SN 0035-4848

THE ZIMBABWE LIBRARIANVol. 15, Nos. 3 & 4

July-December, 1983

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

HELPING ZIMBABWE TO READ: THE NEED FOR ANATIONAL BOOK COUNCIL OF ZIMBABWE

23rd A.G.M. AND CONFERENCE: INTO THE '90's

THE ROLE OF LIBRARIES TO THE YEAR 2000

FILM ARCHIVES

OF UMBRELLAS AND CHANDELIERS

EDUCATING LIBRARY USERS

A STORY OF CHANGE

IN BRIEF

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THE ZIMBABWE LIBRARIAN Vol. 15, Nos. 3 & 4July-December, 1983

Quarterly Journal of the Zimbabwe Library AssociationEditor: Roger Stringer

P.O. Box 3133, Harare, ZimbabweSubscription: Free to members; Z$5 per annum or Z$l,50 per copy to

non-members in Zimbabwe; Z$6 per annum elsewhere.Advertisement rates available on application.

EDITORIAL

There has been much talk in the press recently of problems of booksupply — particularly in relation to the supply of textbooks to schools throughdistrict councils. As a result of these problems, comments have come fromseveral Ministries including Education and Culture, National Supplies, LocalGovernment and Information.

Other problems are also affecting the book industry. Booksellers areexperiencing problems in obtaining import licences and foreign currencyallowances for the import of books essential to educational institutions. Inaddition, the prices of books are becoming ever higher as a result of increasedimport tax and sales tax.

MOTO (October 1983) calls for the Ministries concerned to get togetherto consider waiving the import surcharge on imported books. However, whilethis is certainly necessary it would be curing a symptom rather than thedisease. If we believe that books are vitally important to the development ofour nation, what is necessary is a properly co-ordinated approach towards apolicy on book development.

Burford Hurry argues in this issue for the establishment of a NationalBook Council. Such a Council, as part of a National Book Development Policy,could help to solve the problems besetting the book world, and would involveall those concerned with books — from their production to their promotion.The Zimbabwe Library Association must play a leading role in the develop-ment of such a policy.

Roger Stringer

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HELPING ZIMBABWE TO READThe need for a National Book Council of

Zimbabweby Burford Hurry*

In the poem, The Song ofLawino, by the Ugandan poet, Okot p'Bitek, a womanbewails the fate of her husband, Ocol, who she says 'has lost his head in theforest of books.' Unlike Ocol's wife who believes that her husband has been ledastray by books, we jn Zimbabwe believe that books and book-relatedmaterials have an essential role to play in Zimbabwe's cultural and educationaldevelopment.

The Prime Minister as well as the Ministerof Education and Culture have alwaysstressed the importance of relevant books forZimbabwe. Despite this implicit support forthe development of a national book industryvery little has been done in practical terms topromote the production of books forZimbabweans. And some practical guidanceand help is necessary if we are to improve asituation where papermakers, printers andpaper-importers, booksellers, librarians anddistributors interpret individually and oftenunilaterally the needs of the Zimbabweanreading public.

The Zimbabwean situation is in manyrespects not unique. It is reminiscent ofsituations which have occurred in those partsof the world where an indigenous bookindustry is struggling to establish itself and todevelop its own identity. The main differencebetween Zimbabwe and other parts of theworld is that Zimbabwe is probably in abetter position to remedy and change thesituation to suit itself.

What are the factors that are restrictingthe establishment of a vigorous, dynamic andprogressive book industry in this country?The first and probably the most importantfactor is that Zimbabwe is moving from a pre-literate to a literate society. Therefore the

greatest demands for books in this countrycome from the students in the differenteducational systems. This places a tremen-dous strain on us. Most of our energies,publishing resources and our foreign currencyis expended on feeding the voraciousdemands of a learning public. The textbookdominates the book scene. Very little time ormoney is spent on other kinds of books whichare needed to stimulate and encourage thenation's cultural growth. As a result there isvery little reading material, outside the text-book, in either mother-tongue or English, forthe vast majority of readers in Zimbabwe. Inaddition, the lack of a nationwide libraryservice means that most people do not haveeasy access to the material that is available.Bearing in mind that most of the populationof Zimbabwe is under the age of sixteen thisonly exacerbates the problem as traditionalcultures and customs disappear with thebreak-up of the extended family. The samesituation prevails among newly-literate adultswho also need more reading material toencourage them to read.

Another factor which continues to affectthe book industry is an historical one. In thepast the emphasis in the book trade was onthe importation of foreign reading materialby foreign publishers and writers. There was

"Burford Hurry was Head of Department of English at Gweru Teachers College. Last year he was one of

Zimbabwe's representatives at the UNESCO Book Fair in London. He is presently working on a series of textbooks

called 'English for Communication' to be published shortly for secondary schools by a local publishing house.

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Helping Zimbabwe to Readlittle incentive to develop cadres of giftedand dedicated writers, editors, illustrators ordistributors in Zimbabwe. The result is thatwe do not have enough skilled people toproduce all the local books that we need.

We must also recognise that the financialresources of our country are finite. It isimperative that we make the most of themoney that we have available. The demandsof our small but growing publishing industryplaces a strain on the foreign exchangeneeded to import machinery, paper and othermaterials needed for book publishing. With-out direction and help a divided andunco-ordinated book industry could vitiateits efforts, progressing at a rate insufficient tomeet the demands of a developing state.

What can we do to improve the situation?There are some signs that various groups inthe country are taking tentative steps towardsrelieving the situation. A national publishers'association was formed last year; we havehad a booksellers' association for some timenow; there are printing organisations andassociations; there is a national libraryassociation; the Ministry of Education andCulture have established curriculum de-velopment units; local publishing houseshave run courses and seminars to traineditorial staff, proofreaders, etc.; we havehad our first very successful internationalbook fair and there are numerous organisa-tions anxious to promote adult literacy. Butwhat we lack is a co-ordinating council tointegrate and streamline and direct theefforts of all those involved with the bookindustry so that the thrust becomes morepurposeful.

At the UNESCO book congress in Londonlast year, the idea of book councils wasstressed again and again. The formation ofnational book councils in those countrieswith emergent book industries was seen asvital to the overall development of thecountry. The establishment of such a councilin Zimbabwe, in view of the situationpertaining here, would seem to be of thegreatest urgency. Such a council would have

an advisory role in co-ordinating the variouswork done by the different participants in theZimbabwean book industry.

