The current decade has witnessed significant processes of transformation underway in South African society. The imperatives of change to create a democratic society in place of skewed imbalances of the apartheid past manifest at all levels throughout the country. In most socie-tal sectors, stakeholders speak a language of reconstruction, empowerment, development and knowledge production. Increasingly, there is growing concern with human resource development and with the generation of a citizenry equipped to participate in shaping the country with redress and globalization as paramount concerns. It is in this context that education and information policy are developing with an express interest in improving the quality of lives and bringing to fruition the desire for a learning nation.

The educational sector faces enormous challenges to level the playing fields between what has come to be known as historically advantaged and historically disadvantaged institutions in the system. Issues of redress and equity abound in attempts to develop an educational system which not only rights past imbalances, but also celebrates the unique contribution of South Africa's educational system to the international domain. The primary educational concern at present is to develop a system which can deliver to the fast-growing demands for education in ways that do not compromise on quality, but render the system internationally competitive. The National Commission on Higher Education which has developed education policy for the country proposes that this can best be achieved through greater collaboration between institutions previously segregated by the apartheid regime. With regard to quality of education, there is broad consensus that the educational system must effect the shift from rote to student-centered learning and that the conditions for life-long learning must be created. It is believed that learning spaces have to be shaped in ways that allow for maximum articulation among South African learning organizations as well as between these and international formations.

The objective of partnership between institutions in the tertiary sector is overseen in the Western Province by the Western Cape Tertiary Institutions Trust which seeks to promote collaboration between the five institutions of Higher Education in the region. These are the Peninsula and Cape Technikons and the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and the Western Cape. The Trust's largest cooperative project, CALICO - the Cape Library Co-operative - combines the libraries of these institutions with a view to developing a regional network of information services. Connectivity is clearly of paramount importance to these collaboratives with current plans to achieve a common information platform and strategy well underway. By late 1997, this partnership will establish a Shared Library Information System providing, inter alia, a connectivity platform which allows for cooperative teaching and learning across the region. Integral to the CALICO vision of supporting educational transformation through the provision of a combined information base to students and staff of the tertiary community, is the notion that increased access to information alone does not guarantee the abilities to critically use or assess the value of the information accessed. It is for this reason that CALICO, together with the Western Cape Tertiary Institutions Trust under which it resides, established INFOLIT, a project which promotes information literacy in the region. At its inception, it was understood that the gains of a library consortium which combined the holdings of the region would have to be premised on a strategy to ensure that learners were able to utilize these resources most effectively. It was within this framework that an information literacy project which could benefitiate the cooperative's information resources and maximize the gains of networking, was envisaged. In July 1995, INFOLIT was launched to promote information literacy in the Western Cape region of South African.

2. THE INFOLIT'

2.1. The INFOLIT's Mission and Framework

INFOLIT's launch in July 1995 was made possible by the generous grant made to CALICO by the Reader's Digest. The project is committed to articulating the imperatives of redress and globalization through developing an information literacy framework which ensures that learners have the skills, capacity, confidence and fluency to operate productively in the information age. INFOLIT's mission as a five year project is to advance both teaching and learning in the Western Cape region, by supporting the shift towards student-centered learning and the development of a learning community. Its initial brief is to operate at the five tertiary institutions, but to expand its reach to schools and communities to ensure that information literacy education is brought to all reaches of our society for purposes of establishing the conditions for life-long learning and improving quality of life. It seeks to advance information literacy in ways that improve quality of education and effect the shift to student-centered learning. INFOLIT's strategies are framed by the notion that as educationalists we need to change our approach to educational delivery and teaching in order to enhance and deepen learning. The project seeks to promote both an information and a learning culture through developing a space in which learners are able to use and critically evaluate the information which they access.

As a cooperative project, INFOLIT seeks to echo the principle of partnership and collaboration increasingly seen on the planet not only inter-nationally and inter-institutionally, but also within organizations. It is believed that coalitions of academics and information workers (including academic development, information technology and library staff), are essential for the development of an information literacy framework and that the trans-disciplinary approach which also features more prominently on international agendas is a strength in pooling expertise to revisit the educational mission of tertiary institutions: that of advancing learning. For these reasons, INFOLIT seeks insofar as possible, to bridge gaps between information services and the academy and between institutions which are historically divided and in competition. It is believed that in order to make its unique contribution to the shaping of the global economy, information services must transform to become fully integrated into the academy. This notion of integrity is premised upon convergence of the information functions in the tertiary sector: information technology services and information resource services must merge to produce an information support and development platform to academia.

