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This study examines the promotion and knowledge of online patent literature search among students, librarians, and instructors to enhance university scientific output in Zanzibar. The study was guided by four key questions: What is the level of awareness of students, instructors and library staff about patent documents as source of information? To what extent do students and instructors access online patent databases? What is the library experience in training students about online patent literature searching?, and what are the challenges facing library and instructors in promoting patent literature search? The study used survey approach whereby questionnaire and interview were used to collect data. The recent literatures regarding online patent literature searching were also critically reviewed. A survey was conducted at two Universities in Zanzibar namely the State University of Zanzibar and Zanzibar University, whereby 20 library staff, 10 instructors and 140 undergraduate students from the School of Computing and the Faculty of Engineering were involved in this study. The findings show that more than three quarters of respondents were either partially aware or not aware at all about the existence of free online patent databases. Likewise, the majority of students had no enough skills of patent literature searching. However, usually the library organizes training on general online literature searching skills but patent literature searching was not effectively taught and a big challenge observed in this study regarding promotion of patent literature searching is inadequate patent searching skills among library and instructors. Based on the findings, the study proposed several recommendations to rectify the existing problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current situation and the future of information literacy programs in Zanzibar universities by looking at information literacy awareness, the extent of information literacy provision and the role of university libraries in promoting it. The survey was conducted in three universities of Zanzibar, where university library staff, deans and directors of schools/ faculties, heads of departments and undergraduate students were involved in the study. A total of 200 respondents participated in the study and the results were analyzed quantitatively. The findings show that a certain degree of information literacy awareness exists among library and academic staff, though promotion and provision of its skills are still in the infancy stages. Inadequate numbers of qualified information literacy specialists, lack of background in teaching information literacy and lack of cooperation between librarians and faculty members were identified as the sources of the problems. Based on the findings, the researchers made a number of recommendations to address the shortcomings, which include: organize information literacy seminars and workshops, create awareness programs, design and implement information literacy curriculum and course content. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]