| dc.description.abstract | The paper reviews the antecedents and evolving mission of the Africa Regional Centre
for Information Science (ARCIS) at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 0.\\ well as its
contribution of graduates from its Master of Information Science degree programme to
the information science and human resources of Nigeria and West Africa in particular,
and Africa in general. The review is based on the available data on A RCIS graduates as
at late 2003. Among the main findings of the study is that ARCIS graduates appear to
have attained significant market penetration in both the private and public sectors of the
Nigerian economy, and are holding down jobs in some of the most competitive subsectors
of both the public and private sectors, including banks and otherfinancial
houses, the oil industries and the universities. However, the employment of AReI,'),
graduates in other West African countries has been minimal because of the problems of
inadequate applicants and graduates of other West African countries, a challenge for
existing and new stakeholders in the ARCIS project.
Introduction
The world first learned of plans to establish an Africa Regional Centre for Information
Science (ARClS) at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, from a 23-page brochure
(University of lbadan, 1984a). The brochure carried a Foreword by the University's Vice-
Chancellor in which, among other things, the long-standing interests of the University in
hosting such a centre were underlined. Additional information provided in the brochure
included: the objectives and phased activities of the proposed centre, its organisational
structure, as well as service and academic programmes.
Two international organisations, UNESCO and Canada's International Development
Research Centre (IDRC), were quick to demonstrate an interest in the proposed ARClS | en_US |
