Department of Library and Information Studies

The Department of Library and Information Studies (DLIS) at the University of Botswana has since its inception in 1979 made outstanding contribution to the education and training of Library and Information personnel in Botswana and the Southern, Central, West and East African regions. It is an internationally recognised centre of excellence within Africa for library and information education and training. It has made a unique contribution through research, publication and service to the development of the discipline throughout the continent. A suite of professional library and information studies programs reflecting the various needs and demands of Africas library and information market has been developed. The Department recognized and continues to perceive information as a key resource in development. To this end information provides investors and managers with a competitive advantage.

Mission

The Department has set as part of its vision, within the next five years, the mission to provide quality education and training that is driven by state-of-the-art information and communications technology, research and publications and is dedicated to:

• The enhancement of its already high standards in teaching, learning, research, publishing, service and scholarship in information management and training and to achieve high level of excellence in the general disciplines of information management systems and business.
• The provision of its expertise towards the current and future development needs of Botswana while at the same time recognizing its regional setting and reputation and the constituency it has developed and the need to extend this constituency throughout the rest of the continent.
• Providing an innovative response to the needs and demands of the information community and business that it serves by providing a practical and appropriate answer to the challenges that are being posed by globalization and the increasingly sophisticated requirements of an environment largely impacted by information and the technology supporting it.
• The pursuit of truth, in particular, defending and promoting the ideal of access to information as a basic human right.
• Maintaining and enhancing the Departments unique and distinctive character as a centre of excellence with a regional constituency, an innovative portfolio of professional programs, a strong commitment to research, teaching, publishing and learning, and an enviable international reputation through the extensive professional outreach achieved by its high calibre staff.