With the financial support of the govern-ment, such a council would be responsiblefor:1. ensuring that the book industry fulfilled

to the best of its ability the cultural andeducational aims and aspirations of theZimbabwean people;

2. promoting national book developmentthrough its advice and assistance to allprofessions associated with the booktrade including printers, writers, editors,publishers, distributors and librarians;holding relevant seminars, trainingcourses, etc.;

3. giving special assistance to publishers toencourage the publication of books, bothuseful and entertaining, which may nothave immediately high sales potential;

4. rationalising and facilitating the distribu-tion of all requirements needed in theprinting industry;

5. promoting the reading habit with the helpof expanded library services;

6. ensuring that textbook committeesoperate from firmly based national curri-culum objectives and that textbookpublishers are made aware of these ob-jectives too;

7. giving every encouragement and induce-ment possible to the publishing of booksin the vernacular;

8. considering ways of facilitating the wideand cheap distribution of books throughZimbabwe, not only in the urban areas;

9. considering how the volume of importedbooks can be reduced without inhibitingthe nation's development.

As can be seen from the above functions ofa national book council, this would be anideal way of forging the different parts of thebook industry together, giving it greaterpurpose and direction. Without it, the in-dustry's members will continue to wanderaimlessly into the future.

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23rd A.G.M. and Conference: Into the '90's

The 1983 A.G.M. and Conference was held at Gweru Teachers' College onSaturday and Sunday, 23rd and 24th April. A summary of the proceedings of theConference follows, together with the full text of the key-note address by theDeputy Chief Cultural Officer in the Ministry of Education and Culture, Mr.John Mapondera.

The Commissioner of the City of Gweru,Mr. Ernest Tongogara, welcomed delegates.Officially opening the Conference, he saidthat holding it in Gweru would boost themorale of local members of the ZLA. Hesuggested that the smaller centres should beconsidered for conference venues so that theZLA's functions could be made known tomore people.

Sunday's proceedings opened with a paperfrom Mr. T. Chifunyise of the Division ofCulture on "The role of information anddocumentation centres in cultural animation."He defined cultural animation as that actwhich enables people to express in variousways their performing and individual arts, forexample, folklore, crafts, music and dance.

Mr. Chifunyise suggested ways in whichlibrarians could become cultural animatorsthus giving life to the material in theircustody and preserving the cultural heritagefor future generations. His lucid exposition ofthe role librarians could play in culturalanimation opened up a new field in collectingand providing information.

The ideas of the multi-media approach tothe library service and cultural animation arelinked to the proposed National Library andDocumentation Service whereby library ser-vices will operate from culture houses to bebuilt throughout Zimbabwe.

The second session dwelt on the enlargedrole of academic and special libraries. Mrs.B. Pfukani, Assistant Librarian, Universityof Zimbabwe, delivered a paper on the partthe university could play in spearheadingdevelopment within the country and inter-nationally with special regard to the SADCCcountries. She said the library's future was

dictated by widening academic needs and thewider roles the university was expected toplay in national development.

Speaking on the same theme, Mr. W.G.McD. Partridge, Librarian, Bulawayo Tech-nical College, said that access to informationheld in special and academic libraries shouldbe more efficiently organized to serve themasses.

Computers and their application in librarieswas the topic of a paper by Mrs. T. Harvey,Head of Library and Information Services,British Council, Harare. Mrs. Harvey saidthat computers could be applied to both thehousekeeping aspect of library work (circula-tion control, cataloguing, and managementstatistics, for example) and informationretrieval. To illustrate her talk, she showed afilm on the Automated Library CirculationSystem at the University of Strathclyde.

Although suggesting that the NationalLibrary and Documentation Service shouldseriously consider starting with a computersystem, Mrs. Harvey did warn against possiblepitfalls in introducing such a system.

The final session was concerned with theeducational role of librarians. Speakers wereMr. F. Sithole, Agritex, and Mr. R. Stringer,Librarian, Gweru Teachers' College.

Mr. Sithole said librarians and members ofhis department had in common the dis-semination of information and the need touse audio-visual aids in communicating thatinformation, particularly in the rural areas.Apart from books, Mr. Sithole proposed thatlibraries in the 1990s should include in theircollection models, drawings, multi-mediasuch as slides and cassettes, and the 'realthing'. He showed the audience a videotape

36

A.G.M. and Conferenceon the importance of visual aids in theprocess of learning.

Mr. Stringer's paper was entitled 'Librari-ans are teachers'. He said that with the openlearning approach to education, librarianshad a purpose to fulfil in teaching as well as inproviding information. He said that iflibrarians acknowledged their role as teach-ers, educators, or facilitators, those people

more directly involved would recognise thisrole and not see librarians as a mere supportto their own roles. He acknowledged, how-ever, that many members of the professionwere divided on the question of librariansand their role as educators.

Acknowledgements to Shelfmark, No. 99, April 1983.

A.G.M. and Conference 1984The ZLA is calling for nominations for Council for 1984. Remember theZLA is your Association and if you want your views made known youmust nominate people who will run the Association as you wish. Sendyour nominations, signed by nominee, proposer and seconder, to theSecretary, ZLA as soon as possible.

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THE ROLE OF LIBRARIES TO THE YEAR 2000

Key-note address to the Annual Conference of the Zimbabwe Library Associationby the Deputy Chief Cultural Officer, Mr. John T.E. Mapondera*

Ladies and gentlemen, when your secre-tary asked me to come and speak here today,it was almost as if the ghost was being askedto come alive, for I have been indirectlyconnected with your annual meetings sinceindependence when I have assisted theMinisters in providing some of the back-ground for their addresses. Let me admit thatit seems so much easier when you are doing itfor the Ministers than for oneself. Thisshould explain any apparent lack of style inmy delivery and I therefore crave yourindulgence.

What is more, your Secretary kindlysuggested a guiding theme for my address,'The Role of Libraries To the Year 2000'.This was like a licence to gaze at the stars andI took full advantage of it. I fully appreciatethat for you the line will always be very thinbetween what is day dreaming and what ispotential Government policy. Let me how-ever assure you that I have tried to avoid anypolicy matters in order to allow both of us thenecessary scope to look at the future withoutany rigid pre-dilections.

Since I have been involved with most ofyou in developing the National Library andDocumentation Service, I have become in-creasingly aware of the enormous gap whichhad existed between the library services inour country and the tremendous advanceswhich were taking place elsewhere in theworld of library and information science.Somebody has been bold enough to say thatthe Third World has no choice but to eitherleapfrog into the 'information age or sinkback into the dark ages'. The reason for thisis easy enough to understand. For as theworld grows more integrated, decisions aremade on the most up to date information and

if developing countries cannot avail them-selves of it, they will continue to be victims ofself-interested decisions made by others.

