How to set-up and run a Documentation / Resource Centre
While there are no specific how-to-do manuals for adult education centres available online, we have listed several sources that can be useful to NGOs planning to run their own resource or documentation center. This section includes also links to training materials and courses in library and information technology.
Ceritificate in Resource Centres for Learning
and Change, Coady International Institute
(ALADIN Member)
www.stfx.ca/institutes/coady/programs_educational_certificate_ManagingNGO.html
The website of the Marie Michael Library brings you to the comprehensive site of the Certificate with information, materials and tools related to the management of NGO-based resource centers. It includes an extensive collection of links on action planning, collection building, cataloging and classification, database management systems, introduction to HTML and website creation, records management, networks, search tools and Internet use. Also contains reference links to general development websites, indigenous knowledge sites, electronic resource centers, and subject specific sites.
For Starters…Guidelines on Library Management,
UN Library Network
www.un.org/Depts/dhl/sflib/libmgnt/starters/starters.htm
A manual on the management of UN document collections. Maintained by the UN Small and Field Libraries Network includes descriptions of the UN documentation, indexes to it, and guidelines and procedures on classification, organizing of publications and documents, retention, loans etc. There are also sections with suggestions on answering to reference queries, and sections dealing with documentation in other forms (CDs, films, radio programmes, photographs).
Heathlink Worldwide Resource Center Manual:
How to set up and manage a Resource Center.
www.healthlink.org.uk/resources/manual.html
Contains practical information on setting up and managing a resource center, from planning, fundraising and finding a suitable location, to collecting and organising materials, developing information services, and monitoring and evaluating the work of the resource center. It focuses on manual systems for organizing information, but also explains how computers can be used in resource centers, including e-mail, Internet and databases. It describes how to select database software and contains a detailed review of three leading database programs. It includes a list of organisations and publications that can provide further information.
HURIDOC Manuals
A series of practical manuals on collecting and organizing documentation on human rights produced by HURIDOC www.huridocs.org/. Of particular interest is What is Documentation at: www.huridocs.org/basdocen.htm It deals with the following issues: what is documentation, what is a document, why document, seeking information, producing documents, acquiring documents, organizing documents and providing user services. In English, French and Russian and available in HTML and PDF formats.
Libraries for All: How to Start and Run a Small
Library
www.unesco.org/webworld/highlights/library_run_020299.html
Wendell, Laura: Libraries
for All : How to Start and Run a Small Library - Paris: UNESCO: General
Information Programme and UNISIST, 1998. – 108 p.
Libraries for All: How to Start and Run a Small Library is a manual and resource guide designed for people with little or no training in librarianship and contains practical, step-by-step instructions for creating and managing a successful library. It was written by Laura Wendell, the founder of the World Library Partnership, with funding from UNESCO. It was reviewed and field tested by a panel of international librarians and development workers. This essential tool for small libraries worldwide is available in English, French and Spanish in HTML and PDF formats.
Contact for a copy:
The World Library Partnership,
3101 Guess Rd, Suite D, Durham, NC 27705, U.S.A.
Tel: (919)-479-0163 or Fax:
(919)-479-8464
Recording and Using Indigenous Knowledge.
A
Manual.
www.eldis.org/go/display/?id=25831&type=Document
Developed by the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in the Philippines, the manual provides practical information on how to record, develop, collect, organize and use Indigenous Knowledge resources.
Resource Centre Manual : How to set
up and manage a resource centre
www.healthlink.org.uk/PDFs/resource-centre-manual.pdf
Resource Centre Manual :
How to set up and manage a resource centre. – London : Healthlink Worldwide,
2003. – 266p.
This manual contains practical information on all aspects of setting up and managing a resource centre, from planning, fundraising and finding a suitable location, to collecting and organising materials, developing information services, managing databases and websites, and monitoring and evaluating the work of the resource centre.
Contact for a copy:
Healthlink Worldwide, 56-64
Leonard Street, London EC2A 4JX, UK
Tel: +44-20-7549-0240 or
Fax: +44-20-7549-0241 or e-mail: info@healthlink.org.uk
Rural Community Resource Centres : A
Guide for Developing Countries
Giggey, S.: Rural Community
Resource Centres : A Guide for Developing Countries. – London : MacMillan
Education Ltd., 1998. – 117p.
A training guide which provides advice and information on all aspects of how to operate rural learning rescorce centres – from how to set one up through daily running to staffing, fund-raising and the effective use of resources. This manual is easy to read and less technical than some other manuals.
Setting up and running a school library
Nicola Baird, 138pp, over
50 illustrations, London, VSO Books/Heinemann £5.50 excl. p&p
Setting up and Running a School Library gives step-by-step advice and makes establishing and running a library easy and fun. It is a lively and very practical guide especially written for non-librarians - and because it is based on VSO volunteers' and their colleagues' work, it takes into account the reality of working with very few resources. The book covers all aspects of setting up and running a library, including:
VSO, 317 Putney Bridge Road,
London SW15 2PN, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20-8780 7200
or e-mail: infoservices@vso.org.uk
Sharing Knowledge for Community Development
and Transformation
www.jeunessearabe.info/IMG/Sharing_Knowledge_Engl.pdf
(full text)
Mchombu, Kingo J.: Sharing Knowledge for Community Development and Transformation. 2nd ed. – Ottawa: Oxfam Canada, 2004. – 104 p.
