The Women’s Suffrage Movement

The women’s suffrage movement began on both sides of the Atlantic with passion and grit. This revolution was the descendant of the Enlightenment ideas placed forth by philosophers during The Age of Reason. The idea of the suffrage movement was founded upon the concept that all human beings are created equal and are born with natural rights that they have a duty and an obligation to exercise. The Women’s Rights Movement was a struggle throughout because of the people in power who opposed it, but the movement was ultimately triumphant because of the men and women who fought devotedly for their beliefs. That fight for the vote now allows women today to freely practice a fundamental right. It took a hundred years for it to come to pass, beginning at the time of Mary Wollstonecraft and the Marquis de Condorcet. The law now permits women to practice the rights and responsibilities that come with citizenship.The women’s suffrage movement became a struggle to achieve because of the people, who opposed the notion that women had a duty to stand up for their natural-born rights. The movement imposed the principles of equality, liberty, and political justice and these ideas were not advantageous to the people who had power in a divided society. The proletarians were the ones that supported women’s rights, but the prominent, affluent, and powerful were afraid to change a system that worked to their benefit. The socialist and feminist ideas were not appealing to the people who had positions in parliament or government. Henry James, a British politician made a speech in The House of Commons in 1871, that gave reasons to neglect and disregard social equality when it came to matters of the state. He warningly advised the House of the wrongdoings of the opposite sex, “… women would have to make judgments on the basis of information obtained second-hand, and not from practical experience?”Henry James states that women do not have superior experience when it comes to having an opinion and deciding on political matters. James is part of a political system that gives him power and authority to converse to a group of prominent men and place substantial amount of influence on them. The socialist vision of equality cannot chime with men who wish to gain a higher social standing in a community. A year before this speech, in 1870, the husband of Emmeline Pankhurst, (a women who was the driving force behind the suffragettes) Dr. Richard Pankhurst, drafted the first bill that allowed women to get the right to vote known as the Women’s Disabilities Removal Bill which was later introduced in House of Commons. This proves that the ideas of Henry James are slowly beginning to deteriorate because men and women were on their way to persuading the government that women needed their natural rights. This can be compared to the Industrial Revolution and the dominance the factory owners had over their workers. The factory owners did not want to give up the power that they had over their laborers the way the people of Parliament wouldn’t want to believe that their power might be equal to that of a women’s.Francesco Crispi, a liberal Italian politician believed that women must not have an opinion when it comes to political arrangements that are made by the government. Women are made for the well being of the man. Crispi regarded women as peacemakers that are made to calm a man after a tiresome and laborious day. In 1883, to the Italian Senate, Crispi authoritatively declared “… the day when women participate in public business, you will find war.” He believed that the suffrage movement would cause social and political disorders in society that would lead to an universal imbalance. He is considered a liberal but his ideas reflect on orthodox and traditional ways of thinking. This “liberal” Italian politician is ignorant of the ideas of the Enlightenment and has taken many steps back because of his ideals. The French philosopher Condorcet said, “Have they all not violated the principle of equality of rights in tranquility depriving one half of the human race of the right of taking part in the formation of laws by the exclusion of women from the rights of citizenship.” Francesco Crispi, the future Prime Minister of Italy, is known as the precursor of Benito Mussolini, a man who was against women’s rights. Crispi is also speaking to the Italian senate and wants to appeal to them, and so his ideas, like that of Henry James are directed to commanding men of government. Many Italian men might be against the concept of social equality of both genders. If involved in government, male authoritarians ascertain that women may neglect their household duties and the peace that they create for the man’s benefit and pleasure will slowly diminish.Henry James and Francesco Crispi have similar ideologies to that of Count Reventlow. Count Reventlow, a Nazi politician spoke for the Prevention of the Emancipation of Women in 1912. The German man appreciates only a certain kind of women. Reventlow