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MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION IN KENYA

MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION IN KENYA BY GEORGE G. SHIBANDA AG. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LIBRARIAN WESTERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY P.O. BOX 190-50100 KAKAMEGA, KENYA g_gundu@yahoo.com , shibanda@hotmail.com 0733-407740/254-056-31375 Fax: 254-056-30153

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MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION IN KENYA

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  1. MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION IN KENYA BY GEORGE G. SHIBANDA AG. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LIBRARIAN WESTERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY P.O. BOX 190-50100 KAKAMEGA, KENYA g_gundu@yahoo.com, shibanda@hotmail.com 0733-407740/254-056-31375 Fax: 254-056-30153 A PAPER FOR THE JOINT FAIFE/GIOPS WORKSHOP IN ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA, MARCH 29-30, 2006

  2. ABSTRACT • Over 50 per cent of the Kenyan imprint constitute official publications. • Nature of information is advisory, scholarship and research. • Indigenous publishing firm for production of cheap textbooks. • Hiring private or commercial publishing firms is evident. • Legal instrument supporting publishing activity.

  3. INTRODUCTION Kenya Government publications emanate from: • Ministries and department, local governments (councils), judiciary, parastatal organizations, commissions and government education institutions. Government publications contain very important information on: • Legal matters, education, agriculture, economics, health and environment. To impact on the day today lives of Kenyan citizens requires: appropriate format, timely access, cheaply and adequate. Education sector rely on government publications to support: • curriculum in terms of textbooks. • Research information needs.

  4. The Kenya Government National Development Plan 1997-2001 provides for information resources and management. • The Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 63, 2005 provides for access to information emphasizing the right of citizen to access information held by the state. The Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC) approach. • Sustainable professional efforts to bring to light all that is published.

  5. Parastatal reports and research finds use in further research, planning, education, training and extension. • The Kenyan government publishing and printing houses meet official publications timely and cheaply to equip its people with official information conveniently.

  6. PROBLEM CONCEPTUALIZATION • Multiplicity of Government publishing lines, nature, range and scope of publications. • The Kenya Government publications lie in situ. • Professional and international efforts to bring to light all that is published for common good requirement.

  7. LEAD QUESTIONS • Whether Kenya’s bibliographic control activities inlcude government published information for ease of identification? • Whether all Kenya government information is available to people through organized centers of knowledge, information system and services?

  8. 2. ASSUMPTIONS • Government information needs are common among Kenyans and Kenyan insitutions. • The Kenya Government ministries, departments and parastatal institutions form a strong corporate author base. • The Kenya Government information emanates from vibrant publishing house. • There exists and infrastructure for information accessibility and document delivery. • Documents description meet international standards. • Language is not a barrier in information utilization.

  9. 3. OBJECTIVES OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION • Access to government policy and legal matters. • Democratization of the citizenry. • Cost-benefit analysis • Education based • Research based • Indigenous role player

  10. 4. CHARACTERISTICS OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION • Involve official bodies at all levels annually. • Important and authoritative in nature. • Contain legislation, statement of government policy, debate on current topics of importance, reports of government sponsored research, official histories, statistical data. • Information appears virtually in all subject format including book, periodical, map, electronic.

  11. Government Printers covers reports, legislation, government policy reports and statistics. • Kenya Literature Bureau , Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, Kenya Ordinance Survey and University Presses. • Outsourcing commercial publishing.

  12. 5. GENERATION LINES • THE KENYA GOVERNMENT PRINTERS - Legislation, government policy, debates, reports and statistical data. • KENYA ORDINANCE SURVEY - Production of cartography maps and survey works. • KENYA LITERATURE BUREAU/JOMO KENYATTA FOUNDATION – School and tertiary education textbooks • UNIVERSITY PRESSES – Moi University, University of Nairobi - University level textbooks. • GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTATION SERVICES – Engage in film, video production at local levels. • COMMERCIAL HOUSES - Government outsourcing for publishing activities on research activities and service operations.

  13. 6. LEGAL INSTRUMENT ON GOVERNMENT INFORMATION Kenya Government National Development Plan 1997-2001 • Information resources and management. • Systematic flow of and access to information.

  14. KENYA GAZETTE SUPPLEMENT • The Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 63, 2005 access to information. • The right to demand the correction or deletion of untrue or misleading information. • The state to publish and publicize all important information affecting the nation.

