In order to support attendance for colleagues, fellowships cover airfare, hotel, transportation, registration, and food costs to attend Open Repositories 2023.
Although all applications were considered, preference was given to applicants living and working on the African continent and those applicants impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Open Repositories is happy to support the following chosen attendees:
- Adetomiwa Basiru, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
Dr. Adetomiwa Basiru is a Certified Librarian of Nigeria and a Member of the Nigerian Library Association, and currently Head of the Circulation Services, at Redeemers University Library. A seasoned librarian, he has many years of experience in library automation, scholarly communication, reference sources and services and acquisition of library resources. He has a Bachelor of Library and Information Science, a master’s degree in library and information science and a PhD from the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. He is a librarian with a firm interest in emerging technologies, especially those that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of people in both work and personal life. His innovativeness and professional proficiency have helped modernise the Redeemer’s University Library services. Dr Basiru has trained more than forty libraries in library automation and digitization, developed and implemented innovative professional services at the Redeemer’s University Library, and published broadly in high-impact local and international formats. - Luke Francis Kiwanuka, Makerere University Library, Uganda
Luke Francis Kiwanuka is an academic librarian at Makerere University with over 15 years of specialising in digitisation, repository administration, and information literacy training. He was instrumental in advocating for the formulation and the passing of the Open Access and Repository Policy at Makerere University. He holds a Master of Information Technology for Librarians from the University of Pretoria and was a 2009 AMIA/Rockefeller Visiting Archivist Fellowship Recipient. He is also an enthusiastic runner who dreams of participating in the 6 Abbot World Major Marathons and the Comrades Ultra Run. - Ester Ernest Mnzava, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Tanzania
Dr Ester Ernest Mnzava is a lecturer in the Department of Informatics and Information Technology, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. Apart from teaching, Ester has vast working experience in academic libraries, where she has been actively involved with information service provision, information management, research support services, and information marketing. Regarding study interests, Ester is interested in research that relates to information use and management under an online environment meant for diverse users, such as researchers, instructors, students in higher institutions, and agricultural stakeholders, including farmers.
- Tuelo Ntlotlang, Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), Botswana
Ms Tuelo Ntlotlang is a subject librarian at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology. She holds a master’s degree in library and information studies from the University of Botswana and a postgraduate diploma in information technology from Amity University. Tuelo is a certified instructor of Library Carpentry, and she serves in several organisations both nationally and internationally, e.g., the IFLA Academic and Research Libraries Standing Committee, the Botswana Libraries Consortium and the Botswana Open Data Policy Working Group. She has presented at conferences and published articles on topics such as library carpentry, library-researcher collaboration, and the role of libraries in the dissemination of health information.
- Kiflom Michael Kahsay, Research and Documentation Centre, Eritrea
Kiflom Michael Kahsay is the Director of the Eritrean Digital Library and President of the Eritrean Library and Information Association. He holds a master’s in information technology from the University of Pretoria. He had the opportunity to visit and gain practical experience at Milwaukee University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Library of Congress and Makerere University, all through Carnegie Foundation and University of Pretoria linkages. He has more than ten years experience of working with libraries and archives. Currently, he is engaged in the establishment of institutional repositories with DSpace and in the extension of digital libraries in remote areas of the country.
- Djogbenou Sogodo Leon, Media Library of French Institute in Benin, Benin
Leon S. Djogbenou is from Benin Republic, a West African and French-speaking country. He holds a bachelor’s degree in management of information services from the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin and a master’s degree in library management from the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. He has been working for the Library of the French Institute in Benin since 2006 and in 2019 he became the head of the library. The library has physical and digital collections and is visited by around 200 to 400 readers each day. Leon is a member of the Benin library association, and he intervenes as a student coach in the library school of the University of Abomey-Calavi, one of two public universities in Benin. Leon’s hobbies include reading (reading for me is like breathing), walking and traveling. He is married and has a handsome one-year-old boy.
- Phillip Ndhlovu, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe
Mr Phillip Ndhlovu is the Deputy Librarian at the Gwanda State University Library. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in library and information science from the National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe. He is an executive committee member of the Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium, with many years of professional experience. He is also the managing editor of the International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology Quarterly Journal. Previously, Mr Ndhlovu worked as the Institutional Repository Librarian at the National University of Science and Technology for more than ten years. His research interests include institutional repositories, bibliometrics and scientometrics as well as digital curation and preservation.
- Mpundu Chilonga, Kwame Nkrumah University, Zambia
Mpundu Chilonga is University Librarian at Kwame Nkrumah University in Kabwe, Zambia. He is currently a Ph.D. Information Science student at the University of South Africa (UNISA). He holds a Master of Arts in Information Science from UNISA and a Bachelor of Arts in Library and Information Studies from the University of Zambia. Prior to his current position, he worked as University Librarian at the University of Lusaka, Zambia, librarian at the Australian Institute of Business and Technology, Zambia, and as a reading room (library) consultant for Room to Read Zambia. He has also worked as College Librarian at Chipata Teacher Training College. His research interests include information literacy, knowledge management, information needs, and information-seeking behaviours of individuals.
- Feliz Chisoni, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi
Felix Chisoni is an Assistant Librarian for the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences in Malawi. He holds a BSc in Library and Information Science from Mzuzu University and an MSc in Health Informatics from the University of Leeds (UK). Prior to taking up the current role in 2015, he worked as a Training and Software Deployment Officer of Electronic Medical Record Systems for the Baobab Health Trust in Malawi. He currently manages a branch library where he works with researchers in conducting evidence synthesis studies such as systematic and scoping reviews. He is also the manager of the University’s Nkhokwe Repository, currently running on DSpace 7.2, and the library website. Outside his job, he teaches computer science-related modules at the GIS Department of the Malawi University of Science and Technology.
- Kelemwork Agafari Kassahun, Botho University, Botswana
Mrs Kelemwork Kassahun has a master’s degree in library and information studies from the University of Botswana, a master’s degree in rural development from Indira Gandhi National Open University and a postgraduate certificate in library digitalization from the University of Bergen. Currently she is doing her PhD in information systems at the University of South Africa (UNISA). She has published research papers and book chapters and presented conference papers at various national and international conferences.
- Tendai Mataranyika, University of Pretoria, South Africa (Zimbabwean)
Tendai Mataranyika is a final year master’s in information technology student, specializing in information science at the University of Pretoria. He is currently working on a mini dissertation on the nexus between open access, visibility and impact of research from private higher education institutions in South Africa. He works remotely as Research Coordinator for Two Oceans Graduate Institute, a teacher training academic institution based in Cape Town, South Africa. Tendai has more than 10 years’ experience working as a faculty librarian at the University of Zimbabwe. To date he has published four journal articles and a book chapter. Tendai is very passionate about open repositories and the sharing of knowledge for development within the context of SDGs.