passionately stated to the crowd, “Women want to rule and we don’t want to let them. The German Empire was created with blood and iron. That was man’s work. If women helped… they stood behind their men in battle and fired them on to kill as many enemies as possible.” Count Reventlow believes that men have fought for their rights during wars, and he only appreciates the women who supported their men when they fought for their country, and he looks down on the women who fight for their individual rights. Women are meant to support men and are not meant to make decisions for the man. Reventlow, a German naval officer and Nazi politician enjoys both his national identity and his place in the social hierarchy. Since he is speaking to a group of people who are against the women’s suffrage movement, we can decipher that he is encouraging men & women of wealthy backgrounds who do not need to the right to vote to work against a proletarian cause. Rosa Luxemburg a German revolutionary socialist on the same year (1912), made a speech concerning Women’s Suffrage and Class Struggle.”In truth, our state is interested in keeping the vote from working women and from them alone. It rightly fears they will threaten the traditional institutions of class rule, for instance militarism (of which no thinking proletarian woman can help being a deadly enemy), monarchy, the systematic robbery of duties and taxes on groceries, etc. Women’s suffrage is a horror and abomination for the present capitalist state because behind it stand millions of women who would strengthen the enemy within, i.e., revolutionary Social Democracy.” Rosa Luxemburg has remembered the ideas of Condorcet and Wollstonecraft and through her words, like Count Reventlow, is trying to influence a specific group of people. Their ideas vary and are at opposite ends of the table. Luxemburg is moving forward with her ideas about equality in gender, and Reventlow makes a proposition to the people of authority to pause and realize that women do not deserve the rights that men have gained over time. However, Count Reventlow has forgotten the times when men and women (proletarians), together fought for individual rights like the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. In these cases, women did not only support the men, but were willing to fight along with them to gain the justice that they deserved.Because of the rising importance of the suffrage movement, Reventlow wants men and women on his side. The ideas of the socialist women were growing stronger and the ideas of the prominent men were only addressed to the opulent. In 1919, a Speaker for the French Senatorial Commission concurred with the ideas of James, Crispi, and Reventlow, with a degrading and derogatory tone. “Rather than handling the ballot, the hands of women are meant to be kissed… ” The speaker is trying to say that women are given so much love and it is not necessary for them to acquire an unrealistic advantage when they already have been given much. Like the three men before him, this French man has acquired for himself a position of power and comfort in society. Like Count Reventlow, this French man is moving backwards. In the same year of this speech, the 19th Amendment of the US Constitution was submitted to the Congress for ratification. It said, “The United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex.” The world was moving forward in its ways and the French man maintains an archaic understanding of women. Although the speaker, in some ways praises the opposite sex, he negates the fact that their ideas would be necessary from a political standpoint.However, when Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) she vehemently ridiculed prevailing notions about women as helpless, charming, adornments in the household. Nevertheless, women themselves denied the fact that they should be give the right to vote. Mrs. Humphry Ward, a novelist and one of the founders of the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League in 1889 announced candidly that women “contribute more precious elements to national life” and that women have “peculiar excellencies”. Mrs. Humphry Ward believes that childbearing and household work are the only duties of the female. She takes her husband’s name and thinks she is meant to be represented by her husband. She has confidence in the idea that the wife is meant to be the husband’s environment of tranquility, and not a political advisor who neglects the duties she was born with.Ultimately, it can be deduced that the opposing parties of the Women’s Suffrage Movement were affluent and content men and women who were against viewing equality between both the sexes as an essential liberty. They believed that women belonged to their husbands; they were homemakers and peacemakers, and fighting for an individualistic cause would create and imbalance in society. They firmly believed that if given the vote, women would be incapable to make political and social decisions.The women’s suffrage movement became