Towards developing an accredited disaster management training course for LIS professionals in South Africa

Abstract

This article proposes an accredited disaster management course for library and information services (LIS) professionals in South Africa as a contribution towards a solution to the problem of burning of libraries. The ultimately objective is for the LIS professional to cascade their knowledge to the communities they serve. The article gives the scenario of burning of libraries in South Africa, provides some of the reasons found in the literature for these mishaps and offers education and training as a contribution towards a solution. Educating communities through non-formal and informal approaches, targeting both library users and non-users is viewed as an important strategy to combating this problem. Therefore teaching and learning for LIS professionals is fundamental. In view of roles and responsibilities of LIS professionals in the digital landscape, the disaster management course covers both digital and non-digital context. It is designed to use both theoretical and practical approaches to content delivery on disaster management for libraries. Considering that burning of libraries seem to be a nation-wide problem in South Africa, the article recommends that all heads of LIS schools be involved.