Fourteen Caribbean countries are served by the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica, the foremost tertiary institution of the region. UWI has three campuses and a distance teaching enterprise; there are various links to schools of continuing studies in eleven institutions outside of Jamaica. In its 10-year plan, UWI proposes increased geographic coverage and the enhancement of continuing education, primarily through the distance mode. A number of cooperative programs are in place between UWI and other academic institutions, and also between UWI and organizations in the private sector. Sharing of resources in all these relationships takes place through the UWI library, which houses and accesses cooperative databases in energy, agriculture, health, and education. The library has become the focus of cooperative efforts at all levels.
Resource sharing is based on the premise that no library can acquire and own all the material its users need, due to the information explosion and the increasing cost of materials. Libraries in developed and developing countries face the limitations of budget restrictions. By sharing resources, a group of libraries can be better able to provide for the needs of their users. In the Third World, where libraries may be few and far between, major barriers to accessing information from their collections are time and space, as traditional communication methods take much time. Modern technology seems to offer a practical approach to resource sharing, as it allows large volumes of information to be moved over long distances at great speed.
The University of the West Indies (UWI) is the foremost institution of tertiary education in the Caribbean region, serving fourteen Caribbean territories through its three campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, and Cavehill in Barbados. The university’s Distance Teaching Enterprise (UWIDITE) is centred at Mona, with three other Jamaican teaching sites at Mandeville, Montego Bay, and Port Antonio. It links the three campuses, as well as the Schools of Continuing Studies in Antigua, Dominica, Montserrat, British Virgin Islands, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Crenada, St. Kitts, St. Lucis, Tobago, and St. Vincent, via a leased telecommunications network, which is used for interactive distance teaching and teleconferencing. [1] The university has a ten-year plan, in which an extension of UWIDITE is projected. [2] The program will cover more areas of Jamaica, and will include short courses as well as more convenient scheduling of courses for part-time students. There will be enhancement of postgraduate offerings and of research institutes. Such advances will bring increased demand for information by larger numbers of students and faculty. The application of new technology to library operations will be the only way to keep up with growing requirements. The staff of the Computer Centre collaborates with the library staff in the support of the university’s mission.
As an indication of the its commitment to cooperative endeavors, the university recently published a policy statement, the preamble of which states that:
from its inception, the UWI has derived considerable cooperative programmes with external institutions. However, the recent proliferation of requests for cooperative relationships, the several still born projects...and the uncoordinated approach to the development and implementation of programmes, necessitates the formulation of policy guidelines for the establishment and implementation of cooperative programmes. [3]
The same document also states:
the University of the West Indies shall enter into cooperative relationships with higher education institutions, regionally and internationally, [and] research centres, governmental or non-governmental, regional or international, where such relationships serve to further the mission of the university to foster intellectual stimulation, increase knowledge, promote regional and international understanding, and advance its priority programmes as described in its strategic
plans. [4]
Resource sharing in the context of joint research and development activity must be coupled with resource sharing in information services. It will be based on new technology already being used in libraries. Cooperation with the private sector will encompass activities in agriculture, industry, trade, energy, tourism, health, education, socio-economic planning, environment, and disaster management. Agencies working in such fields will share their resources with UWI, leading to stronger specialized databases. A number of databases and networks are already operating in the region: CEIS (Caribbean Energy Information system), CAGRIS (Caribbean Information System for the Agricultural Sciences), MEDCARIB (for health literature), and CARNEID (Caribbean Network for Education and Innovation for Development). CARNEID is administered by the Unesco office in Barbados; it links educational institutions in the English-speaking territories. All these shared resources are accessed through the UWI library, which has become the focus of cooperative efforts to meet the educational and research needs of the region.
[1] UWIDITE: University of the West Indies Distance Teaching Enterprise (Kingston: The University, 1990), pp. 1-6.
[2] University of the West Indies, Mona Campus Development Plan. 1990-2000 (Kingston: The University, 1990), p. 3.
[3] University of the West Indies, Cooperative Programmes: A Policy Statement (Kingston: The University, 1990), p. 1.
[4] Loc. cit.
Tereza A. Richards is a librarian at the Mona campus, University of the West Indies. Her M.L.S. is from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Before going to UWI, she was Librarian, Technical Information Services, Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica. She is active in the Jamaica Library Association, pursuing special interests in library education and in gender and development studies.
© 1994, Tereza A. Richards
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