a successful enterprise primarily because of the men & women who passionately fought for their beliefs. Many of the paramount women who fought for their beliefs of equality were born into the Pankhurst Family. The Pankhurst Family devotedly fought for their natural rights and the phrase “Deeds not Words”. Emmeline (the mother), Christabel, and Sylvia Pankhurst formed the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903. The WSPU was one of the most militant organizations that advocated “Deeds not words”. Emmeline Pankhurst stopped believing that moderate speeches was the way to achieve the vote and this later allowed them to violently protest against the unfair persecutions of the women’s suffrage movement.The Pankhurst’s were arrested and jailed several times, went on hunger strikes and were brutally force-fed. These women debunked an archaic understanding of the oppression of women. They taught the working class woman to fend for themselves and they moved forward from tradition and an orthodox way of life. Another feminist would also agree with the actions of the Pankhurst women. Emily Wilding Davison became a martyr for the suffragette movement at the Epsom Derby. Davison joined the WSPU, and she, like the Pankhurst’s, fought militantly to achieve women’s suffrage and dedicated themselves towards the movement. She was also imprisoned many times, went on hunger strikes, and was force-fed. At the Epsom Derby in 1913, Davison tried to pull down the King George V’s horse, was trampled by the horse and died four days later in the hospital. She was influenced by the movement to perform this act, and her martyrdom allowed the feminist effort to proceed faster into gaining the vote for women. The Pankhurst’s and Davison remembered the socialist ideas; they remembered when Karl Marx and Frederick Engels said, during the Industrial Revolution that, “ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions… The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.” They also remembered Samuel Smiles ideas of working hard to reach a higher destination in the ladder of success. He theorized, “Such reforms can only be effected by means of individual action, economy, self-denial.” Most importantly, they remembered John Locke, and his Enlightenment ideas when he said, “bad laws need not be obeyed.”Clara Zetkin, a German socialist leader, reiterated the points that the Pankhurst family made. Zetkin gave women a desire to break away from male supremacy and said that a woman’s life was not limited to the confines of her home, but her ideas must be placed in government and other social aspects of life. She ardently said in 1907, “We socialists do not only demand women’s suffrage as a natural right with which women are born; we demand it as a social right.” She would disregard and oppose the ideas of her fellow German, Count Reventlow, and agree with the ideas of Rosa Luxemburg. Zetkin is yearning for equal opportunities for women like Anna Mozzoni, an Italian Feminist. In 1871, Mozzoni aggressively introduces the oppression of women by saying, “The woman question affirms more profoundly the roots of democracy, discredits the rule of force, advances women in the economic sphere, and weakens the power of traditional prejudices.” Mozzoni would say that giving women the right to vote would be for the betterment of society and will not lead to an unrealistic downfall; by doing this women can truly progress in society. She has a different view from that of Mrs. Humphrey Ward and the prominent men who believed in the same things Mrs. Ward believed in. Zetkin and Mozzoni are fighting for their voices to be heard, just the way the Pankhurst family militantly fought. In 1879 Mozzoni published her translation from English into Italian of On the Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill.John Stuart Mill was one of the first voices who were for the enfranchisement of women. Mill stated that society and its perception of gender must be reconstructed so that all humans, not one-half of them should be able to be considered as equals and have the same rights. Mill’s ethical system of Utilitarianism (greatest good for the greatest number) defended the emancipation of women. In his essay, he strongly describes why women are to be raised on a platform equal to that of men. “The moral regeneration of mankind will only really commence when the family is placed under the rule of equal justice, and when human beings begin to cultivate their strongest sympathy with those who are equal in rights.” His wife, Harriet Taylor Mill, who co-wrote The Subjection of Women, reiterated her husband’s ideas in her own essay. She wrote The Enfranchisement of Women and obviously stated that “Women have as good a claim as men have, in point of personal right, to the suffrage, or to any place in the jury-box, it would be difficult for any one to deny.” The visions of John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill contradict the ideologies of Mrs. Humphry Ward and Francesco Crispi. The