But then we cannot ignore the fact that allcommunication is cultural specific. You startwith the language that is used, this is in itselfa medium of communication but could alsobe a barrier. Then there is the material mediaand the various sound media. The culturalspecificity of communication will determinethe mode which society will use tocommunicate information and new ideas. Ashas been seen from our experience during thecolonial era, communication has beenchanneled through the colonially controlledmedia of two local languages (Shona andSindebele) and the dominant Englishlanguage. Various media were adopted forthe use of these languages, but the maincharacteristic was the predominance of thewritten form.

To introduce the written form, variousmethods of cultural transformation wereutilised, with the net result that a smallminority of the majority population wasassimilated into the culturally specific idiomdominated by western culture. In otherwords if one wanted easy access to infor-mation and knowledge he had to acquire thecommunication tools of the colonial masters.Little regard was paid to the existing modesof communication and information networkswhich were long established by pre-colonialZimbabwean civilisation. To illustrate theexistence of these forms of communicationsystems, all the m ':>r periods of activeresistance to colonial rule were characterised

*Mr. Mapondera has since been promoted to ChiefCultural Officer.

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The Role of Libraries to the Year 2000by the use of various cultural media such asthe more recent 'pungwe' which employedspirit mediums, (perhaps bone-throwers tooas they form part of the traditional infor-mation network in the community) song,dance and drama. I therefore do not sub-scribe to Gono Goto's outright dismissal ofthe spirit mediums and ngangas, before theirreal function in the community; is properlyunderstood from a sociological point of view.

I therefore see the role of libraries to dateas having been one that was designed tofacilitate the communication of informationthrough a limited range of culturally specificmedia, but this also served only a smallminority of society. I can only thereforepertinently look at the future role of librariesinto the year 2000 in terms of the necessarytransformation which will enable them toserve the broad majority of the peoplebeyond the limitations of the culturally

differentiated and specific media which theyhave been using in the past.

Having acknowledged the important rolewhich the spirit mediums and perhapsngangas play (and here I am thinking of thelikes of Mbuya Nehanda and the role of'pungwe' during the struggles for liberation)I must hasten to cut out the mystification ofritual and bone-throwing which tends to veil thereal information and ideas that are communi-cated through these mediums. The critics ofthese mediums are concerned about the non-scientific preliminaries which are ofteninvolved such as the trances and as I saidearlier, the bone-throwing, but if you analysethe message, beginning with the scientificmanner in which people like Mbuya Nehandadetermined the form of resistance to colonialsettlers then the medium that was used tocommunicate their ideas becomes less sig-nificant than the messages themselves. This

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The Role of Libraries to the Year 2000is why our country today rightly recognisesMbuya Nehanda as a national hero.

In looking at the future, I am trying to reachfor a point of convergence where the westernmedia of communication will meet with theAfrican media, thereby overcoming theirrespective cultural differences. I want ustherefore to get away from the theory ofcultural barriers to development and standthat theory on its head and begin to experi-ment with the use of those traditional culturalmedia used to facilitate development. In thisway I see us making a significant break-through in bringing the great majority of thepeople of our country into playing a moredecisive role in the development of theeconomy of our nation. And in my viewlibraries have a role to play here.

I have said earlier that our libraries hadlagged far behind the advances which havebeen made in the field of Library andInformation Science. One of the main forcesor incentives which has led to these advancesis precisely the recognition that librarieswere failing to cater for 70 per cent of theliterate public for which they were intendedas public amenities. As public libraries, theywere expected to provide informationresources to cover recreational needs and theneeds generally of the main branches ofknowledge. Academic libraries, speciallibraries and the National Free Library alldefined their functions to suit their morespecialised services. But all in all they onlyserved 30 per cent of an estimated 20 percent of the total population of our country.We therefore cannot afford to look into thefuture without a clear understanding of theinadequacies of the present and past services.

First, I shall look at the advances whichhave been made in Library and InformationSciences and then I shall look at ways inwhich we could integrate traditional culturalmedia into the future communication net-works, particularly in relation to rural develop-ment.

Libraries from the days of the library ofAlexander the Great, have been associatedwith repositories of archival materials andprinted publications and the activedissemination of information has almosttransformed the library service. Majorinnovations in the use of computers andcomputer-based information retrievalservices have brought libraries to the fore-front of providing public access to scientificand technical information. You might saythat libraries had long been in the business ofproviding scientific and technicalinformation through books and journals, butthe difference now lies in the volumes whichthe computer-based systems can hold andthe speed with which such information can beup-dated. These developments have beenunnecessarily viewed with suspicion bytraditional librarians, in the same way theyviewed the spirit mediums and traditionalsong and dance. What they failed to see wasthe fact that in the same way as the librarianwas the intermediary, either personally orthrough the filing catalogue, between thereader and the library holdings, so it isexpected of him or her to be the intermediarywho helps the inquirer in finding the relevantsources of information. Their role inabstracting and indexing materials across thevariety of independent sources and centresof information will continue. But they mustdemystify the electronic media.

The three main categories of service whichthe librarian offers will be essentially thesame even in the use of electronic services,viz: ensuring the reader's awareness ofcurrent literature of a subject of his or herinterest; facilitating the retrospective searchfor information which has been publishedover a period of time; and finally the referraland enquiry services which often depend onestablished networks. As I said earlier, as faras the Third World is concerned, there maybe no choice other than to leapfrog into thesenew advances. For the very substance onwhich the library service has been dependent,the book, is now more than ever before faced

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The Role of Libraries to the Year 2000by very serious challenges to its privileged roleas the principal instrument for transmittingaccumulated knowledge and new ideas. Therole of reading is being constantly modifiedby technological innovations and readersthemselves are integrating the book into anew and broader range of media sources. Thebook, could therefore rightly be described asa vulnerable and endangered species. Manyfactors add to this threat, not least theeconomic trends in the book market, butmost significant are the technologicalchanges. It has, for instance, been predictedthat in the very near future, televisionscreens in the home could be directly linkedto the Library of Congress in order to provideeverybody with access to the fullest infor-mation on contemporary research and science.An even more extreme prediction is of theday when access to an intelligent computer

could be made direct by voice, withoutrecourse to a computer language, thus savingthe developing countries the long andwearisome task of learning to read and write.The French marxist writer, Jean-Paul Sartre,has accurately observed that, 'A book iseither just a little packet of dry leaves, or elsea magnificent form in movement: reading'.Librarians can therefore not afford to wedthemselves inexorably to one medium ofinformation to the neglect of the others whichare being developed.

