Library and Information Services Provision during COVID 19: Ernest Cook Ultrasound Research and Education Institute Library-Mengo Hospital, Uganda’s Perspective
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Date
2021
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4th I-LISS International Conference - IIC 2021
Abstract
COVID-19 pandemic has become a global threat and has established a fear among the mankind. Uganda reported its first case of COVID-19 on the March 21, 2020 (Coronavirus Disease, 2020). A 36-year-old businessman from Kampala, Uganda’s capital, who had travelled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a healthy condition returned with fever and flu-like symptoms to Entebbe International Airport (EIA) and he was tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus Disease, 2020). Consequently, individuals who had been to UAE two weeks prior to the first case were traced by Ministry of Health (MoH) Uganda and subjected to institutional quarantine. In the following two weeks (March 21 to April 5), there was a rapid rise in the number of cases to 52, most of whom were imported cases from institutional quarantine ( MOH,Uganda 2020).
With the spread of Corona Virus, Uganda was put on lock-down, travel was put to a halt, and Conferences were cancelled, higher institutions of learning, colleges and schools were equally shut-down, the Libraries particularity those in academic institutions faced with unique situations just as their mother institution. It became hard and so difficult for academic libraries to take decisions on how and which library and information services to provide to users amidst full closure of education institutions. In Uganda, normally, library and information services are offered physically and interactively, offer counter interactions with clients and books, Record Centres – offer counter interactions with clients and records. All these are facing hardships.
As a way of easing on the lock down and ensuring continuity of learning among students, the government of Uganda recommended online learning to ensure continuity for learners. Though already challenged, such a recommendation piled more pressure on the already financially and structurally strained education system. It left a lot of questions and challenges on how to cope with this new dimension of learning albeit ill preparedness and exploration of new grounds for learners of the education system. The Library is taken to be a competent authority for providing access to authoritative, current and timely information to support learning and research while leveraging innovations of the information age brought about by ICTs.
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Alice, K. G., & Mohammed, S. K. A. LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES PROVISION DURING COVID 19: ERNEST COOK ULTRASOUND RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INSTITUTE LIBRARY-MENGO HOSPITAL, UGANDA’S PERSPECTIVE. TRANSITION OR TRANSFORMATION OF LIBRARIES DUE TO COVID PANDEMIC: LESSONS TO LEARN, 79.