belief that all women are placed in this world merely for the purpose of bearing children, and for the sole benefit of the man was discredited by the earnest people who believed that women’s rights were essential.In 1920, the 19th Amendment of the US Constitution was passed and in 1928, three months before the death of Emmeline Pankhurst, English women got their right to vote. Women wanted a voice in the government and wished to overthrow the male dominance that was prevalent in society. The work of the suffragettes proved that women are citizens, and they accomplished the visions of Wollstonecraft & Condorcet who said that it was an insult to deny one-half of the population the rights and opportunities that were given to the other half. The suppression of women in society was beginning to end and the movement allowed women to achieve a right that was denied of them for years.”Bad laws need not be obeyed.” John Locke justified the French Revolution with this statement. The woman’s suffrage movement was a visionary creation, which has now become a part of history. The people with power & wealth were obstacles that were jumped through by the supporters of the movement. The fight was ambitious and aggressive in the eyes of the opposition, but to the suffragettes, was a symbol of natural and social rights. It insisted that woman must be an absolute equal in the sight of men. The advocates for the cause of woman, ultimately shattered the views of the opposition to become a successful and triumphant enterprise that eventually lead to a fundamental change in government and society.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off

Charging or Issues Systems in Special Libraries in Sierra Leone

Introduction
Special libraries are collections that exist to serve the specific needs of their clients. The libraries are varied as their needs. However, the libraries do have common elements in the service that they provide, their focused collections and their knowledgeable staff who are able to adapt to the changing needs of their clients base. The phrase “Special libraries” is a misnomer, because all libraries are special and have commonalities in their functions. This statement does not dispute the fact that some libraries have special concerns-be they of their clientele, their collections or their purpose. A standard definition of a special library would be the one that exist to serve the limited needs of a specific entity- a business, industry, government agency, non-profit group or professional organisations. Also included are subject oriented units of a public or academic library (Beenham and Harrison, 1990).The collection of special libraries is smaller and tends to be more focused in comparison to public and academic libraries. Special libraries have the tools and the people necessary to make information available to the client because it is not just enough to collect and house information. It must be made accessible to users. A Special library in short is particularised information services which correlates, interprets and utilizes the materials at hand for the constant use and benefit of the organisation it serves (Chirgwin and Oldfield, 1982).The over-riding requirement of the Special library is that it should provide current information that enables research workers and other employers to carry out their duties effectively. Therefore, it provides not only a collection of materials for which is known demand, but also a network of services that make information readily available for a variety of outside sources.Previously, the provision of books and other materials for purposes of research had been considered of paramount importance. With the dramatic increase in the number of post-war student in Sierra Leone, it came to be more generally accepted that a university library should aim to serve the needs of their main categories of readers; namely, the undergraduate research worker, and the academic staff.Definition of Charging or Issues SystemAccording to Berkett and Ritiche (1977), the recording of the loan of materials is called charging or issuing. The charging method selected by a particular library depends to a large extent on the library’s clientele, the size of the stock and the need to restrict the number of items which a library member may have on loan, and on whether the library has peak periods for the lending and returning of materials. The choice of methods will also be affected by the amount and type of information the library staff requires the issue to furnish.The purpose of a circulation system is to give the library users as much access as possible to the stock. Unfortunately, a book loaned to one reader is not available to others and certain restrictions have to be made. For instance an Encyclopedia is a compendium of knowledge on a vast number of subjects and is designed for easy reference rather than for continuous reading. Allowing such a book on loan would inconvenience a great number of library users without benefitting the borrower.