Further to what I said earlier with refer-ence to the media of the 'pungwe', Jean-Claude Passeron has advocated the breakingdown of past artificial barriers whichseparated the book from all other media ofcommunication. He emphasises that we

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The Role of Libraries to the Year 2000should concentrate on the message,'.. .whichis the only way the medium, and theperceptions its users have of it, can beproperly understood.' We therefore move onfrom the medium to the message, and fromthe message to what people make of it.

When we look at our situation in this way,what might have looked like the deathblow tothe book becomes more an injection of a newlease of life. The media are themselves not atwar at all, rather they complement eachother. On my several visits to the GeorgesPompidou Centre in Paris, it has beenexplained to me that a revolution had takenplace in the democratisation of access toculture in all its forms of expression andtransmission.

This has been achieved through the intro-duction of a multi-media approach to thelibrary service, which includes rotary slideprojectors, video screens, sound tape booths,microfilms, discographs, magazines, picturebooks and general books. All these media areavailable to reinforce each other. Thus apublic which includes a majority of the youthand workers which had felt excluded from thetraditional realm of the book, comes alive toavail itself of the access to culture which isafforded by these new media. Similarly, thetraditional cultural elites proceed in thereverse direction, moving from the booksource to the illustrated source throughslides and other pictographic media.

The librarian becomes a cultural mediatorcapable of facilitating access to informationand new ideas to all sections of society whilebeing protected against the real danger ofbook-fetishism. In this way the librariangains full control of all information media andthoroughly demystifies it in the service of thepublic.

Now, I finally want to come to the point ofconvergence for the western media of infor-mation and the traditional 'pungwe'. Thefirst instrument that we have in communi-cation as we have noted earlier is language, —the spoken language. In a culture that ispredominantly oral, this forms the mainmedium of communication of informationand new ideas. There is then the increasinglyimportant visual media. I have shown how themost advanced western information tech-nology is now seeking to overcome thebarriers of illiteracy by aspiring to soundaccess to 'intelligent computer-based' infor-mation. This is not a campaign for illiteracy,but a plea for us not to hold back a majority ofour people from playing a vital role innational development, by using westernmedia as barriers to communication. If it hasbeen proved in the past that the entiremasses of the people could be mobilised toparticipate in the struggle for liberationthrough the use of spirit mediums and otherforms of cultural media like song and dance,then they too like the rotary slide projectorwarrant serious development and use by thelibrarian, as we advance into the year 2000.

I genuinely fear that if we underrate thesemedia, they will remain in the hands of otherswho are capable of putting them to what isoften seen as retrogressive or anti-revolutionary use in a socialist country, thusinviting the attacks of Gono Goto.

In conclusion therefore, I want to challengeyou, the librarians of today, to begin to lay thefoundation for the necessary transformationof the services that you offer in order tointegrate all the available media ofcommunication. For only then could we beginto talk about the democratisation of thenational service.

I want to thank you for having invited meand for listening with interest.

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confuse with Hansard: Parliamentary Debates).'House of Commons': Parliamentary Debates: 'Bills' 1905 to 1957 (do not confuse with

Hansard: Parliamentary Debates).'House of Commons': 'Command Papers' 1919 to 1956.'London Gazette' — Most.

always bought and sold by:

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• ASK FOR OUR CATALOGUES •

4243

FILM ARCHIVESby Pamela Francis*

Film Archives

This article arises from, but includes only a brief account of, my recentattendance at a conference and symposium on film archives in Stockholm. Itspurpose is to highlight an area of archives with which most Zimbabweans inthe information field are unfamiliar and to examine the situation of filmarchives in Zimbabwe.

The 39th Annual Congiess of the Inter-national Federation of Film Archives (FIAF)was held at the end of May, followedimmediately by a technical symposium,Archiving of the Moving Image in the 21stCentury, organised jointly by FIAF and FIAT(the International Federation of TelevisionArchives). Sponsorship was generously pro-vided by various Swedish funding bodies andUnesco for 16 delegates from developingcountries to attend the congress and sym-posium, followed by a week-long course onthe basic needs of a newly created filmarchive.

FIAF, with a permanent secretariat inBrussels, exists to preserve the world's filmheritage. Its standing committees on preser-vation, documentation and cataloguingundertake research, establish standards,issue technical information and publishindices, manuals and bibliographies,. Fiftyone countries hold full membership orobserver status. Zimbabwe is not a member,nor does it qualify for observer status, butalong with other developing countries, wasinvited to channel any requests for infor-mation and advice through the FIAF Secre-tariat.

The symposium on the moving image (i.e.film and videotape) was very technical andconsisted of workshops, exhibitions, toursand lectures covering such areas as advancesin techniques for preservation, colour fading,quality control of copying, documentationand equipment. The course on the needs of anewly created film archive dealt with basic

film handling and equipment and docu-mentation.

It is apparent that even by the standards ofother third world countries represented atStockholm, the situation of film archives inZimbabwe is most unsatisfactory, forreasons which will be dealt with later. Theconference has therefore generated a gooddeal of discussion and thought as to how itshould be rectified and also an awareness ofthe urgency of the task.

Before getting on to the technicalities ofpreserving moving images, however, oneshould first establish whether they are worthpreserving. They seem to me to constitute asimportant a part of a nation's culturalheritage as its paper archives, bookproduction or any other manifestation ofculture. From a documentary point of view,film provides an audio-visual record ofcontemporary social conditions and historicevents and achievements, of use not only tohistorians but which can be reproduced formass consumption in cinemas and on tele-vision, thus catering for the literate andilliterate alike. Paper archives serve theneeds of the educated on the whole, and theylack the immediacy, continuity and visualimpact of the moving image. There is thefurther equally important consideration thatfilm has long been regarded as an art form inits own right and therefore represents part of

'Pamela Francis is Librarian, National Archives ofZimbabwe.

I

a nation's artistic heritage along with itsliteratuie and painting, for example. Thecase for preserving film is as strong or asweak as the case for preserving any otherrecord of our civilisation.

The proper preservation of film is regret-tably more expensive and more fraught withproblems than the preservation of paper.Colour film in particular deteriorates rapidlyeven in temperate zones, and in our climatethere is likely to be a total loss of imageswithin a century. It is also susceptible tofungus growth, shrinkage, buckling andbrittleness. Permanent preservation calls forstorage in constant sub-zero temperaturesand low relative humidity in which deterior-ation is almost halted. There are, needless tosay, few film archives even in the developedworld which store film in these conditionsand those that do seem to experiencedifficulties with humidity control.

A further complication is that until theearly 1950s most 35mm film was producedon a nitrate base which is highly inflammableand deteriorates rapidly outside a controlledenvironment. Once the deterioration starts,it is irreversible and badly deteriorated filmis spontaneously combustible. If any librariesin Zimbabwe have lurking in their premisesblistery film emitting a pungent odour, may Iadvise them to call the fire department todispose of it.

