Dr Khalifa spoke about the knowledge management systems and strategies at the AUC as well as issues surrounding the digitisation process, and highlighted the importance of digital archives for African knowledge. He also commended the Unisa Library for their use of enhanced systems such as RFID technology and e-resources for clients. Dr Khalifa stated that in 2003 the AUC approved a 2030 Strategic Plan which placed knowledge management at the heart of capacity building.

Dr Buhle Mbambo-Thata, Executive Director of the Unisa Library, commended the AUC for their collaboration with Unisa as it allows ‘the Unisa Library to access the African continent and its arising issues’.

This annual public lecture seeks to speak to the broad issue of African librarianship in the global context, and provides a platform for eminent African librarians, knowledge managers and LIS scholars to deliver lectures on a broad range of issues on African and International librarianship.

In her response to Dr Khalifa’s lecture, Dr Judy Henning, the Unisa Library’s Deputy Executive Director, reflected on the integration of knowledge management systems into existing programmes as ‘knowledge is human capital’.