Each library will use a system for recording the books and other items it lends to its readers. There have been many modern developments to record issues in the last thirty years, mainly due to high cost of staffing, increased usage, and in search of better all-round efficiency. There is no one all-purpose systems which will meet the demands of all kinds of library, although the latest computer charging system can cope with many aspects speedily.A good system should enable the library staff to discover which reader has borrowed which book. It should show when books are due for return and which are overdue. Some systems can control the number of books issued, and particularly the number which each reader has borrowed. The better systems will permit the book is renewed without returning the book in person, and should allow readers to reserve books which are not immediately available.Charging or Issues System in LibrariesThe Circulation department is the area where most patrons are used to because it is here that library materials are loaned out and returned after use, and it is sometimes referred to as the leading or take home department. Records of patrons are kept here after they have completed a necessary form that provides personal information about them, that is, name, address, sex, status and guarantor. Some departments have different cards for different categories of users to complete. The following functions are however performed by circulation department:
• Registration of new users and keeping the records of library patrons;
• Keeping records of borrowed materials and those returned;
• Noting down when borrowed materials are due back in the library;
• Keeping statistics of the department;
• Sending overdue notices to patrons who fail to return their books when due (Nwogu, 1991).Types of Charging or Issue Systems used in LibrariesAs has been said, one of the principal services offered by libraries is the lending of books and others materials. Obviously, libraries need to keep some kind of record of such loan transactions and many methods have been devised to regulate this task. These methods are known as Charging or Issuing methods. The charging method selected by a particular library depends to a large extent on the library’s clientele, the size of stock and the need to restrict the number of items which a library member may have on loan and on whether the library has peak periods for the lending and returning of material. Here are some examples of charging methods used in varied types of libraries.The Browne System: For many, many years the most commonly used charging method is the Browne system. With this system, a membership application form is filled in and the reader is given a number of tickets bearing his or her name and address. The reader presents the books to be borrowed at the issue desk, along with a reader’s ticket for each book. The date label in each book is stamped with the date of return; the book card is removed from each book and inserted into the reader’s tickets (one book card per ticket). The charge therefore is one book card inserted into one ticket. When the book is returned, the assistant will look inside it to ascertain from the date label, or pocket, the accession number/author/class number as well as the due date. The appropriate charge is then removed from the issue, the book card replaced in the book pocket and the ticket returned to the reader.The Islington system: In this charging system, each reader is given one plastic ticket on which is embossed his or her name and address. The stationery inside the library books is the same as the Browne system. However, the difference lies in the fact that the reader must print an address slip (using an embossed ticket) for each book he or she wishes to borrow. Therefore the ‘charge’ is a book card plus a paper address slip inside a blank ticket.Ticket book or Cheque book charging: In this method, each book has a book pocket permanently fixed inside the cover on which details of the book are given. Within this book pocket is a plain pocket, inside which is a book card bearing details of the book. The reader need only insert one of his or her ticket slip into the plain pocket and present the book for date stamping. The assistant removes the ‘charge’ and it is subsequently filed. The issue trays are usually kept in a separate ‘discharge room’ and not at the issue desk. There is a reception desk where the books are returned, the actual discharging being done later in the ‘discharging room’ when the charge is removed from the issue, the reader’s ticket destroyed and the plain pocket and book card returned to the book. An additional ‘cheque book’ is issued to the reader whenever the previous one is used up.Token Charging: The book date label is stamped in the usual way, and the reader must surrender one token for each book being issued. On returning the books, the reader merely receives the appropriate number of tokens in exchange. At the end of each year the reader must be able to produce the full complement of tokens or pay a replacement cost for any which have been lost. A visible index (that is a list of reserved books which must be checked whenever books are returned) is used for reservations.Punched card charging: when a book is borrowed, the assistant