Apart from the special storage require-ments of film, its handling and repair demandthe skills of technicians trained to work toarchival standards, access to special equip-ment for cleaning, conditioning and viewingand to laboratory printing facilities. Whereonly one copy of a film is known to exist, it isregarded as the master copy; it should neverbe projected, which causes scratches andother damage (particularly to old film), andusers should be given access only to copies.

Videotape storage requirements are notas complex as those of film but there areother problems peculiar to their preservation

and to the use of video archives. Firstly, thetechnology is advancing so fast that equip-ment becomes obsolete rapidly and thearchive should ensure that the obsoletemachines necessary to use and view oldermaterial are retained. Secondly, for reasonsof economy, film producers erase tapes forre-use, resulting in serious gaps in newscoverage, for example. Thirdly, where thetapes belong to news-gathering services, theyneed not only to be readily available physicallyfor re-use when the demand arises, but thecontents need to be documented in detail toprovide speedy access to particular newsitems.

To come now to the situation in Zimbabwe.The National Archives is the only institutionwhich houses film for the sole purpose ofpreservation. However, although it has astatutory obligation to collect and preservethe records of government and all localpublications, its mandate does not extend tonon-book materials, and it does not have anactive or systematic programme for theacquisition of film. Those that do arrive comeby way of gifts or a clearing out by theDepartment of Information. The film-makersare obviously more concerned with pro-duction than with preservation and are notunder any legal obligation to deposit copiesof their work with anyone or to ensure itspreservation themselves.

In short, there is no single agency inZimbabwe charged with specific responsi-bility for the preservation of film, or with thefacilities and staff (technicians and docu-mentalists) to accomplish it. By contrast,Mozambique has a national film institute andarchive, trained staff and deposit legislation(which also covers foreign films shown in thecountry, which must be lodged in the archivewhen they come off circuit).

It is clear that the National Archivescannot institute a meaningful preservationprogramme with its existing resources, and itis unlikely that funds will be made available

44 45

Film Archivesfor equipment on the scale required in thepresent economic climate. The first step inestablishing a film, or moving image, archiveshould be an approach to the film makers anddistributors (who have equipment andresources) to alert them to the need forpreservation and to enlist their active supportand participation. Subsequent appeals forfunds will be greatly strengthened by a co-ordinated approach from all those involvedwith film.

The following specific aspects of a filmarchive will have to be examined and pro-vided for:

Deposit of material. Legislation shouldbe enacted requiring the deposit of a copy ofevery documentary or feature film made inZimbabwe, whether or not by Zimbabweanproducers. Some countries require the de-posit of all foreign films shown locally on thegrounds that once their citizens have beenexposed to them, they become part of theirnational cultural heritage. I do not believe atthis stage that any priority should be given tothe deposit of foreign films which arepresumably being preserved in their countryof origin.

The position with regard to videotape issomewhat different, given the financial impli-cations for the producers (mainly ZTV). Itseems most unlikely that they would beprepared to deposit every tape they make,when balancing their budget probablydepends on the repeated re-use of the tapes.Furthermore, much of the film shot isprobably not worth preserving in its entirety.Selected material could be copied for deposit,although this raises the question of whoshould do the selecting. Not surprisingly,archivists feel that this should be theirresponsibility in view of their training.

Storage. Although ideal conditions callfor temperature and humidity levels wellbelow those necessary for paper archives, theparamount requirement is constancy in both.

Any reduction in temperature retards theprocess of aging with its attendant problems.Storage vaults could be incorporated in theproposed new Records Centre buildingplanned for completion before the end of thedecade.

Equipment and laboratory facilities.The Department of Information has one ofthe best equipped film laboratories in Africa.Access to their facilities would eliminate thenecessity to purchase most of the requiredequipment and should not seriously incon-venience them as the volume of archival workis unlikely to be high.

Staff. Trained librarians have skills whichcould be adapted easily to the documentationrequirements of film. However it will benecessary to train technicians, even thosefamiliar with the handling of printing of film,to deal with the problems of repairing,restoring and printing old film.

The alarming prospect exists already thatlarge areas of our film heritage will bepermanently lost if immediate action is nottaken to save it. The inexorable process ofcolour fading in film can be retarded only byproper storage conditions and is alreadyclearly evident in films made in the fortiesand fifties which are housed in NationalArchives. ZTV wipes videotapes for re-useand there must already be considerable gapsin news coverage which can never berecovered for posterity. As a matter ofurgency, a co-ordinated policy for filmpreservation should be formulated and officialbacking obtained to implement it.

46

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF ZIMBABWE

LIBRARIAN

The National Archives has an immediate vacancy for a professionally qualifiedgraduate librarian.

Duties will include cataloguing, general reference work and assisting researchersin the use of all the Archives collections.

Appointment will be made, according to qualifications and experience, on thesalary scale:—

$7 152 x $372 to $8 640 x $432 to $12 096

The usual government conditions of service and benefits apply.

For application forms and further details, write to:—

The DirectorNational Archives of ZimbabweP. Bag 7729CAUSEWAY

PUBLISHERS - BOOKSELLERS - LIBRARIANS

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47

OF UMBRELLAS ANDCHANDELIERS

by Deborah Barron*

While in England on holiday this year I was able to take advantage of theBritish Council's generous visitorship scheme and spent two weeks visitingvarious library authorities. I stayed within my own sphere, which is publiclibraries, and was mainly interested in observing the current state ofautomated circulation systems.

The three leading systems in use atpresent are Plessey Module 4, GEAC andAutomated Library Systems (ALS) and theauthorities using these all seemed happy withtheir choice. The systems have the samebasic information stored; borrower file (name,address, number), author/title/class numberof each title held, item file (number assignedto each copy held). Several authorities felttheir circulation system gave them sufficientstock control for their needs and they wereunlikely to invest in computerised cata-loguing.

I won't go into technical details (in case Iget caught out) and will just give a few of myimpressions. As far as the readers areconcerned, I was most impressed by theamount of information that could readily bebrought up on the VDU (visual display unit);not just name, address and number, but alsodetails of books on loan, any fines owing,reservations outstanding. How marvellousnow when a reader comes in and says, "Iknow I've four books on loan but I can findonly three. Can you please tell me what Ihave?", not to have to look sheepish andconfess that you have no way of producingthat information. Instead, a few taps on thekeyboard and there are the details. There arevarious trapping devices built in to alert staffto a particular borrower. The more seriousreasons set off an audible signal but there areoccasions when there is only a visual signal onthe issue terminal. Assuming the signal isnoticed, the assistant can cross to the nearest

VDU, type in the borrower's number andsome message such as "umbrella left behindafter last visit" will appear on the screen.

