PASSION FOR RESEARCH IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION STUDIES
Dr Eric Boamah, Lecturer in the Library and Information Studies (LIS) programme at the Open Polytechnic, has developed his passion for library and information studies into an extensive amount of research in both New Zealand and overseas.
Dr Boamah is actively involved in New Zealand’s library and information sector as the President of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand (ARANZ) and a council member of the New Zealand branch of the Records and Information Professionals Australasia. He is also a professional member of the LIANZA and a member of the International Review Group (IRG) of New Zealand.
Originally from Ghana where he completed his first degree in Information Studies, Dr Boamah studied a Masters in Digital Library Learning from a consortium of three European universities, Oslo University College, Norway, Tallinn University, Estonia and Parma University, Italy with a European Commission Erasmus Mundus Scholarship. He later obtained his PHD from Victoria University of Wellington in 2014, with a Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Research Scholarship.
Dr Boamah recently received the 2019 Emerald Literati Awards of Highly Commended paper for his article “Information culture of Ghanaian immigrants living in New Zealand” published in Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication Journal.
Dr Boamah shared some of his reasons behind his passion.
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO PURSUE A CAREER IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION STUDIES?
My passion for information studies stems from the way I value information. I see information as the most powerful tool in the world. I believe that having the right, timely, authentic and accurate information means you are stronger and better equipped to face life’s challenges than if you had all other resources, but inadequate information to help you put those resources into appropriate use.
Being able to identify, access, evaluate and use the right information at the right time in our modern world of fast-developing digital technologies, cannot be over-emphasized. The most successful people in the world today are those who know what information they need and can effectively access and use it for their purposes.
My passion is for everybody to understand the usefulness of the information in their lives and follow the proper procedure to identify useful ones as records, preserve them as valuable assets and keep them as a memory of what we do today. This will help us to achieve sustainable development and avoid gaps in our future memory.
HAVING SEEN MANY INFORMATION STUDIES SECTORS ACROSS THE WORLD, HOW DO YOU THINK NEW ZEALAND COMPARES?
New Zealand is a world leader in terms of the development of information management tools and strategies and in digital preservation. I was particularly drawn to study information management in New Zealand after listening to a presentation on the Greenstone digital library software by Professor Ian Witten from Waikato University who came to Parma University in Italy in 2008 to tell students about what New Zealand is doing in terms of digital libraries.
I have also seen New Zealand records and information professionals organizing successful workshops in Africa and in the Pacific Islands to train information professionals to learn new skills. On many occasions, information professionals from Australia have come to New Zealand to learn about some of its information management software, such as Rosetta at the National Library of New Zealand. The Koha library management software, which was developed in New Zealand is very popular in libraries in India and Africa. So, having seen many Information Studies sectors across the world, I think New Zealand is a world leader in this field.
WHAT HAS BEEN SOME OF YOUR MOST INTERESTING RESEARCH TOPICS OR RESEARCH FINDINGS?
Some of my interesting research topics include:
■ Involving source communities in the digitization of heritage resources;
■ Technologies for sustainable information access;
■ Relative advantages of digital preservation management in developing countries
■ Auckland Libraries as a multicultural bridge in New Zealand
■ Impact of public library services on African immigrants in New Zealand
■ Effects of document format types and employees’ attitudes towards document creation and records management.
■ Information culture of Ghanaian immigrants living in New Zealand
Through these research studies, I have found that immigrants require information to help them easily connect and settle in various communities in New Zealand and public libraries have an important role to play to achieve this. Making immigrants aware of the services available to them is very important, especially for African migrants I have interviewed in my studies. One way for library staff and managers to easily reach African families is through African children in various New Zealand schools. Public libraries can organize visits to schools and talk to African kids about the services available for them and their families. Library staff can also reach adults through other institutions, such as second language providers within the community. Through this, immigrants will be aware of the services available to them and they will use those services to empower themselves and connect to New Zealand communities.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE FUTURE OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION STUDIES?
The information studies field has different components to it, including libraries, archives and records management, museums, galleries and so on, which are best described by professionals as the GLAM sector. For many years, components of the GLAM have seen themselves as individual fields having just some close relationships with the others. But now, the fast-developing digital technologies are blurring the lines between the GLAM and in the near future, I perceive a unified information management culture with the responsibility of ensuring that digital information asset is made accessible for as long as needed. For this reason, it is important for the various information professional associations and groups to start working collaboratively to help their members to be aware of, and understand what is involved in other fields within the GLAM. Such a comprehensive understanding will be useful for professionals to achieve progress in future information management and studies.
ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD?
The state of New Zealand’s information environment looks great with the skills, knowledge, experience, and passion of professionals today and most managers lookout for passionate people to work with. But now, some managers have started to realize that in the future, passion alone will not be enough. To quote the words of Public Libraries NZ Executive Director, Hillary Beaton, ‘passion dies, skills last a lifetime.’ The New Zealand libraries, archives, records and information profession need to focus on the development of the skills for professionals, especially the young ones, so that when the experienced and knowledgeable majority leaves the system through the imminent ‘tsunami’ of retirements, there will be effective replacements for New Zealand to maintain its place as a world leader in information management.