Readings/Reference Materials

Essentially, a SWOT analysis is an examination of the internal and external factors that impact the organization and its strategies. The internal factors are strengths and weaknesses; the external factors are opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis gives an organization a clear picture of the “situation” in which it operates and helps it identify which strategies to pursue.

This resource is a module in a course on principles of marketing. Librarians can adapt it and use for practical SWOT processes that would lead them to benchmark how they handle internally generated data. 

This resource is a suite of short guides on library assessment in a University library. It describes the mission, guiding principles, assessment and data analysis tools for the assessment. It also provides further reading materials for each step in the assessment process. The CPD coordinator for librarians can break down the assessment process and adapt different sections to suit the learning needs of librarians. 

This Library guide will teach librarians the basic elements of metadata and standards to be adhered to in creating metadata in different disciplines.

This resource explains and provides links to ontologies , data types and file formats for metadata creation. 

A persistent identifier (PID) is a long-lasting reference to a digital resource. Unlike URLs, which may break, a persistent identifier reliably points to a digital entity.

An ORCID iD is an example of a persistent identifier for a person. ORCID works closely with many other PID organizations to build trusted connections between ORCID iDs and other identifiers.

This resource focuses on ORCID and persistent identifiers for journals, and organizations that they work with.

This resource explains CrossRef’s role in assigning DOIs and fetching metadata from their database.

Data is stored in different places at different phases of its lifecycle. This resource will lead librarians to understand the different places where library data can be stored.

This resource is a library guide that tCPD coordinators can adapt to suit their institutions. It can also be used by individual librarians to under ethical sharing of data.

This curated resource list was developed for the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA) short course on Open Educational Resources in 2025. The collection includes required course readings plus additional relevant materials, prioritizing Creative Commons licensed content while acknowledging the current scarcity of university-level OER.

The resources span various formats and licensing arrangements - from fully open Creative Commons materials to freely accessible copyrighted content. Each entry includes URL, publication date, and licensing information, with descriptions drawn directly from source materials.

A virtual Community of Practice (CoP) is a network of individuals who share a domain of interest about which they communicate online. The practitioners share resources (for example experiences, problems and solutions, tools, methodologies). Such communication results in the improvement of the knowledge of each participant in the community and contributes to the development of the knowledge within the domain. A virtual learning community may involve the conduct of original research but it is more likely that its main purpose is to increase the knowledge of participants, via formal education or professional development. Virtual learning communities could have learning as their main goal or the elearning could be generated as a side effect. Virtual communities of practice (CoPs) and virtual learning communities are becoming widespread within higher education institutions (HEIs) thanks to technological developments which enable increased communication, interactivity among participants and incorporation of collaborative pedagogical models, specifically through information communications technologies (ICTs) They afford the potential for the combination of synchronous and asynchronous communication, access to -and from- geographically isolated communities and international information sharing. Clearly there are benefits to be derived from sharing and learning within and outwith HEIs. There is a sense of connectedness, of shared passion and a deepening of knowledge to be derived from ongoing interaction. Knowledge development can be continuous, cyclical and fluid. However, barriers exist in virtual CoPs and these are defined by the authors and illustrated with quotes from academic staff who have been involved in CoPs. Critical success factors (CSFs) for a virtual CoP are discussed. These include usability of technology; trust in, and acceptance of, ICTs in communication; a sense of belonging among members; paying attention to cross-national and cross-cultural dimensions of the CoP; shared understandings; a common sense of purpose; use of netiquette and user-friendly language and longevity. The authors recognise the enormous potential for the development of CoPs through e-mail discussion lists and discussion boards but have themselves experienced the difficulties inherent in initiating such a community. These are corroborated and illustrated with text from interviews with academic staff. Much of the literature on CoPs emanates from outside Europe, despite the fact that e-learning articles have a large diffusion around Europe. The authors suggest further exploration of this topic by identifying and studying CoPs and virtual learning communities across EU countries. Additional author: Fontainha, Elsa

This is a series of blogs on Communities of Practice written by Nancy White a regular keynote speaker on the conference circuit and expert practitioner. The blogs are fun, but give a really good idea of setting up and managing CoPs.

This report presents a support framework for higher education institutions (HEIs) to open up education. This framework proposes a wide definition of the term ‘open education’, which accommodates different uses, in order to promote transparency and a holistic approach to practice. It goes beyond OER, MOOCs and open access to embrace 10 dimensions of open education. The framework can be used as a tool by HEI staff to help them think through strategic decisions: pedagogical approaches, collaboration between individuals and institutions, recognition of non-formal learning and different ways of making content available. Contemporary open education is mostly enabled by ICTs and because of this, there is almost limitless potential for innovation and reach, which in turn contributes to the modernisation of higher education in Europe.

A reading to accompany Unit Six of the module: Teaching and Learning Mathematics in Diverse Classrooms. This Reading consists of two extracts from a document "Guidelines for Inclusive Education Learning Programmes" produced by the Department of Education in June 2005.

The impact of intrapersonal characteristics on school performance and learner development - A reading to accompany Unit Six of the module: Teaching and Learning Mathematics in Diverse Classrooms. The reading is useful because it summarizes the various theoretical perspectives for understanding inclusive education, and because it uses case studies of typical learners to illustrate how teaching and learning activities need to be adapted to ensure that all children, no matter what their background or intrapersonal characteristics do learn mathematics.

The impact of intrapersonal characteristics on school performance and learner development - A reading to accompany Unit Six of the module: Teaching and Learning Mathematics in Diverse Classrooms. This reading is useful because it summaraizes the various theoretical perspectives for understanding inclusive education, and because it uses case studies of typical learners to illustrate how teaching and learning activities need to be adapted to ensure that all children, no matter what their background or intrapersonal characteristics do learn mathematics.

The University of Michigan (U-M) and OER Africa are currently engaged in a one-year effort to develop a sustainable and scalable OER programme to support health education, particularly in South Africa and Ghana. This effort is based on collaboration between the University of Michigan, OER Africa, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the University of Ghana (UG), the University of Cape Town (UCT), and the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Because the Hewlett Foundation?s site visits will focus only on Ghana, this briefing document will concentrate on the two Ghanaian institutions participating in the project.

This unit explores the implications of the fundamental assumption in this module - that ALL children can learn mathematics, whatever their background or language or sex, and regardless of learning disabilities they may have. It gives practical guidance on how teachers can adapt their lessons according to the specific needs of their learners.

This accredited journal publishes contributions from any field of education. While the emphasis is on empirical research, theoretical or methodological papers, review articles, short communications, book reviews and letters containing fair commentary on previously published articles will also be considered. Priority is given to articles that are relevant to Africa or that address cross-cultural topics, and to contributions addressing educational issues of social change and development.

This is the second recommended reading for Saide's Education Studies module "Being a Teacher"

This is the third reading for Saide's Education Studies module "Being a Teacher". The history of teaching in South Africa has been one in which the most significant single factor has been the enormous differences in the experiences of teachers – dependent primarily on whether they were identified as ‘black’, ‘coloured’, ‘Asiatic’, or ‘white’; male or female; rural-, township-, or suburban-based, and so on.In this article, Heather Jacklin analyses how such factors have affected – and still affect – the identities and experiences of teachers in South Africa.