I also visited an authority which is makingextensive use of information databases. Wespent about twenty minutes "talking" on thephone to ERIC, a database in Palo Alto,California. I was able to have a printout of allthe titles and abstracts of articles that werebrought up on the VDU as relevant to thesubject we were researching. The cost of thisexercise to the county was only US$10.

I came away full of enthusiasm for theflexibility obtained through automation andthe potential for utilising and exploiting theinformation stored, for the benefit of theusers. There can obviously be problems,some of them serious, some amusing. Onebranch library had a meddling young reader,who leaned across the counter and switchedoff the multiplexer, thereby shutting downthe issue and discharge terminals. This wasreadily switched on again, but it was sometime before the staff realised that thecomputer had, as a matter of course, movedon to the next day's issue date! But, wherethe level of business transacted warrants theintroduction of automated systems, I feelthat automation can only benefit all involved,both staff and public.

"Deborah Barron is Librarian, Bulawayo MunicipalLibraries.

48

Of Umbrellas and ChandeliersAnother aspect I was interested in was

interior design. I can't say I gathered a host ofscintillating ideas, but there were someinteresting concepts. Sutton Library is wellknown in library circles for its differentapproach. They have adopted an aggressivepolicy of fundraising, selling publications,stationery, T-shirts etc., and in fact generatea lot of their own finance. The library hasbeen built between the main town car parkand the shopping centre and people areencouraged to use the library as a thorough-fare. Only half the ground floor is occupied bythe library, the other half has a thriving coffeeshop, and an area that is used for a variety ofpurposes from exhibitions to council meet-ings. The idea is to have the public see thelibrary as an alive, integral part of their socialactivity.

The library uses an integrated stock, withreference and loan collections shelvedtogether. The various floors are arrangedaccording to subject and interest areas andall the stock is colour coded, e.g. the groundfloor is fiction and other forms of literature.The books, audio-visual material etc. carry ared spot and all the furniture on that floor,including the carpet, is red. When a readerreturns a book (the library handles a million

issues a year), it is sent on a chute to thebasement. There the books are sorted accord-ing to their colour and carried by lift to therelevant floor for shelving.

I visited one library that had been openonly a month. The architect had been givenfairly free rein and had pursued a woodlandtheme. This included "trees" rising to themezzanine floor and the staff were of theopinion that these could be used as gallowsfor recalcitrant children! The building was agentle semi-circle. The outer curve wassolid brick and rather daunting but the innercurve was all glass and gave an openwelcoming vista. In the library, none of theshelving was higher than about 4¥i feet,which perpetuated the attractive spaciousatmosphere.

I must get in one last dig at the archi-tectural features. One library had somestunning chandeliers created from tubularlights. The problem was that they couldnever be switched on without frying anyonestanding in the vicinity.

It was all a most interesting and enjoyableexperience and I am very grateful to theBritish Council and to the many librarianswho graciously showed me around.

WE CARRY EXCELLENT STOCKS OFPrimary and Secondary School Textbooks

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WE ARE CONTRACTORS TO THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATIONAND ABOVE ALL WE OFFER SERVICE

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Paget House Phone 22553 P.O. Box 105687 Union Avenue Harare

49

EDUCATING LIBRARY USERSby Roger Stringer*

In July, thanks to the support of the Commonwealth Foundation and theBritish Council, I travelled to the U.K. to attend a two week British CouncilCourse: Educating Library Users, and the Third International Conference onUser Education.

User Education can be broadly defined aseducating library users to become to someextent self-sufficient in their use of a libraryand its resources. It becomes necessary inthe first place because we librarians tend tomake complex arrangements of the resources,label them badly and consequently have to'explain' to our users how they can find theirway around. One of the most basic elementsof User Education therefore, involves theclear and effective use of signs and guidingsystems to enable users to get past theobstacles of complicated classificationschemes and special collections, for example.

In addition, there is a need to educate nonusers as to the services offered by the library,and to make users aware of available servicesthey are not using. While these and otheraspects of User Education applicable to alltypes of library were dealt with in the Courseand Conference, my particular interest was inthe problems of User Education related toacademic libraries.

Recent research is showing what perhapssome of us feared already — that studentsuse libraries only to obtain the informationthey need to be able to write assignments orpass examinations. Such information isusually available in the short-loan collection,or at least on recommended reading listsprovided by lecturers, and the students' useof the library involves little more than thequestion: "Can you give me ... ?" Dostudents therefore need to be taught muchmore than the location of the short-loan deskand perhaps the photo-copying machine?

This question inevitably leads to a debate

as to whether there is any intrinsic value inbeing able to use a library. It is just aboutimpossible for a librarian to say that there isnot — after all, that is probably why we joinedthe profession. However, the fact is thatmany people can be successful without usinglibraries. What is perhaps more true is thatthere appears to be an intrinsic value in beingable to use the resources that a library mightcontain. This would then lead somewhataway from the traditional User Educationprogrammes which emphasise the use of thecatalogue, etc., and more towards the skillsinvolved in defining needs, purposes andenquiries, and in making effective use of theinformation once it has been obtained.

This approach becomes even more validwhen one considers the developments thatare taking place in the field of informationtechnology. Librarians are becoming less andless necessary as intermediaries in informa-tion searches since, with the advent of thecheap micro-computer, the end-user is ableto interrogate sources of information himself.What is important is that the user canformulate the correct questions, understandsthe search strategies required, and canobtain information suitable for his needs.The librarian must therefore use his expertisein educating information handlers in theseskills if the profession is to survive.

Two other points which emerged from theCourse deserve highlighting. The first is the

* Roger Stringer is Librarian, Gweru Teachers'

College.

50

Educating Library usersneed for a national policy on User Education.I believe that such a policy would providevaluable support for librarians attempting tointroduce User Education programmes, andwould also give greater validity to suchprogrammes in terms of their value ineducational institutions. Secondly is thequestion of a national clearing house on UserEducation. This would function as a central

office for the co-ordination and disseminationof information on User Education. One of themajor problems in User Education is the lackof exchange of ideas between librariansinvolved in it — mainly because they areunaware of programmes being conducted bytheir colleagues. User Education is certainlysomething the NLDS must give considera-tion to.

ZIMBABWE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

LOGO

COMPETITION

The ZLA is looking for a new Logo. The Logo willbe used on stationery, etc., but will also need to beeasily adaptable for use in a special Logo to bedesigned for the 1 984 SCECSAL meeting in Harare.