takes two punched cards, pre-dated with date due for return (both punched and dated stamped), places the two punched cards in an automatic key punched machine and punches on both cards the reader’s number and book accession number and class number. One card is retained as the library’s record of loans; the other card is inserted in the book pocket with the date of return clearly visible. The punched cards are removed from returned books, sorted into accession number order by machine, and then matched by machine with the duplicate cards kept as the library’s record of loans. Unmatched cards represents books still out on loan and these can be refilled mechanically, this time in date order to reveal overdue.Computerised Issuing System: Computer systems now available in libraries are very advanced indeed. The issue terminal is equipped with a data pen to which may be attached a self-inking date stamp. There is a card holder into which the reader’s ticket is inserted. Charging is accomplished by running the data pen horizontally across the bar code on the reader’s ticket and the across the barcode labels on the books to be borrowed. The date labels in the book are stamped with the date of return and the ticket is returned to the reader. The discharge terminal is also equipped with another data pen and this is used to read the books’ bar code labels when they are returned. The reader’s ticket is not required at this stage as the reader’s name will be automatically deleted from the computer records when all books are have been returned(Beenham, and Harrison 1990).Charging or Issue System at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences LibraryThe College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS) was founded on the 12th April, 1988 by the Government of Sierra Leone in Co-operation with the Nigerian government and the World Health Organisation (WHO). With the enactment and coming into effect of the 2005 University Act, which led to the creation of two universities in Sierra Leone, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences as a constituent arm of the University of Sierra Leone, in cooperation with the National School of Nursing, which is now a faculty and the Pharmacy Technician School, also part of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.The College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library started a few months after the college was established in 1988. The library was first located at Bass Street, in Brookfields and later transferred to New England in Freetown, from where it was finally transferred to the Connaught Hospital, when the Ministry of Health gave up the building it used to occupy as a library.The College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library was started by a Medical Librarian by the name of Nancy M’Jamtu-Sie in 1988. The library holds the main stock of Medical and Health Sciences materials in the University of Sierra Leone. The library depends solely on donations and it operates on three sites: the main Medical library at the Connaught Hospital which houses the library administrative office, short loan, reference, World Health Organisation audio cassettes collection; the CD-ROM and Internet facilities, the multidisciplinary library at the National School of Nursing, houses the general collection and as well as short loan and reference books and the Medical Sciences library at the Kossoh Town Campus.The mission of College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences is: “to train community-oriented doctors, pharmacists, nurses, laboratory scientists, and the health personnel with sound professional and managerial skills suitably qualified to meet international standards and capable to undertake research and pursue training in specialised areas for health care delivery services.”The College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences practices the Browne Issue System mentioned above, which is practiced in most libraries especially Special libraries found in the University of Sierra Leone. With the Browne Charging or Issuing system at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library, each library book has a book card which is kept in a pocket inside each book. The card identifies each book by recording, usually the accession number, classification number, author and short title. Each reader has a ticket issued to him/her which indicates the name and address. This reader’s ticket holds the book card, which is taken from the pocket in the book, and this forms the record of the issue. Each book is stamped with the date for return and the issue is filed in trays under the date due for return, and within what date probably by accession number.When the readers return the book, the date due for stamped on the date label locates the correct date among the issue trays and the accession number printed on the date label should find the correct position within that date. The book card is then returned to the book, which is now ready for shelving and the reader recovers his tickets. Overdue books are self-evident since the trays are in date order, and reservation are made searching the appropriate care in an obvious way. The Brown system is simply operated and easily understood by library staff and readers alike.
