http://www.sajim.co.za/training.main.2nr4.asp?print=1


   
  Training Vol.2(4) March 2001

Information Management Training 
Adeline du Toit 
asadt@lw.rau.ac.za 

New, challenging Masters degree in Information and Knowledge Management offered in 
South Africa 
 
The importance and impact of the effective access to and utilization of information content 
and technologies for the relative competitiveness of individuals, companies, nations and 
regions in the global information economy and society are generally accepted by political 
and business leaders across the world. The Department of Information Science at the 
University of Stellenbosch is offering a new M.Phil. degree in Information and Knowledge 
Management from this year. The aim of this programme is to prepare candidates for strategic 
professional leadership in ensuring the effective utilization of organizational information 
resources and knowledge assets in the public and private sectors of the economy. This is 
imperative to make South Africa more successful in meeting the challenges of the global 
information economy. 
 
According to Prof Ben Fouche of the Department of Information Science, the South African 
government has already embarked on several initiatives to accelerate the processes of 
information society development and the improvement of information technology and 
communications networks in the country. Likewise, the provincial government of the 
Western Cape has recently commissioned the development of a knowledge-based strategy 
for the province in order to improve the economic growth of the province. There is also a 
widespread move by South African companies in all the economic sectors to develop and 
implement information and knowledge-based strategies. 
 
To qualify for entry, candidates must be in possession of a bachelor's degree in any subject 
area. The minimum duration of the programme is two years' study. After one year full-time 
(or two years part-time) the student can exit the programme and will be awarded a B.Phil. 
degree if all the required modules have been completed successfully. The mode of instruction
consists of two blocks of residential contact sessions per year and computer-based self-study 
and group work. The curriculum has a modular structure. Students take nine compulsory 
modules and five elective modules. The topics of the individual modules are the following. 
 
Compulsory modules: 

Dynamics of the knowledge society  
Information management: concepts, methods and practice  
Knowledge management: concepts, methods and practice  
Information and knowledge management in the context of business strategy  
Information organization and retrieval  
Information technology  
Research methodology  
Application project (extensive report)  
Extensive research assignment on a specific topic 



Elective modules: 

Information economy, infopreneurship and electronic commerce  
Internet-based knowledge work infrastructures  
Advanced information and knowledge organization  
Information analysis, decision support and strategic intelligence  
User needs and behaviour  
Human-computer interaction  
Electronic business information sources  
Electronic multimedia publishing  
Corporate communication  
Local, national and regional information and communication strategy, policy and law, 
and information ethics  
Advanced information skills  

On completion of the programme students will have a broad knowledge of the theoretical, 
methodological and practical aspects of the dynamics of the global knowledge-based society 
and economy. They should be able to analyse the relationship and interaction between 
information and knowledge-based processes and systems and develop solutions for problems 
related to the optimization of information flows, knowledge sharing and innovation in 
institutional and community settings. This would include the design, implementation and 
evaluation of information and knowledge-based strategies, policies, products and services.  
 
To learn more about the programme, visit the Web site at 
http://www.sun.ac.za/information_science/PROGgrad.html. If you have any questions about 
the programme, e-mail Prof. Ben Fouche at bf@maties.sun.ac.za. 

  

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ISSN 1560-683X

Published by InterWord Communications for the Centre for Research in Web-based Applications,
Rand Afrikaans University