Entries should be in black and white only, measuring30cm x 30cm, with the entrant's name written on

the back, and should be submitted to:The Hon Secretary,

P.O. Box 3133, Harare

by 13th January, 1984.

The competition is open to all ZLA members andthere will be a $10,00 prize for the entry chosen as

the new ZLA Logo.

51

A STORY OF CHANGEby Ken Loose

Once upon a time there was a land in whichthe people were very learned, and they con-sidered the education of their children ofgreat importance. The children were taughtby teachers who were skilled in thepresentation of knowledge. Teaching wasdone by word of mouth and by picturesbecause books were very expensive and wereunderstood by only a few. Very few people inthe land could read, not even the teachers.

And it came to pass that a great discoverywas made so that paper could be made atvery low cost. Soon some people in the landbegan to make their own books and someventuresome people began to make booksand sell them so cheaply that even thecommon people could purchase their ownbooks. And some teachers who could readsaid, "Let us use these books in ourclassrooms so that our children may learnabout books." And so it was done, and thechildren were delighted. And other teacherssaid, "I will put my lessons on the pages ofthe books so that the children may learn frombooks as well as about books." And it wasdone, and behold the children learned fasterthan before!

Some teachers feared the books andmurmured, "The books are evil, for thechildren will forget how to speak!" Andothers said, "What will become of us? If thechildren have books, will they have need ofteachers?" And many questions were askedacross the land. "Will the books be used forgood or evil?" And, "What effect will bookshave on our society?" And again, "Whichbooks are best?" And, "Who will pay forthem?" Many people said, "I cannot writebooks, therefore I cannot use them." Yetothers said, "I could never learn to readbooks." But the children said, "Books arefun, and they don't get angry when I make amistake."

And books were written for children andadults. These books contained games, andthe children begged of their parents topurchase books of games, and many weresold throughout the land. The children spentmany joyous hours playing the games. Someof the adults said, "See the children wastetheir intellect on games." But others said,"Nay, it is not a waste, for they are learningmany skills that will help them, and they alsolearned to read."

And behold, the elders across the landwent to wise men who could read, and somecould even write and had knowledge ofbooks, and said, "What shall we do? Ourteachers seek books and are asking us whichones to buy!" Some of the wise men wereappointed to study the problem, and theylooked at many kinds of books — evennotebooks, and ring binders, and scribblers,and paperbacks, and hardbound books, andeven great encyclopedias and libraries — andmany proposals were made. Some said, "Letus build great libraries and have a door fromevery school that joins the library." Andothers said, "Nay, let each school have itsown books so that the teachers and studentsmay work together."

The elders were silent for many days, untilone day one of the elders who was spokesmansaid, "We need books in our schools, andthere are many books from which ourchildren can learn. We wish to assist theschools in purchasing books. We have chosenone which is known as the three ring binder,for it is of good quality and can be used formany things, and there is much materialwritten for this binder, and the material isgood." After the elder spoke some weredelighted and said, "We are delighted for hechose well and because it is a good book."But others said, "He leads you astray. You -should buy binders with two rings for they are

52

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LongmanAvailable at all leading booksellers..

53

A Story of Changecheaper." And others said, "Nay, for themakers of the two-ring binders change thepositions of the rings so the pages do notalways fit." And there was great debateamong the people.

There were great numbers of booksthroughout the land, and the children did notforget how to speak. The teachers remainedand changed their methods to make use ofthis great boon. Courses were taught aboutbooks and about reading and writing andabout teaching from books (for it was quitedifferent from teaching by word of mouthalone). Businesses used books to record theirtransactions, and children used them forpleasure, and doctors and lawyers usedthem. The books were used and enjoyed byall who lived in the land.

And the people prospered and constructedmany machines to make their work easier.They developed great computers for thekeeping of records and for doing many tasksthat required repetition or rapid calculations.These machines were very mysterious forvery few people could use them — not eventhe teachers. And it came to pass that a greatdiscovery was made so that electronic circuitscould be made at very low cost. Soon somepeople in the land began to make their owncomputers, and some venturesome peoplebegan to make computers and sell them socheaply that even the common people couldpurchase and own a computer.

Some teachers who understood them said,"Let us use these computers in our class-rooms so that our children may learn aboutcomputers." And so it was done, and the

children were delighted. And other teacherssaid, "I will put my lessons in the memory ofthe computer so that the children may learnfrom computers as well as about computers."And it was done, and behold the childrenlearned faster than before!

Some teachers feared the computers andmurmured, "The computers are evil for thechildren will forget how to read!" And otherssaid, "What will become of us? If the childrenhave computers, will they have need ofteachers?" And many questions were askedacross the land. "Will the computers be usedfor good or evil?" And, "What effect willcomputers have on our society?" And again,"Which computers are best?" And, "Whowill pay for them?" Many people said, "Icannot program computers, therefore I can-not use them." Yet others said, "I couldnever learn to use computers." But thechildren said, "Computers are fun, and theydon't get angry when I make a mistake."

Time passed, and the new tools becamecommonplace. The elders would delight thechildren with stories of the times whenpeople had no computers and no data bankand no home terminals and when knowledgewas carried from place to place on sheets ofpaper and stored in great buildings calledlibraries. And when the children tired of thestories of the elders, they switched them offand wondered at how much ignorance musthave prevailed in the days when knowledgewas so scarce and so hard to obtain.

(Reproduced with acknowledgement from the AlbertaTeachers' Association Magazine, May 1982)

54

LIBRARIANS' CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP

The Librarians' Christian Fellowship islooking for new members. Officiallyconstituted in 1976, the LCF exists to bringtogether Christian librarians from a widevariety of library backgrounds. It provides acommon forum where current issues inlibrarianship can be discussed in the light ofthe Christian faith. Members are alsoconcerned to find ways in which the Christianmessage can be presented to colleagueswithin the library profession.

LCF is based in the United Kingdom, andthe majority of members are at present livingand working in that country. However, theofficers of the Fellowship are convinced thatthere must be many more Christian librariansaround the world who would benefit frombelonging to a Christian professional body.Members keep in touch with the Fellowship

via a regular newsletter, and through theannual journal Christian Librarian.

This year's Christian Librarian is likely tobe of wider interest, both within the libraryprofession and in Christian circles. There arearticles on the influence of religion on earlychildren's literature; the use and abuse of thesupernatural in recent children's fiction; andcurrent Christian publishing. The eminentbiblical scholar Prof. F.F. Bruce has written asurvey of developments in New Testamentcriticism during the 19th and 20th centuries.Copies are available price £1.60 (includingpostage.)

