Abstract
Considers why Tanzania was not operating a non-graduate level diploma programme until 1989, or a postgraduate programme until 1997; why the diploma was set up by the national public library service rather than by an academic institution; what its future might be; what the future career prospects might be for Tanzanians who hold this or similar diplomas; and what the future might bring in the way of a distance learning programme. The investigation is based on a study of the documentation, on personal experience of professional education in Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa, and on interviews.