2.2. The INFOLIT Program

Information literacy education hinges upon the dynamic integration of the information services function of educational institutions with its educational mission. As with other information literacy initiatives, INFOLIT believes that an information literacy framework imparts transferable life skills, preparing people not only for participating more fully in civic life, but also in knowledge and economic production. It is believed that in the context of the information society and the knowledge revolution, as information and knowledge assume growing prominence as strategic resources, as communities are empowered with the means to participate in knowledge systems, they are not only more effective consumers of information, but also more effective producers of information, enhancing their contribution to the shaping and development of society.

INFOLIT is following a phased approach over five years building a solid research base and piloting new approaches to developing information literacy. The project is hierarchically structured proposing that lower-order skills are taught before putting into place programs which will address the abstract aspects of information literacy such as those of critical evaluation as well as those which induct learners in the knowledge structures and domains of various disciplines. The long-term objective is to ensure the integration of information literacy training into the learning experience of all students, leading to their ability to use information to greater advantage in everyday decision-making in corporate and civic life. The project's mission of advancing a learning culture has led to a strategic plan which identifies various developmental imperatives:

INFOLIT currently has a major needs assessment underway to investigate levels of information literacy in the region. It has also embarked on a piloting phase, sponsoring a range of projects which promote information literacy. The pilot projects range from initiatives which develop new courses and/or materials which support learning about information society and develop learners' information skills, to projects which seek to enhance and transform current courses through the infusion of information literacy education. The needs audit and piloting phase are being coordinated to feed into policy development so that information literacy features on the agendas of educational administrators and managers: the players who effectively determine where financial and human resource investments are made to transform educational culture and engender student-centered learning.

The most difficult area has proven to be the growth of synergy between the library and the academy. The education and training of information workers is only just beginning to address their need to function with confidence as facilitators in the information world. The pace of technological change has left many segments of the information sector agape and unaware of their agency in shaping change. While librarians are generally unconfident and underprepared to assert their role as facilitators, academics are often reluctant to embrace this emerging role for information personnel, and more importantly, are disinclined to reassess their own roles in the context of global change and the information age. In other words, the problem areas are mainly around agency and the willingness of people to change their historic approaches to teaching. It is in this area that INFOLIT aims to draw on the most recent international successes of information literacy developments, with the intention of adapting these to local conditions so that appropriate models are developed. It is envisaged that promotion of these ideas will be coupled with continuing education programs, curriculum development initiatives and capacity building strategies which facilitate affirmative role creation for information workers.

On the basis of its initial phase of piloting and research findings which will identify areas of greatest need as well as best practice internationally and regionally, INFOLIT will spread success across the region through popularization of best results. The project is unique in South Africa and recognizes the challenge to produce approaches to learning which are context driven and rooted in the South African reality, but which prepare our citizens for interaction with a range of foreign systems and experiences. In other words, much as we are concerned with concentrating our efforts on the most disadvantaged sectors of our student population, the project is not only concerned with leveling the playing fields, but also with expanding them. Investments are being made not only with a view to bringing the historically disadvantaged institutions on par with those historically advantaged. Rather, emphasis is being placed on transforming the educational system by ensuring that real learning takes place, not only within formal institutions, but also beyond their boundaries.

As a cooperative project, INFOLIT regards itself as strategically located to propagate the principle of collaboration while meeting the challenge of change by creating the conditions for South African learners to engage with scholars across time, space, cultures and other `boundaries'. By developing our project in collaboration with similar ventures concerned with deepening learning, we are confident that in the next five years we will have achieved a meaningful South African contribution to the development of global learning systems.

3. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INFORMATION LITERACY AND CONNECTIVITY

The relationship between the Information literacy project (INFOLIT), the envisaged Shared Library Information System (SLIS) of CALICO and Connectivity is indicated in Figure 1. At the core is a Shared Information Strategy (SIS) that would enable student-centered learning and capacity building in scholarship. This would be done by means of developing information literacy closely interwoven with a shared library system, as well as various other academic and research projects e.g. the Western Cape Science and Technology project (WCS&T). All these projects depends on stable wide bandwidth connectivity.

4. CURRENT CONNECTIVITY

The five participating organizations in the CALICO project are within a 30 kilometer radius of each other. The institutions are currently connected by means of dedicated point-to-point Telkom low-speed communication links. These communication links form part of the Uninet academic and research network which is a collaborative project among universities, research councils and the Foundation for Research and Development of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Uninet's aim is the development, implementation and promotion of an academic and research network of computers in Southern Africa.

Full Internet facilities are available on Uninet. These include electronic mail, FTP, WWW and Newsfeed services. Information on a vast number of subjects are constantly being downloaded from overseas sources, providing researchers with up-to-date information in their research fields. Remote log-on, via Telnet, is important for access to remote facilities such as SABINET, the national computer-driven library system. There is, however, a general trend away from Telnet to WWW browsers.