Copies of the journal, and details of theFellowship, are available from: Miss LindaColeman, B.Sc., 176 Marvels Lane, GrovePark, London, SE12 9PL., England.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES PUBLICATIONS TRUST

ZIMBABWE EPICIn this unique pictorial on Zimbabwe the National Archives presents the fruit of yearsof research and international quest for illustrations.

Extensive and fascinating information on the history and culture of the people ofZimbabwe (to whom this volume is dedicated) is here brought together in a singlesource-book, something that has never before been done. The period covered isimmense — from the probable origins of man in Africa millions of years ago, to thiscountry's great pre-colonial states, on to the restoration of independence in 1980.Much of the information comes from the latest archaeological and historical researchand many of the photographs (including those taken during the liberation struggle ofthe 1970s) have never before been published.

Thanks to a UNESCO grant the book is sold at a subsidised rate with the intention ofreaching as many Zimbabweans as possible. The text and pictures are a mine ofinformation and interest, bringing to life the previously-neglected heritage of thepeople, and presented in such a way as to appeal to all age groups.

250 pages, with 12 colour and 570 black and white illustra-tions, including maps, diagrams and reconstructions.

— NEW EDITION FORTHCOMING —

55

IN BRIEF

Since the new editor is not in the thick ofthings in Harare, it becomes more difficult tokeep up with what is happening in the libraryworld. All members are therefore requestedplease to let him know of any events, visits, etc.,which may otherwise escape his attention.

Library School

After a pause of a few months, some moresteps have been taken towards the establish-ment of the Librarianship Training School.Prof. Sam Kotei, Head of the School ofLibrary and Information Studies at theUniversity of Botswana visited Zimbabwe forabout four weeks in September in order tomake practical recommendations for theimplementation of the Dudley Report. Hisconsultancy, which was funded by UNESCO,included visits to the major libraries in thecountry in order to assess their ability to takestudents for practical library work duringtheir training.

At the same time, the Library SchoolAdvisory Committee and the CurriculumDevelopment Committee were convened forthe first time. The latter has been busycompiling the outline content of the syllabusfor the course, while the former has beendiscussing the details of policy. Prof. Koteiwas able to meet both committees in order toexchange ideas, and his report is now eagerlyawaited.

Book Fair

Members of the Association outsideHarare have been very busy over the last fewmonths arranging for the Bookweek AfricaExhibition to be displayed in their towns andcities. That the Exhibition should be seen

outside the capital is very important, and theZLA was very brave to take the tour on. It hasshown us how difficult it can be to mountsuch an exhibition with limited resources.The Association is therefore very grateful tothose local authorities who provided theirsupport. It is unfortunate that in those townswhere civic authorities did not assist, theexhibition was unable to take place.

Travels

As well as those visits reported elsewherein this issue, other Librarians have been^nmove. Mrs. Angeline Kamba, Director ofthe National Archives left Zimbabwe for afour-week trip to Europe in October. Shevisited Munich in West Germany, Bratislavaand Prague in Czechoslovakia and also paid avisit to Italy, and was travelling both in hercapacity as Director of the National Archivesand as Chairwoman of ECARBICA.

Mr. Stan Made, University Librarian andChairman of the ZLA, has been to Munich toattend a UNESCO/IFLA exchange ofexperience seminar for developing countries.The subject of the seminar was "Universitylibraries in developing countries — structureand function in regard to information transferfor science and technology." The seminarwas followed by the 49th Council andGeneral Conference of IFLA.

Mrs. Joyce Gozo, Assistant Librarian atthe University and Treasurer of the ZLA, hasbeen on a tour of American Libraries. Hervisit included participation in the annualmeeting of the American Library Associationin Los Angeles.

We look forward to further details of thesetrips in future issues of the journal.

56

LITERATURE

STUDY AIDSA series of cassettes and slides accompanied

by descriptive booklets

Recorded seminars produced in association with depart-ments of English at British Universities, each dealingwith a particular work or author. For example: TristramShandy; T.S. Eliot — Prufrock to Ash Wednesday.

Recorded interviews with leading British novelists anddramatists, such as William Golding, Malcolm Bradburyand Iris Murdoch.

Slide packs illustrating the literary, social, historical andgeographical background to the works of individualBritish authors, such as Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy.

Available for loan from:

British Council Library23 Stanley Avenue

P.O. Box 664HARARE

Call in or telephone 790627, extension 23, for our EnglishLanguage Teaching and Literature Publications catalogue.

57

In brief

JV.L.D.S. in Parliament

The Hon. H.S. Elsworth M.P. raised thequestion of the N.L.D.S. in the House ofAssembly recently during the debate on the1983/84 vote for the Ministry of Educationand Culture. The Minister's responseindicated that the project cannot go aheadunless sufficient funds are forthcoming. Itseems that at present there are not yetenough funds to enable all the plannedculture houses to be built, and for theN.L.D.S. headquarters to be established.

The ZLA is to request from the ChiefCultural Officer, information as to thepresent state of funding for the N.L.D.S. andthe Government's plans in view of theconstraints on public expenditure.

Full details of the debate in Parliament canbe found in Hansard (House of Assembly)Vol. 8, No. 3, Thursday, 1st September,1983, Cols. 179, 190, 199 and 201.

Appointments

Mr. Carver Mparutsa B.S, MLS,PGCE, was appointed to the post of SeniorLibrarian (Schools Library Service) in theMinistry of Education and Culture at thebeginning of July. He was previously teacher-librarian at Goromonzi High School andtakes over the post made vacant by theretirement of Mrs. June Smith. Mr.Mparutsa obtained his first degree andprofessional qualification in the UnitedStates, and his Post-Graduate Certificate inEducation in London.

IFLA 1984

The 50th Council and General Confer-ence of the International Federation ofLibrary Associations and Institutions will beheld in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 1984.Details are available from the editor, as isalso information about IFLA 1985 to be heldin Chicago, U.S.A.

Travelling Fellowship

The Frederick A. Thorpe TravellingFellowship will be awarded in 1984. TheFellowship is worth up to £2 000, and isavailable to librarians and others working inrelated fields for approved pieces of work,study, demonstration, innovation, researchand experiment in the supply of books andother reading materials, information andother media to handicapped and needypeople.

Further details and application forms, tobe submitted by 31st March 1984, can beobtained from: The Chairman of the F.A.Thorpe Fellowship panel, c/o The UlverscroftFoundation, The Green, Bradgate Road,Anstey, Leicester LE7 7FU, England.

ERRATUMJoyce Gozo's qualifications were inadver-

tantly omitted in the list of Office Bearers inthe last issue of the Zimbabwe Librarian. Thefull entry should therefore read:

Mrs. A J Gozo, BSc(Soc), HDLS.

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