Central University promotes use of library for access to scholarly information
The Central University (CU) Library has organised a series of activities to promote its resources, services and effective use.
This was part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the library which was on the theme: “CU Library @ 20: Enhancing Access to Scholarly Information”.
Advertisement
The celebration which was targeted primarily at students included an exhibition, various instructional sessions on the use of the CU’s Online Public Access Catalogue and promotion of the school’s electronic databases.
Electronic online databases
Students and members of faculty were taken through a session on the use of the university’s OPAC.
The Head of the university’s library, Mrs Francisca Yaba Asante, explained that the OPAC was an electronic catalogue which provided users with online access to make their research easier and faster with the click of a button from their halls of residence or offices once they were connected to the internet.
“The library is also promoting its online databases. These are academic databases that have scholarly articles to help researchers with their academic work. For the whole library week, we will be out on the verandahs and corridors of lecture halls on the various campuses to register as many users of the OPAC and online databases as possible that will be available.
She further indicated that the library would also host a panel discussion at the Graduate School of the Business School campus at the Christ Temple, Abbossey Okai, on the topic: “The Effective Use of Student Thesis, Dissertations and Project Work by Universities and Policy Makers for National Development”.
Credible research information
The University of Ghana Librarian, Professor Perpetua Dadzie, said library week celebrations were undoubtedly opportunities to showcase the resources and services to patrons, the broader community and decision makers to reaffirm their understanding of the important roles that libraries played in building a nation, as well as improving the quality of life of all who used them.
She said the theme of the programme was in line with one of the major activities performed by academic libraries, stressing that beyond that, today’s academic librarians must sharpen their digital skills to enable them to navigate the world of scholarly digital information and provide training for patrons.
Prof. Dadzie expressed the hope that students and faculty would make good use of the library to access credible information for their thesis and dissertation to show a mark of scholarly work.
Quality time
Launching the Library Week, the Vice Chancellor of the Central University, Prof. Bill Buenar Puplampu, urged the students on the various campuses to ensure that they spent quality time in the library accessing the e-services that were available to them to enhance their scholarly work.
He bemoaned the situation in the past where students abused the system by sharing their password with non-students of the university, thereby compromising the system, and cautioned students against the abuse of the system.
Writer’s email: [email protected]