 |
 |
About Myself
: My name is Rajen
Munoo and I am from Singapore. I have a Master’s degree in Library
and Information Management from Sheffield, an Honours degree in Library
and Information Science from the University of Fort Hare and a Post-graduate
Higher Education Diploma from UNISA. In addition to providing Reference and Information Services, I am the Assistant Manager for Information Literacy Programmes (ILP) at the National Library Board (NLB) in Singapore. Information Literacy Programmes were identified in our corporate planning exercise as an area of focus needing priority. I was assigned project manager for an information literacy program in 1998. Since then our team was able to develop the programme further to its present form. About my Organisation :
For more information
visit the NLB web site on www.lib.gov.sg About ILP @ NLB ILP is part of the Services Delivery and Prototyping unit. The ILP team develops, designs and delivers information literacy training to promote our useful and convenient information and services to our customers. There are three levels of information literacy programmes offered to our customers which illustrates NLB’s commitment for lifelong learning and our ability to cater to all Singaporeans, from cradle to the grave. For a diagram that ilustrates our programmes, click here. Summary of SLTP
2000 Presentation: The percentage of
the population aged 15 and over who were literate as 1999 was about
93%. Even though this figure may seem very high, there are presently
various initiatives being implemented in the country to ensure Singaporeans
keep up to date and remain relevant as we enter the new millenium. Singapore is a knowledge
based economy whose backbone is propped by information technology. This
knowledge based economy is supported by a workforce of thinking, inquiring
workers who embrace the idea of life-long learning. The literacy of
Singapore is that of information technology (IT). The government’s
IT Masterplan focuses on "preparing younger Singaporeans for a
world which will be technology driven, at home, at work and at play.
IT literacy will be a basic skill of future jobs." (Senior Minister
of State for Health and Education, Dr Aline Wong, 21st May 1999) My presentation is an exposition of the new economy initiatives by government ministries and agencies such as the Education and Manpower ministries and Ministry of the Information and the Arts , of which the National Library Board (NLB) is a statutory board.
Covered in this presentation
are: The following is
an excerpt from a speech by Mr Lee Yock Suan, minister for Information
and the Arts and minister for the Environment, at the opening of the
World Book Fair, on 9th June 2000. "Statistics
on book loans and the book trade in Singapore show that the reading
habit is healthy and growing at a steady pace, despite increasing competition
from other media. Between April 1995 and March 2000, the number of loans
from our public libraries increased in 2.5 times, from 10 million to
24.7 million. Vistorship to public libraries grew even faster, an increase
of almost four times, from 5.7 million to 19.7 million during the same
period. This is a remarkable growth rate. The 19.7 million visitors
to our public libraries is higher than the 16.5 million cinema-goers
last year." "The increase
in the use of public libraries can be attributed to the rise in the
general level of education, the increased awareness of the value of
information and knowledge, and the government’s programme to develop
a comprehensive network of public libraries". The above data highlights the fact that even though Singaporeans may be a reading nation, there is a need to move beyond print…to pixels as we move into the electronic age. It is here this market that the NLB can find a niche to develop its information literate nation. At present the NLB offers three programmes to the general public and targeted customers. Our programmes use new and innovative ways of providing information literacy to highlight to evolution of literacy in the electronic age. For
the Full Text of the Presentation in Microsoft Word Format, click here.
|
|
|
