IGI Global Donates Books to Ethiopia: Interview with Joan Petit Reveals All

My students are first-year graduate students working toward a master’s degree in information science. Some are young, full-time students, though many have worked at least a few years before returning to school; others are full-time professional library and technology staff who received their undergraduate degrees many years ago.

How will this donation help with your plans in Ethiopia?

In Ethiopia, English is the language of instruction for higher education, and higher education is growing fast, with a great deal of investment from the government. However, Ethiopia has only a small academic publishing industry, and most instructors use research and course materials from other countries including India, Great Britain and the United States. Textbooks are often expensive; the cost of shipping makes it even more prohibitive. Instructors often use old textbooks held by the library because they simply cannot get newer editions. This is particularly a problem in library and information science, as our field is developing quickly and books can become outdated within a few years of publication. The IGI Global books are a great addition to the university’s collection of current materials on information and library science. The information science graduate students are Ethiopia’s future librarians and directors of information centers, and their work will benefit so many of Ethiopia’s students.

What type of research do you do?

My research project here looks at open educational resources (OER) and if they might be feasible given real limitations in infrastructure, including power interruptions and limited Internet bandwidth.

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A sincere thanks to Professor Joan Petit for sharing her story and collaborating with IGI Global for a worthy cause. Please take a moment to view her co-authored chapter “Innovation on a Shoe String: High Impact Space and Technology Updates in a Low-Funding Environment” within the title Cases on Higher Education: Spaces: Innovation, Collaboration, and Technology, along with a select few of the books IGI Global donated to Jimma University below.

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