This handbook is designed for men and women who don´t have any information management skills. It is for those who don´t have experiences in library work, for people who want to learn about information, knowledge and development. You will learn how to identify, collect and provide access to the information that assists and supports community transformation. The handbook is the product of training and discussion, of questions and answers, shared by those working in development. It is also a statement of confidence in and support for rural people. But it not only tries to provide some ideas on “how to do it”. It first discusses some theories and ideas in a language aimed at ordinary people.
Contact for a copy:
Oxfam Canada, 880 Wellington
Street Suite 400, Ottawa, Ontario K1R 6K7, Canada
Tel: (613) 237-5236 or Fax:
(613) 237 0524 or e-mail: info@oxfam.ca
Streams of Knowledge www.irc.nl/stream/booklet.html
Focuses on "theoretical" aspects of resource centers, their role, function and characteristics of an efficient community-based resource centre. Discusses RC functions such as capacity building, training, information management, advisory work, and other. Developed by the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) for water sanitation education, its approach can be applied by NGOs active in other areas.
A Training Package for Rural Public Libraries
The training package for rural public libraries has modules that are are intended for a 12 days´ training programme in rural public library management. The book assists library management trainers who participated in a special workshop before. It is not for beginners without any experience.
A training package for rural
public libraries / by The Department of Non Formal Education, Ministry
of Education Bangkok, Thailand. – Uppsala : Uppsala University Library,
1997
(International Federation
of Library Associations and Institutions / Advancement of Librarianship
in the Third World Project Project report no 11). - 35 p.
Contact for a copy:
IFLA/ALP, Uppsala University
Library, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 1, Box 510, 75120 Uppsala, Sweden
Tel: +46-(0)18-471-3990
or Fax: +46-(0)18-471-3994 or e-mail: ifla.alp@ub.uu.se
Where there is no Librarian: An Information
Management Manual
Maya, E. W. and Macharia,
D.: Where there is no Librarian : an Information Management Manual. – Nairobi
: Environmental Liaison Centre International, 1992. – 92p.
Information management manual that describes in detail everything from how to classify and catalogue materials and store them properly to how to write project proposals to get the funding to do it.
Contact for a copy:
Environmental Liaison Centre
International, PO Box 72461, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254-2-576114/576779
or Fax: +254-2-576125 or e-mail: herineo@elci.org
or
Falls Brook Centre, 125 South
Knowlesville Road, Knowlesville, New Brunswick E7L 1B1, Canada
Tel: 506-375-8143 or 375-4310
or Fax: 506-375-4221 or e-mail: ja@fallsbrookcentre.ca
How to develop Internet and other Information Technology Skills
African Connection – Center for Strategic
Planning: A rural ICT Toolkit for Africa and the next step
www.infodev.org/
E-mail: Yburtin@worldbank.org
Contact: Yann Burtin, Operations
Officer, CITPO
The Rural ICT Toolkit is addressed mainly to African policymakers and regulators and other interested parties who wish to develop rural ICT programs and projects in their countries. It is also aimed at those wanting to foster regional harmonization, allowing for cross-border initiatives that can increase economies of scale and thus the attractiveness of the rural ICT market to private investors and players. This toolkit was produced under the overall African Connections Initiative of infoDev that supports consensus building activities and an action plan for improving telecommunications in rural areas. To download a free Pdf file, please go to InfoDev Publications.
Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial
www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html
Offered by the UC Berkeley, offers step by step instruction in searching the Internet.
The ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
for Library and Information Professionals (ICTLIP): Training Package for
Developing Countries
portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=2525&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Intended to provide the knowledge and skills required to deal with the application of ICT to library and information services, this package includes modules on integrated automated library systems, information searching in an electronic environment, database design, information storage and retrieval, the Internet as information resource, and web page concepts and design.
ITrain www.bellanet.org/itrain
The site offers access to free and easy to download courses in basic Internet skills. Includes modules on basic computer skills, how to use e-mail, establish and facilitate listserves, research Internet resources, use various search engines etc.
UNESCO: How to get started and keep
going: a guide to Community Multimedia Centres / CMC Handbook www.unesco.org/webworld/cmc
1, rue Miollis, 75352 Paris
Cedey 15, France
Contact: Stella Hughes at
shughes@unesco.org
The CMC Handbook is a result of suggestions from communities in rural and urban areas, NGOs working for community empowerment and communication planners supporting development activities. The Handbook will be a useful guide if you are already operating a community multimedia centre, providing communication services or considering starting a communication centre.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Please contact the ALADIN
Co-ordinator Lisa Krolak at l.krolak@unesco.org
for changes or additions.
Last Update: January 22, 2008.