A new study indicates that most Tanzanian researchers have access to online journals, which indicates a positive trend in easing research. Tanzania Education and Research Network (TERNET)’s e-readiness survey of academic and research institutions conducted between November and December 2014 with funding from International Network for the Availability of scientific Publications (INASP) indicates that higher education and research institutions in Tanzania are ready to use ICT for teaching, learning, and research with 8 in 10 researchers in most of institutions already accessing online journals.
The Study which sampled 70 research and education institutions listed lack of defined procedures for handling ICT issues due to the absence of ICT policies as a challenge in enabling access to desired online resources.
“It is noticed that, all institutions visited had an ICT academic unit/section/department. Most institutions had researchers who need various ICT platforms but most institutions had no such platforms or systems to facilitate research. The responses indicated that 84% of institutions have researchers and 81% have access to journals and online publications,” reads the report.
The report recommends development of ICT Policies and significantly strengthening of human resource including hiring of more network engineers, systems administrators and helpdesk staff as key solutions to integrating ICTs in teaching and learning.
The study analysed responses for each of the four categories of e-readiness indicators for each institution. 63% and 94% of respondents indicated they are awareness of The Consortium of Tanzania University and Research Libraries (COTUL) and TERNET respectively.
This is the first major e-readiness survey of academic and research institutions in Tanzanian conducted by the TERNET since its establishment in 2008. The 2014 e-readiness survey gathered detailed data from Tanzanian Academic and Research Institutions Read more here