  15. LEGAL DEPOSIT ACT (1987) • The Books and Newspapers Act (revised 1987) deposit and registration of books and newspapers published in Kenya • Registrar to keep returns and registers of books and newspapers. • Exempts books and newspapers printed or published by or on behalf of the Government. • Kenya National Library Services (KNLS), Kenya National Archives and the University of Nairobi are depository centres.

  16. 7. BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL IN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT UNIVERSAL BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL (UBC) • Creation of a world wide system for the control and exchange of bibliographic information. • Makes universally and promptly available, in a form which is internationally acceptable, basic bibliographic data on all publications issued on all countries.

  17. UNIVERSAL AVAILABILITY OF PUBLICATIONS (UAP) • Availability of published material to intending users. • Availability of publications at all levels of society. • Ease of identification via national bibliographies and subsequently readily available for use.

  18. 8. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION MISSING - LINK • Kenya National Development Plan 1997 -2001 – confidentiality, costly, inaccessible and untraceable. • The Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 63, 2005 – official bureaucracy typical public ownership syndrome. • Role of referendum of November 2005. • The Books and Newspapers Act (revised 1987) exempting Government publications. • Government information is unavailable at the Registrar’s records.

  19. The Universal Bibliographic Control Programme • Kenya National Bibliography (KNB) – Inadequate coverage. • Legal exemption on Government publications. The Universal Availability of Publications (UAP) • Lacks conformity with the UAP programme concept. • Lacks international standard Book numbers and International Standard Serial Number. • Kenya National Bibliographic (KNB) – inadequate coverage of official information. • Classification or confidentiality of official information. • Public restricted access in government libraries.

  20. 9. TRACING GOVERNMENT INFORMATION INSTITUTION • Parliament – parliamentary debates recorded in the Hansard. • Judiciary – contains Laws, court decision, recommendations of presidential commissions. • Ministries/Departments – administrative reports, five year plans, Parliamentary proceedings, Laws, statistics, general reports, Economic policy plans and maps/survey plans, extension services. • Local Authorities/Government – Council committee minutes, committee plans and reports, Laws, statistics.

  21. BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL SERVICES • Government Printers Catalogue – available catalogue on government publications is 1977 edition. • Government Printers Bookshop is the current source. • Kenya Gazette – weekly publication by the Government Printers. It lists all government publications published by the Government Printers. • Kenya National Archives Catalogue – listing of government publications within its collection. – ‘A guide to the Kenya National Archives’. • Kenya National Bibliography (KNB) – a listing of all Kenyan imprints. It is an annual tool for books and periodicals.

  22. Kenya Publishers Catalogue – list all books produced by publishers under Kenya Publishers association. • The Library Of Congress (Nairobi office) – Library of Congress list is bimonthly with an annual supplement. It includes government information. • University of Nairobi – National Union Listing of Periodicals – contains periodical holdings in libraries within East Africa • African Bibliography – It is annual and edited by Hector Blackhurst. • The African Publishing Companion: a resource Guide by Hans Zell Publishing Consultants.

  23. Government libraries and information centres guides include: • Accession lists • Subject indexes • Union catalogues listings • General indexes/abstracts.

  24. 10. CHALLENGES • The right to access government information. • Put in place an Information service infrastructure that looks into telecommunication deployment, digital divide, hybrid libraries (internet based information services) and creation of repositories. • Creation of databases and development of content information. • Placing of content on the Internet in local languages • The implicit cost in generating/creating knowledge and information access and use. • Developing village ICT centres/Telecentres.

  25. 11. WAY FORWARD • IFLA in partnership with World Bank, UNESCO, CIDA, SIDA,USAID and national institutions jump-start activities to manage and access government information. • Need to incorporate government information in the information society concept.

  26. 12. CONCLUSION • Need to recognize that access to knowledge and information is fundamental. • Need to recognize that government information is plenty yet scanty. • Forming consortiums and collaborations with deployment of ICTs. • Creating an enabling environment for tracing, acquiring, organizing for access, retrieval and utilization of government information.

  27. 13. BIBLIOGRAPHY • Kenya Government Printers. 1977. Catalogue of Government Publications. Nairobi Government Printers. • Gundu, Shibanda. 1991. Acquisitions trends and the relevance of Universal Bibliographic control in Kenya. A paper presented at the Kenya Library Association. Nairobi 10 -12 April. • Maxwell, Christine. 2000. Global trends that will impact universal access to information resources. http://www.isoc.org

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