The current Uninet network between the various Western Cape tertiary institutions consists of low-speed Telkom Diginet leased lines. The University of Cape Town acts as the Uninet hub in the Western Cape and is also the gateway to the rest of the Uninet national university and research network.

The Uninet data transmission bandwidth between the University of the Western Cape, Peninsula Technikon and Cape Technikon is 64 kbps while the link to the University of Stellenbosch has a bandwidth of 256 kbps. The link to the University of Stellenbosch makes provision for a higher bandwidth due to the FTP archive that it operates on behalf of the Uninet community in South Africa.

The bandwidth of the Uninet network links are all inadequate to meet the fast growing requirements of the educational and research community. At all universities restrictions have to be imposed on users in an attempt to manage the utilization of the bandwidth. These measures do not prove to be successful and are contradictory to INFOLIT's objectives. The current Internet access creates many frustrations for even those users that do have access. It is foreseen that, with an escalating use of WWW services, electronic document delivery, shared subscriptions to electronic resources and Telnet traffic between the five participating institutions of CALICO, the Uninet bandwidth in the Western Cape will have to be upgraded drastically.

5. REQUIRED CONNECTIVITY

Higher speed connectivity is required through upgrading the existing Uninet network in the region to support

The success of the shared library information system, as well as INFOLIT will be very much dependent on the reliability and performance of the communication links between the institutions. The opinion is shared that "...The Intranet and internetworking approach is transforming the way institutions operate ... a knowledge base may not be what information is in it at any given moment, but the speed with which it is continually renewed and the richness of communication, ...carrying specialized know-how to those who need it and acquire knowledge swiftly from all over the world. ...it is not the information and knowledge stocks but the flows that will matter..." ( Alvin Toffler, Powershift).

Facilitating Immediate Requirements

The immediate bandwidth requirements for 1997 for the CALICO projects will best be met by means of dedicated 2 Mbps communication links between the institutions or a 2 Mbps Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) service. The MAN service can then, at a later stage, be upgraded to a 34 Mbps access circuits.

6. AN ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY BEING INVESTIGATED

An alternative strategy is for the WCTIT to obtain a license to operate its own microwave radio system, or to approach a prospective telecommunication operator such as Transtel, AT&T or Sprint to operate a microwave radio system on its behalf. A microwave radio system currently seems to be the more cost effective over the medium term but requires a special license from the South African Telecommunications Regulator. Current regulations allow only Telkom, Transtel, Escom and the SA Defence Force to have licenses for their own internal operations. Only Telkom can provide telecommunication services to the universities as Telkom currently has the monopoly to provide connectivity for commercial use in South Africa. Legislation is however expected to change within the next two years which will then enable other telecommunication operators, such as AT&T or Sprint, to offer similar services to the South African user community. The competitive environment for providing connectivity may then result in more attractive and affordable tariff structures to the WCTIT.

Projecting the bandwidth requirement into the future, it becomes meaningful to define strategies that will utilize the full potential of Telkom's fibre optic connections between the institutions using ATM and ISDN based technologies. Various suppliers and donors will be invited to assist with the establishment of a high speed network to create a network of learning for the Western Cape. Until then the existing MAN services of Telkom will have to suffice.

7. SHARED LIBRARY INFORMATION SYSTEM (SLIS)

The SLIS is regarded as fundamental to the long term success of the INFOLIT initiatives in the Western Cape. An initial phase would only cater for the staff and students of the current members of CALICO, but subsequent phases will extend the reach of the project to school and community level.

Functional Scope of the SLIS

The SLIS will be a seamless, integrated and technologically advanced system, spanning all functional and technical services of library management and information provision, such as:

All of the services listed above will allow for:

Users will have access to clear, context-sensitive on-line help at all times via pop-up screens. The help facility will accommodate text, images and sound and Library staff will be able to add help information, for example, in other languages or for new services, floor plans of where information is physically stored.

8. CONCLUSION

The dynamic inter-relationship between INFOLIT and connectivity is evident. The imperatives of diminishing resources, national transformation, redress and globalization signal the need for resource sharing and cooperation. Simultaneously, the pressures of the commoditization of information and globalization indicate the need for improved access to information and participation in knowledge production. Connectivity offers economically viable solutions and opportunities for collective access to information. It also facilitates a common interface to information sources which enables the development of an information literacy framework across the entire region. Furthermore, sufficient network connectivity enhances easier access to information, thus encouraging greater information use. It is believed that an information literacy framework encourages critical use of information and makes people more conscious of their knowledge production capacity. This adds significant value to a regional network which facilitates both improved access to information as well as cooperative teaching and learning.