(Guest blog post from Mrs. Rosemary Ndegwa, University Librarian, St. Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya. This workshop was part of the eIFL-FOSS Skills and Tools Workshops initiative.)

With support from eIFL.net, St. Paul’s University, Limuru organized a 4-day training workshop (17-20th August 2009) for Systems Librarians in the Kenya Library and Information Services Consortium (KLISC) to enhance their IT skills. The training workshop covered essential aspects of administering a Debian GNU/Linux server such as; installation, files management, network setup, cronjobs management, backups, as well as an introduction to the MySQL database server.

Debian was chosen due to its stability and security, offering the preferred environment for installing FOSS ILS such as KOHA, which Bishop Okullu Memorial Library migrated to and which is gaining popularity in the KLISC.

The 12 participants, each representing a different university, appreciated the initiative, the opportunity and the timeliness to acquire these skills, which some said were “helpful” and “insightful”. St. Paul’s University Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Esther Mombo, presented the participants with Certificates.

The training workshop provided a rare forum for systems librarians, who came together in that capacity for the first time. They formed themselves into a group that would forge ahead together by organizing follow up workshops to sharpen their skills in the ever-changing IT environment. The group also agreed to offer support to each other in systems installation and trouble shooting as a way of encouraging the use of FOSS in the consortium.

Mrs. Rosemary Ndegwa
Limuru, Kenya