Jaya Raju and Maria Musoke awarded 2018 SCECSAL author of the year awards

Prof. Jaya Raju  receiving the award from the
Mayor of Entebbe, His Worship Vincent De Paul Kayanja

Associate Professor Jaya Raju, Head of the Library and Information Studies Centre at the University
of Cape Town, South Africa, and Professor Maria G.N. Musoke from the East African School of Library and Information Science of Makerere University, were today in Entebbe, Uganda, awarded the 2018 SCECSAL Author of the Year award for the journal article and book categories respectively.

Professor Raju’s award was for her journal article "Information Professional or IT Professional? The Knowledge and Skills Required by Academic Librarians in the Digital Library Environment" published in the portal: Libraries and the Academy, Vol. 17, No. 4 (2017), pp. 739–757.

Prof. Maria Musoke receiving her award from the Mayor of Entebbe

Professor Musoke was recognised for her book Informed and Healthy: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on the Value of Information to Health Care published by Academic Press in June 2016.

This is the third time that SCECSAL has given the Author Awards even though the award was introduced more than 20 years.

The late Professor Maurice Chifwember Lundu received the Author of the Year Award in 2000 at the seventh SCECSAL conference in Windhoek, Namibia for his book The Library in the Service of Society: Philosophical Foundation published by the Mission Press.

In 2002, at the eighth SCECSAL conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, Jenny Raubenheimer, then Director, Document Delivery and Acting Head, UNISA Library, University of South Africa, and John van Niekerk then Deputy Director: Library Services, Medical University of South Africa (Medunsa), received the author award (Journal Article Category) for the article - Recent developments in interlending and document supply with a focus on the South African situation, published in Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 30 Issue: 1, pp.17-24.

Nomination for 2018 SCECSAL Author Awards opens

The SCECSAL Secretariat and the Uganda Library and Information Associations (ULIA) are pleased to announce the opening of submissions for the 2018 SCECSAL Author Awards to be presented to winners at the XXIII SCECSAL Conference in April 2018 in Entebbe, Uganda.

SCECSAL Author Awards, in form of cash and a certificate, honours and recognizes individual works by library, information and knowledge professionals in the SCECSAL region in two categories - Best Author (Journal Articles and Chapters in Books) and Best Author (Books).

Only works published from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017 and focusing on any area or theme in the library, information and knowledge field/work in the SCECSAL region are eligible for the 2018 awards.

Library and Information Associations in the SCECSAL region should review the guidelines for the Awards available on the SCECSAL website and submit their nominations by 31 December 2017.

Individual authors are also encouraged to nominate themselves through their national Library and Information Associations.

Send the nominations along with the copies of the works using any reputable courier services to:

John Paul Anbu K.
President
Swaziland Library and Information Association
University of Swaziland Library, Kwaluseni Campus
Kwaluseni, Matsapha M201
SWAZILAND
Tel: +268 2517 0153
Mobile: +268 26239865
Email: anbuj@uniswa.sz

After sending the nominations by courier service please send the tracking number to  anbuj@uniswa.sz with a copy to sarkaddu@yahoo.com.

SCECSAL adopts revised guidelines for author awards and for selecting future conference hosts

Paper presenters  at SCECSAL conferences now
stand a chance to be nominated for the best paper awards
[Photo: Justin Chisenga] 

Presidents and Chairpersons of the 11 SCECSAL member Library and
Information Associations have approved the revised guidelines for the SCECSAL Author Awards and for selecting future hosts for SCECSAL conferences.

The two sets of guidelines were adopted on Monday, 18 September 2017, following a motion tabled by the Swaziland Library Association, the current Chair of the SCECSAL General Council.

Selecting winners for author awards

The Author Awards guidelines cover the selection of the SCECSAL Author of the Year and the Best SCECSAL Conference Papers.

The guidelines make provisions for two categories for the Author Award – Best Author (Journal Articles and Chapters in Books) and Best Author (Books); address the process for nominating and selecting the winners; and provides for the appointment the Awards Selection Committee made up of five recognized authors in the library, information and knowledge or related field.

The prize for the winners of the Author of the Year Awards will be in form of cash and a certificate while the winners for the SCECSAL Conference Paper Awards will receive certificates.

Conferences hosts to be announced four years in advance

Under the new guidelines for selecting SCECSAL Conference hosts, future hosts for the conference will be announced four years in advance and therefore the host for 2022 will be announced at the SCECSAL XXIII conference in Uganda in April 2018.

The arrangement to announce the conference hosts four years in advance formalises the decision that was made in 2016 at the SCECSAL conference in Swaziland where the hosting of the 2020 SCECSAL conference was awarded the Namibia Information Workers Association (NIWA).

The guidelines also ensure that no SCECSAL sub-region hosts consecutive SCECSAL conferences unless circumstances dictate so and the decision is approved by at least two thirds of the of the SCECSAL members. For this purpose, the current 11 active SCECSAL members have been categorized into the following sub-regions - Eastern: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda; Central: Namibia, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe; and Southern: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa.

Since Uganda is hosting the 2018 conference and Namibia in 2020, the 2022 conference will go to any of the four countries - Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa - in the Southern Africa sub-region.

Implementing 2016 SCECSAL resolutions

The adoption of the guidelines follows a resolution in 2016 by the General Council to review and amend the SCECSAL constitution to include terms of reference for the Permanent SCECSAL Secretariat and other appropriate provisions to strengthen SCECSAL operations and monitoring mechanisms, and simplify the biding process for hosting SCECSAL conferences.

In 2018, the representatives of the SCECSAL member Associations, during the XXIII SCECSAL conference to be held from 23 to 28 April in Entebbe, Uganda, are expected to discuss and adopt the amended SCECSAL constitution.