Dr. Grace Ada Ajuwon has been appointed Medical Librarian to the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan (CoMUI) to attend to the E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library and other library systems in the College. Dr. Grace Ada Ajuwon formally assumed the position of Medical Librarian on 12th February 2023. Before this appointment, she had served as coordinator of the Medical Library for several months.
Dr. Grace Ada Ajuwon, who hails from Isseke-Uku, Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta State was born on the 11th of September 1964 in Sapele, Delta State, Nigeria to the family of Mr Brian Nwuge and Mrs Josephine Ikemamuna Okonkwo of blessed memory. She had her primary education at Sacred Heart State School II, Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and attended Nshiagu College Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State for her secondary school education. She completed Higher School Certificate at the Federal School of Arts and Science in Ondo in 1986.
She entered the Nation’s First and Best, University of Ibadan, earning a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Anthropology in 1990, a Master of Library Studies (MLS) in 1994, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Library and Information Studies ( LIS) in 2013 .
Dr. Grace Ajuwon began her career as an academic librarian at the Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, in May 1994 and served there until October 1996. She served as the Librarian at the African Regional Centre for Engineering, Design and Manufacturing (ARCEDEM), Iwo-Ibadan, Road, Ibadan, from 1996 to 2000. She joined the services of the University of Ibadan as Librarian II and assumed duty at the E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library, on 7 March 2000. She was promoted to the position of Librarian 1 in 2004, Principal Librarian in 2011, and Deputy University Librarian in 2022.
As a reference librarian, Dr. Grace Ajuwon provides information services to staff, students, and other library users. She is an excellent trainer who has facilitated several capacity development programmes organized by the Research Management Office, the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN), and the West African Colleague of Physicians (WACP). Dr. Ajuwon’s expertise is in information searching tools, search techniques, literature/database searching, the use of digital clinical decision support tools for the healthcare workforce and clinical students, and reference management tools including Endnote, Mendeley, and Zotero. She has also organized training programmes for public librarians on the use of consumer health information resources, a project funded by the Elsevier Foundation.
She developed the African Digital Health Library, University of Ibadan (ADHL-UI), a repository of theses and dissertations of students in CoMUI. This multi-country project was funded by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), US Department of State and Human Services.
Dr. Ajuwon facilitated the registration of the College of Medicine for Access to the Health Internet Network Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) in 2002 and the donation of free five-year access to UpToDate, a digital clinical decision support tool for the health workforce and students in CoMUI and the University College Hospital, Ibadan. She is a Better Evidence for Training (BET)/UpToDate Champion in Africa.
Dr. Ajuwon has served on various committees at the University of Ibadan and College of Medicine namely:
- Representative of the University Librarian, Committee on the development of an institutional repository and open education resources policy (2018-2019),
- Chair, Kenneth Dike Committee on the development of institutional repository guidelines (2017),
- Senate congregation member (2016-2018 and 2022 date),
- Committee on Social Orientation (2011-2014),
- Library Automation Progress Monitoring Committee (LAPMAC),
- Committee on Review of University of Ibadan Manual of Style (2015-2020; 2023),
- Representative of the Medical Librarian, Faculty Board of Pharmacy, (2002-2003),
- Faculty Board of Basic Medical Sciences (2004-2007),
- College of Medicine ICT Committee,
- College of Medicine, E-Learning Committee,
- College of Medicine, Medical Education Committee,
- College Committee on Ranking,
- College Committee on the College Prospectus.
Photos from the Launch of UpToDate in the E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library
Dr. Grace Ajuwon is a member of several professional bodies. She is President of the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA), the Foundation Chair of the Network of African Medical Librarians (2009-2017), and a member of the Medical Library Association (USA), Librarians Without Border (2012-2014). She is a member of the Nigerian Library Association (NLA), Medical Library Association of Nigeria (MLA-NG), European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) and Association for Visual Science Librarians (AVSL). She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Health Information and Librarianship (JoHIL), a journal of the Medical Library Association of Nigeria.
Dr. Ajuwon’s research interests are evidence for systematic reviews, digitization of library resources, and development of institutional repositories. Dr. Ajuwon has over 40 publications in both national and international peer-reviewed journals. She is widely travelled and a frequent speaker at international conferences including the Medical Library Association (USA), World Library and Information Conference (WLIC) International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Medical Library Association of Nigeria (MLA-NG), Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA) among others.
She is a Commonwealth Professional Fellow (2013), National Library of Medicine (NLM) Associate Fellow (2007-2008), and Medical Library Association (USA) Cunningham Memorial International Fellow (2004). Dr. Ajuwon is a recipient of 12 grant awards including the Ingenta Research Award, the University of Ibadan Senate research grant, the Elsevier Foundation Innovative Libraries grant award, the IFLA/FAIFE research grant award, the Social Science Research Council research grant, the MLA Librarians Without Border Grant Award, and African Digital Health Library (ADHL) award.
Dr. Grace Ajuwon is happily married to Professor Ademola Ajuwon, a Past Deputy Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and they are blessed with children, some of whom are alumni of the College.
Dr. Grace Ajuwon with her husband, Professor Ademola Ajuwon of the
Department of Health Promotion and Education in the Faculty of Public Health (September, 2020)
The College of Medicine, University of Ibadan is privileged to have Dr. Grace Ajuwon as a member of the Executive Committee, leading the library systems and structures, teaching, doing research and carrying out impactful community service.