The Kenya Library Association, the key organisation that promotes the welfare of libraries and information professionals, organised a one-week workshop to upskill technical librarians on cataloguing, classification, metadata and the use of artificial intelligence.
The workshop titled “Resource Description & Access, Artificial Intelligence
and Metadata” was held at Hotel Sapphire, Mombasa City, from April 7 - 11,
2025.
The KLA President, Prof Peter Gatiti, the Associate Vice-Provost and University Librarian at Aga Khan University, led the workshop in discussing how to develop strategic plans for individual libraries and the association.
He also reminded librarians about the changing roles of information professionals, the need to keep updating their skills in light of emerging technologies and job demands, the challenging information environment and the use of artificial intelligence.
He also introduced the systematic review processes, where some participants were awarded Cochrane certificates upon completing module one training.
Dr Alfred Odhiambo of the Library of Congress, Nairobi office, led the discussions on resource description and access (RDA) requirements, incorporating the growth from Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules 2nd edition (AACR2) to Machine-Readable Cataloguing (MARC) and the future trends using Bibframe.
The future of cataloguing and classification was addressed and confirmed to be bright as it leads to competency in information literacy and scientific citizenship.
Librarians also discussed financial literacy for self and the library unit, budgeting and business continuity plans, including formulation of necessary policies to guide actions and decision-making, facilitated by KLA Treasurer Dr Christine Tuitoek of Central Bank Library.
Some individual libraries showcased their key processes, the roles they play within their organisations, and their impact on society.
Among them was the Kenya National Library Services, represented by Mary Kenyanjui, the head of Cataloguing and Classification at KNLS and also the Vice-President of KLA.
She reiterated the KNLS role as the legal deposit of all publications emergent in Kenya, development of the national bibliography and availability of information resources to all persons who can access the libraries, both at the national level and all county libraries.
The Nation Media Group library was represented by Maria Wambua and Anniel Njoka, who provided a comprehensive historical development of the library, the digitalisation process, and how the public can benefit from the rich historical, advertorial, and photographic resources available in the library.
Various counties, TVET and parastatal libraries were represented, led by the host, Mombasa County Library, Wajir County, Kisumu County, and Kenya Power and Lighting Company library, among others.
Librarians were encouraged to be vibrant
and creative in giving the public richer and more easily identifiable and
accessible information for them to make evidence-based decisions.
