DOMINIC'S LIBRARY

Posts

Open publishing of public health research in Africa

I n our previous study , we shed light on how imperative it is to enhance the accessibility of publications in African public health journals. Building upon this groundwork, this study sought to delineate the current landscape regarding the knowledge of, obstacles to, and enthusiasm for capacity building in open publishing within the realm of public health research across Africa. The study used an online survey to glean responses from 91 participants from 16 African nations, comprising authors (75%), reviewers (53%), journal editors (40%), and journal publishers (19%), with some individuals assuming multiple roles. Notably, respondents possessed experience in both traditional and open access publishing modalities. Surprisingly, less than half of the respondents recognised the advantages associated with open publishing, such as enhanced accessibility, increased citations, and heightened transparency. Additionally, a portion of the respondents provided inaccurate responses, underscoring

Libraries staying connected with patrons during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted every facet of life, and one sector profoundly affected in Ghana was higher education, particularly academic libraries. With academic activities pivoting around dynamic libraries, the need for connection during the pandemic prompted a surge in the adoption of collaborative technologies. In a recent study in the Volta Region of Ghana, librarians were found to embrace tools like Zoom, Moodle, WhatsApp, email, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Skype to stay connected with patrons. The decision-making dynamics, however, revealed a noteworthy aspect – non-librarians played a significant role in the tool acquisition process. This study, employing the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology II model, sheds light on the motivations driving Ghanaian libraries to embrace emerging technologies. The librarians' criteria, rooted in performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions, offer valuable insights into the evolving landsc

Dominic Agyei Dankwah

Dr. Dominic Agyei Dankwah is a practising librarian at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho, in Ghana. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Information Studies and a Master of Arts degree in Library Studies, all from the University of Ghana, Legon. Dominic subsequently enrolled at the University of South Africa, where he completed his PhD programme in Information Science. He is a co-recipient of the UHAS Seed Grant and a beneficiary of the University of Pretoria-Carnegie CPD Programmes. At UHAS, he leads a team of experts at the Electronic Library and Training Support Department of the UHAS Library. As well, he lectures in Information Literacy, a university-wide course for first-year undergraduate students of UHAS. Dominic has been a key facilitator in several training programmes, locally and internationally. Dr. Dankwah is a certified Mendeley Advisor. He has, so far, published in several esteemed scientific journals, written book chapters, and continues to

Reference Management Systems (RMS) Preferences

This article discusses the findings of a study on students' knowledge and use of Reference Management Software in managing their referencing and citation needs. Using a descriptive study to distribute questionnaires among students of a health training institution, the authors share details on the respondents' knowledge of and preferred RMS, their primary use, and the why some do not use these tools. These interesting findings will be of academics in the scholarly communications ecosystem and especially, mentors and supervisors of research students. The full text of this piece could be accessed via: https://tinyurl.com/bdz6amv6

Accessing the Scientific Publication that You Need

Access to scientific publications has become one of the ultimate wishes of most people who find themselves in knowledge-producing industries. Researchers, lecturers, students and librarians, particularly those in developing countries go through a lot in order to have access to these publications. Most academic and research institutions however, have libraries that facilitate access to these resources, mostly through what has become known as institutional subscriptions. In an effort to reduce the gap in knowledge production and knowledge accessibility, most international stakeholders like the WHO, UN, INASP, USAID and a host of them have undertaken initiatives to compel “big publishers” to make their products available for free or at a lower cost to researchers in low and middle income countries. For instance, in order to help achieve its SDGs, the UN through its various agencies came out with the Research4Life programme to provide expensive and extensive scientific publications in

Assignment 2: Reference Management

Follow the instructions given to complete this assignment. Topic: Smartphone and medical related App usage among medical students of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho INSTRUCTIONS You can use any academic database for this assignment. (Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, etc) Download five free full-text articles that relate to the topic above Create a folder in Mendeley with the name First_Article In the folder, build a library with your downloaded articles Create a sub-folder with the name Chapter_One and download a sixth article with bibliographic details given under No. 6 below: Payne, K.F.B., Wharrad, H., & Watts, K. (2012). Smartphone and medical related App use among medical students and junior doctors in the United Kingdom (UK): A regional survey. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making , 12 (1), 121. Take a screenshot of your Mendeley Library showing the main and sub-folders. Save the screenshot as a PDF document with the n

Search This Blog