Clientele or Users of College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences LibraryA clientele in library is a body of customers or patrons that makes use of a library in order to get needed information. The clientele of a library are highly knowledgeable group. Consequently, the emphasis of the library is on maintaining considerable depth of subject material or supplying information to be in print.All members of the University of Sierra Leone who are allowed to use the College of Medicine and Allied Health Science library must register with the library and obtain a membership card. External readers are allowed to use the library for reference purposes but would not be given borrowing facilities.At the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library, most of the books are available to users for loan period and the number of books loaned varies. The book stock covers basic medical sciences, biology, physiology, biochemistry and all disciplines of medicine. Books are borrowed to both students and staff for specific period of time.Challenges of Charging or Issue System used at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences LibrarySpecial Libraries in Sierra Leone, especially College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences Library are not without challenges.Space Challenge: The three sites where the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library operates have been observed to be very small with reference to the building. The locations of these sites especially with ones at National School of Nursing which houses the general collection as well as short loan and reference books; and the Medical Sciences library at the Kossoh Town campus, are not seen as favourable in terms of their locations. They do not offer convenient access for all staff and clients. Shelving and storage has not been conveniently located.Financial Status: The financial standing of the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library has been very unsatisfactorily especially when the management cannot meet with its obligation of taking care of the library’s itinerary. This has led to the library not having updated collections. This has been seen in the area of salaries, which has been very poor, operational costs, subscriptions, acquisitions, training and professional development.Insufficient Materials: Materials at College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences are inadequate to meet the needs of its users. Materials are mainly acquired through donations as the library does not have enough funds to purchase materials in order to meet the needs of its users.Inadequate computers and limited Internet Service: There are no adequate computers and strong internet connectivity sufficient enough to service the numerous clienteles. At the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library, the inadequate number of available computers does not allow the library to operate the Computer charging or issuing system which is more advance and easier to operate than the Browne charging system which the library currently uses. The Internet service provided is also not sufficient to handle the high number of both their students, staff and other users.Lack of adequate trained and qualified staff: The College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library is short of adequate trained and qualified Librarians which have rendered the library ineffective in the area of properly disseminating information to users. The library is only made up of two qualified librarians and additional staff consists of a technician, clerks, cleaners and messengers.Conclusively, the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library as a Special library in the University of Sierra Leone has been able to meet the information needs of the many users with the Browne Issue system that it operates on. However, the collection is not updated and the service is not excellent enough to satisfy the clientele that it caters for. The College library lacks enough funds to purchase updated materials. The services of the library have not been too satisfactorily and this is due to few trained personnel and limited facilities. In spite of these challenges at College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences library, the Browne charging or Issue System has proven to be the therapy that has salvage the issue of delivery of services to their clients and the due preservation of their materials.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Guide to Investing: Advice on Selecting the Best Type of Investments and Educational Resources

Are you interested in investing but aren’t sure exactly where to start? Or are you someone who already does a bit of buying or trading and want a good, solid guide to investing that will help you make better decisions.It’s important to understand the common strategies, and part of this relies on knowing some of the differences in the asset classes. The term “asset class” simply refers to a group of similar investment types. Some people prefer to stick with one asset class while others are a lot more versatile. Starting out, it might be a good idea to stick with just a few similar investment types within the same asset class, and then consider expanding your portfolio as you get more experienced and knowledgeable.Investment Types to Look ForHere is a quick rundown of the different classes:• Fixed income or debt: The investor lends money to an institution (usually banks) or government and get interest in return. These investment types include CoDs and bonds.• Equities: Actually purchasing shares in something (stocks).• Real estate: Buying, owning, and ultimately selling a physical property when the time is right. You obviously aren’t required to live in or even visit the properties you invest in.• Cash and cash equivalents: The investor puts the money into an interest-paying savings account or trade currencies.• Commodities: Similar to real estate in that you would own physical things, except that it’s a “common” product, item, or resource that many people need, such as precious metals, fossil fuels, food, etc. You are not required to actually have them physically in your possession.• Derivatives such as futures: this means that you own trades themselves (options and futures), and the value of it depends on the underlying asset. This asset class can be complicated, so if you’re interested, you’ll need a detailed guide to investing in them.Guide to Investing in StocksIf you are interested in stocks, then you should join a good newsletter and resource program that offers all of the tools and guides you need for investing in the best stocks. There are a lot of so-called “experts” out there who claim to offer “top stock picks” but they all can’t be right. The REALLY GOOD, legitimate experts don’t give out their picks for nothing. This is why the best newsletters usually require a subscription.The best guide to investing – particularly with a long-term outlook – is Motley Fool. It’s a highly, HIGHLY recommended platform that includes newsletter subscriptions, resources, wealth management tools, and so forth. They are particular known for their top-notch stock picks.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off