The POST Africa programme ( 110kb)

Training on library electronic resources: Seeking Online Health Information,
Workshop 1: 10-11 June 2009, Workshop 2: 16-17 June
University of Nairobi - College of Health Sciences - Medical Library, Nairobi
Two workshops were held aimed at two target groups from the academic departments of the College of Health Sciences - postgraduate students and lecturers. The training in access and searching was designed to encourage greater usage of the subscribed electronic resources databases.  The workshops were well received and proved popular with almost 80 College staff and students attending the training. These participants were very enthusiastic and from the feedback indicated their commitment to sharing skills and information acquired. Lecturers were especially keen to see the journals utilized more in their student research, studies and clinical practice.  Feedback included:
"A very good initiative. We have the resources but do not know how to use them"
"...should be held again at the earliest opportunity or be held departmentally"
"Should be made mandatory for all academic staff"

As well as more frequent workshops, some suggested, for improving usage and research output, that the College increase the number of computers and make wireless connection available on campus.

Accelerating access, usage and management of e-resources, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) Library, 12 June 2009
MMUST University Librarian, George Shibanda, with support from INASP, organized and implemented this training workshop.  The programme incorporated a range of related topics - access, evaluation, promotion, consortia, bandwidth - and presented by facilitators from various departments of the University and the local network.  The number of places was increased from 60 to 90 in an effort to accommodate all those who had expressed interest and were very eager to participate.  Participants greatly appreciated opportunity this training provided and were very keen to follow up with more advanced skills development.  Due to time constraints at this event it was suggested that further capacity enhancement activities be conducted over the coming months. Another recommendation was focused research aimed at the development of systems to enhance the interface between faculty and library in access, use and management of e-resources.

A report on the event is also available for download.

MMUST Stakeholders Workshop Report ( 1.4MB)

Promotion of academic journals at Daystar University multimedia centers
Daystar University, Workshop 1 on 21-24 October 2008 and Workshop 2 on 26-28 February 2009
The University Librarian, Rosemary Gitachu, recognized need to promote available resources and with the support of an INASP small grant implemented two training workshops.  The workshops focused on effective and efficient marketing, creating of awareness, and training on e-journals access. One workshop was originally planned and presented in October to 75 participants, comprising an even mix of male/female participants and from across departments/campuses. Facilitators, Agatha N. Kabugu (Kenya PERii Country Coordinator, University of Nairobi) and Rose Njoroge (Catholic University of Eastern Africa), commented "From the turn out witnessed for this event and the enthusiasm displayed by the participants, it was evident that there is need for more exposure of the available resources to the users." To accommodate the high level of demand from the Daystar University community, an additional workshop was presented to 25 library staff members in February.  Event was again facilitated by Rose Njoroge with co-facilitator Jane Gikandi of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.  This event was felt to be very timely and encouraged commitment to advancing usage of electronic resources.