Makerere University will be hosting the 2^nd Annual Consortium of Uganda University Libraries (CUUL) Conference from 19^th -20^th October 2023.  The two-day event will be held in the Yusuf Lule Central Teaching Facility.  The first edition of the Conference was held at the Makerere University Business School (MUBS), Campus in Nakawa.

One of the strategic objectives of the consortium is to build the capacity of its members and the wider fraternity to appreciate the processes of scholarly communication, since libraries primarily provide gateways to the scholarly landscape. 

The conference theme for this year is “Information Practices and Emerging Technologies in Library and Information Science”.  It will include paper presentations, trainings and exhibitions from some of our information service providers.  Nine (9) exhibitors have confirmed attendance and these include companies like Clarivate, the proprietors of the ‘Web of Science’ and ‘Jove’, a video database that intends to revolutionize the teaching of science.  Jove database is a new addition to Makerere University subscriptions.  It was recommended by academic staff from four Colleges; College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS), College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB) and College of Health Sciences (CHS).  The database provides visual demonstrations of scientific experiments and procedures. 

About CUUL

The Consortium of Uganda University libraries, (CUUL) was formed in early 2000 in the advent of automation.  With computerization of information services’ delivery, there was a need for University libraries to have access to the latest quality literature for scientific inquiry.  The Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) and its research arm, the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation (SAREC), funded the initial access to electronic (e-resources) under the project dubbed ‘Information support for Higher education and Research in Uganda’.  The Swedish funding enabled subscription and access to electronic databases to support teaching, learning through negotiating access licenses with another agency, the International Network for Advancing Science and Policy (INASP).  The project was coordinated by Makerere University Library and resources were shared by other universities in Uganda. 

The consortium was formed to ensure that access remained sustainable in the event that the original donor/s pulled out or withdrew from the agreements at any one time.  This was based on the advice of Sida and INASP.  The objectives of the association included working together to achieve communal access to reliable sources of information, to cooperate in acquisitions and processing of information and to pool funds to collectively bargain with publishers and international database providers, a role that the International Network for Science and Policy (INASP) was performing when Sida/SAREC was the funder.  INASP initially trained librarians from the different institutions on negotiation skills.  This is a role that CUUL plays to-date. 

Each institution contributes a minimal membership fee and a uniform fund for e-resources subscription to the CUUL account.  Every year, member institutions sit and agree on common databases to subscribe to for the subsequent year.  Universities can still subscribe to individual databases based on disciplinary peculiarities.  The Association was registered and formally recognized by the National Council for Higher Education.

The Makerere University Librarian, Assoc. Prof. Ruth Nalumaga is the current Chair of the consortium for the period 2022-2024. The consortium has an executive and six functional committees.