Communication Skills

1. Communication Skills Dr. D. Njiraine University of Nairobi dnjiraine@uonbi.ac.ke

2. Communication skills is a common under graduate course targeted to all freshmen during the first year. It comprises three components i.e. • reading, • writing and • library skills. It is designed to provide a rationale, knowledge and skills needed to form a foundation of the university education.

3. Communication skills Objectives: • To equip the students with skills necessary for the effective identification, location, selection and use of information sources by: • Establishing a link between classroom subjects and library/information resources. • Promoting the use of specific facilities such as special collections, reference collections computerized sources e.t.c. • Familiarizing students with library operations and the organization of knowledge. • Introducing standard methods of citing documents and other sources used for research.

4. The Information Environment The information environment in which a University student finds himself in is characterized by: • Massive, diverse, scattered and often conflicting information resources. • Multiple formats in which information is found. • Numerous special collections and locations where information resources may be found. • Scarcity of some indispensable material. • The interdisciplinary nature of studies whereby many different subjects must be learnt at the same time. • The need for developing habits necessary for life- long self- education and the skills required to separate useful information from useless information in order to meet assignment deadlines and graduate in time. .

5. Cont.. • All the facts, conclusions, ideas, creative works of the human intellect and imagination which have been communicated formally of informally. • Formal information-Formal information networks are those available through libraries and information agencies e.g. access to professional and scholarly information, government information and information disseminated through the media. • Informal information- Informal information includes information that has not entered the formal channels or which does not properly belong to those channels. E.g. personal beliefs, perspectives and values.

6. What is information? • Communicated facts or ideas. • Data to which a meaning has been given within a context for its use. • An assemblage of data capable of being communicated.

7. Acquiring information Information may be acquired in the following ways: • Life experience. • Study and learning. • Observation, listening, Debates etc. • Experiment and research. • Lectures, workshops, seminars etc.

8. Cont.. • Organized information may be found from such places as: • Libraries and their collections. • Museums. • Information Bureaus. • Exhibitions, Shows and Fairs. • The Classroom, Workshops and Laboratories. • The Mass Media- Radio, TV etc. • Computerized sources.

9. Information Literacy • Information literacy is the skill necessary in finding the information one needs. It requires knowledge of how libraries are organized, familiarity with the resources they provide (including information formats and computerized search tools) and knowledge of standard search techniques.

10. Definition of information literacy (IL) The American Library Association (ALA) presidential Committee on Information Literacy Final Report (1989) states as follows: • “To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information”. To realize this goal, it requires a structuring of the learning process so that students are taught problem solving techniques for life-long learning

11. IL cont… Information literacy in institutions of higher learning is necessary for both students and staff. The goal of information literacy is to ensure that users are equipped and encouraged to learn from the range of information resources available. It includes learning to use both formal and informal information resources.

12. Cont… According to Bruce (1994) information literacy involves the following aspects: • Understanding the nature of information society. • Acquiring values which promoted information access to use. • Being able to implement the process of identifying an information need locating, retrieving, evaluating and synthesizing the information required. • Developing a high level of communication skills, including the ability to communicate with colleagues and information professionals. • Developing a sound knowledge of network sources and strategies for using them. • Developing the ability to manage the information retrieval through the appropriate use of, for example word processors, spreadsheet, and bibliographic management software.

13. Role of information When well organized and disseminated information can be effective in the following areas: • Facilitate planning, decision-making and problem solving. • Enhancing social economic cultural scientific and technological development. • Enable the development of the national economy. • Promotion of recreation and leisure. • Develop a cohesive nation of intelligent people

14. Role of info cont….. In Academia, information is required to: • Facilitate research, study and teaching. • Enable success in studies, assignments and the passing of examinations.

15. An introduction to libraries Definition of library: • A library is an organized collection of books and other literary material kept for reading, study and consultation. • A Library is a collection or group of collections of books and other materials maintained for reading, study and research, organized to facilitate access by a specific clientele and staffed by librarians and other staff, trained to meet the needs of its users.

16. The University of Nairobi library system • This comprises the main Jomo Kenyatta Memorial Library, College libraries as well as Institute libraries scattered all over Nairobi. The UON Library system is uniform, rules are the same and a union catalogue of all publications is available at JKML. An online Public access catalogue has been installed at JKML and the same is being installed in all the branch libraries.

17. Cont… • An inter-branch library loan system is in operation and University members may become full members of any library on being introduced by their base librarian. Undergraduates may not ordinarily use Institute libraries.

18. Services offered by the UON libraries • Staff assistance and guidance. • Training of readers through orientation and the Information Skills Course. • Lending of books for home use. • Facilities for private study of own books, reference books etc; study carrels for postgraduates and academic staff. • Books and other material for reference within the library. • Reservation of books which are out. • Inter-library loans; inter-branch loans. • Photocopying. • Book displays. • Computer service mainly the Internet. • E- Journals through INASP & PERI.

19. Other services may include • Translation, Editorial work. • Preparation of bibliographies. • Indexing and abstracting services. • Audio-Visual service: CD, Videos etc.

20. Types of information resources Information resources • These are materials that are used as resources of information for reference, research, study and recreation. • Information resources are found in form of books, newspapers, computer disks/ tapes, listening (radio), viewing (TV), and speaking (oral).

21. Books A collection of leaves of paper or other material, written of printed, fastened together in some manner with a cover. In the USA for a publication to be called a book it must consist of 24 or more pages. UNESCO defines a book as a non periodical literary publication consisting of 49 or more pages, covers not included.

22. Newspapers These are serial publications usually printed on newsprint and issues daily, semi weekly or weekly containing news, editorial opinion, regular columns, letters to the editor, cartoons, advertisements and other items of current, often local interest to a general readership.

23. Periodicals These are publications with distinctive titles containing articles, stories or other short works usually written by different contributors, issued in soft cover more than once, usually at stated intervals. Periodicals are published by scholarly societies, University presses, government agencies, commercial publishing houses, private corporations, trade and professional associations and other organizations.

24. Journals These are periodicals devoted to disseminating current research and commentary on developments within a specific discipline sub discipline or field of study usually published in quarterly or bimonthly issues which Libraries bind into continuously paginated volumes. Most journal articles are longer than five pages and include a bibliography or a list of works cited at the end. Journal articles in science and social sciences usually include an abstract preceding the text, which summarizes the content.

25. Magazines These are popular periodicals containing articles on various topics written by different authors. Most magazine are heavily illustrated containing advertisements and are printed on glossy paper. Articles are usually short (less than five pages) un signed and do not include a bibliography or list of references. Most magazines are issued monthly of weekly.

26. Abstracts An abstract is a short statement of essential content of a book, article, speech, report and dissertation. It gives the main points in the same order as the original work.

27. Index An index is a list of terminologies arranged alphabetically in the last pages of a book. It has page numbers which direct the reader to the specific page of a text on which the desired information can be found.

28. Archival Sources This is an organized collection of non current records of an institution, government, organization or corporate body. Archival sources are managed and maintained by a librarian with special training known as an archivist.

29. Serial Publications A publication in any format issued in successively numbered or dated parts or issues, appearing at regular or irregular intervals and intended to be continued indefinitely. In our library the serial or periodical catalogue is known as a Kardex.

30. Patents A patent is an official document issued by the government in response to a formal application process in which the applicant (usually the inventor) is granted the exclusive right to manufacture, use, and sell an invention for a specified number of years the document is assigned a patent number by the patent office for future reference.

31. Standards Standards are any criteria established by law, agreement, or custom, according to which values, quantities, procedure performance, etc are measured or evaluated and to which manufacturers, practitioners, researchers, etc seek to conform in order to ensure quality and uniformity of results.

32. Audio- Visual Materials This is a term used to describe non print materials such as films, film strips, slides, video recordings, audio recordings, CD-ROMS, machine readable data files and computer soft ware.

33. Computerized Sources CD-ROM Compact Disk Read Only Memory. It is a small plastics optical disk 4.72 inches or 12 centimeters in diameter similar to an audio compact disk. It is used for storing information in digital format. Once information is stored it can be searched and displayed on a computer screen. Information stored in a CD-ROM can not be changed or erased.

34. Online information resources • These are information resources accessed through the internet. • In libraries we have the Online Public Access Catalogue. It consists of bibliographic records in machine readable format. These records can be accessed from different computers through the library website. • http://uonlibrary.uonbi.ac.ke. The link to UONBI library catalogue, E-books, Ejournals, UoN Repository, Remote access, etc (Please explore this site extensevely). The Internet • This is a network which inter connects computers of all types through out the world. It enables users to communicate via email, transfer of data and program files. The internet also enables users to find information on the World Wide Web and access computer systems such as catalogues and electronic databases.

35. UNIT 2: ACCESS TO INFORMATION RESOURCES THE CATALOGUE • Catalogues are necessary whenever a collection is too big to be remembered item by item. A collection is the complete stock of books, periodicals and any other type of information. In order to access to the individual items contained therein, an index or a systematic list of the collection is necessary.

36. The Catalogue: A Definition • A Catalogue is a list of books periodicals, maps or materials in a specific collection, arranged in a definite order usually alphabetically, by author, title or subject. • The purposes of a library Catalogue are: • To enable a person to find any intellectual creation whether issued in print or non print, when one of the following is known; • The Author • The Title • The Subject • To show what the library has • By a given Author • On a given and related subjects • In a given kind of literature • To assist in the choice of a book: • As to the edition • As to it’s character ( Literary or character)

37. ONLINE PUBLIC ACCESS CATALOGUE • This is a library catalogue consisting of bibliographic records in Machine readable format maintained on a dedicated computer which provides uninterrupted interactive access vie terminals or workstations which are in direct continuous communication with the central computer. To access this catalogue one needs to access the library website which is http://uonlibrary.uonbi.ac.ke .

38. The link is UONBI library catalogue. Once one clicks on the library catalogue link a search window opens. Type the title of the book needed in the advanced search window and specify your field of search by clicking on the drop down link. • One can do this by specifying: • All fields of record. • Personal Author. • Corporate Author. • Title word. • Subject. • ISBN/ISSN Number.

39. It is advisable to search by all fields of record if your first attempt at searching is not successful. • Once the title you are looking for appears, click on it and write down Bibliographic details like the names of the author beginning with the surname, complete title of the book and the call number. Present these details to the librarian at the issue desk who will direct you to the right shelf where the book is located.