Newsletter
No. 29, Summer 2005 ISSN 1028-0790
In this issue:
● An African Vision for African
Journals OnLine (AJOL) (page 3)
African Journals OnLine
(AJOL) www.ajol.info
By Sioux Cumming
● An African E-Journal (page 4)
● Greater Access To Research in
Cameroon’s Universities (page 6)
● Connectivity in African Tertiary
Institutions – The ATICS survey
(page 7)
Australasia
32
Asia 414
Central & South America
87
Europe 478
USA 391
● Viewpoint: The digital divide
continues (page 8)
● Electronic Networks: Experience
from Mexico (page 9)
AFRICA
2038
AJOL Registration
in 2004
● PERI Mid-term Review 2004
(page 10)
● Towards the Digital Library:
Findings of an investigation to
establish the current status of
university libraries in Africa
(page 11)
AJOL has reached a critical stage in its development as preparations are
made for the move to African management by NISC SA. It is therefore
appropriate at this juncture to step back and consider the development of
the service from its humble beginnings in 1998.
Email alerts
If you would like to be sent an Email
alert when a new issue of the newsletter
is published, please contact
inasp@inasp.info
© International Network for the
Availability of Scientific Publications
(INASP), 2005
No parts of this publication may be
reproduced for commercial use.
Reproduction of articles for educational
purposes is permitted only with
acknowledgement of the source.
The pilot project began with only ten journals displaying their tables of
contents and contact information on a website managed by INASP. The
intention was to promote the awareness and use of African-published
journals in the sciences. An evaluation at the end of 1999 confirmed that
it was providing a useful service, and recommended further expansion.
By the end of 2000, there were 50 English language African-published
journals in agricultural sciences, science and technology, health and social
sciences. A keyword search and a photocopy document service were
also introduced for all titles. Although initial growth was slow, by the
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
Continued from page 1
About INASP
The mission of INASP is to enable
worldwide access to information and
knowledge with particular emphasis on
the needs of developing and transitional
countries.
We work with partners around the
world to encourage the creation and
production of information, to promote
sustainable and equitable access to
information, to foster collaboration and
networking and to strengthen local
capacities to manage and use information
and knowledge.
Our objectives are
• Improve access to scientific and
scholarly information
• Catalyse and support local publication
and information exchange
• Strengthen local capacities to manage
and use information and knowledge
• Foster in-country, regional and
international cooperation and
networking
• Advise local organisations and
agencies on ways to utilise information
and publishing to achieve development
goals.
Director: Carol Priestley
Chair, Advisory Panel: N. Mukunda
Chair, Board of Trustees: R. Campbell
Address:
58 St Aldates, Oxford OX1 1ST UK
Tel: + 44 (0)1865 249909
Fax: + 44 (0)1865 251060
Email: inasp@inasp.info
Website: www.inasp.info
Newsletter Editor:
Pippa Smart
Layout & artwork:
Spires Design, UK
The views expressed in this newsletter are those
of the authors, and do not necessarily represent
the opinions of INASP.
end of 2003 there were
175 journals from 21 African
countries. The next major milestone was the commissioning of
the new AJOL database in
March 2004 to increase the
functionality of the site and to
ensure compatibility with other
Internet research services. All
AJOL content is now indexed
through the Open Archives
Initiative search engines and this has given the journals greater
visibility among the worldwide research community.
The AJOL database was developed using the open-source journal management
software called Open Journal Systems (OJS) which was developed by the
Public Knowledge Project at the University of British Columbia in Canada.
Working collaboratively with this organisation, and the Institute for Learning
and Research Technology (ILRT), University of Bristol (UK), AJOL has been
able to create a high quality website with greatly enhanced functionality.
AJOL has continued to grow and there are now more than 1,500 tables of
contents and over 18,000 articles on the site and the average monthly page
requests is increasing dramatically – from 7,000 in May 2004 to almost 30,000
by May 2005.
More than 3,000 people
registered to use the service in
2005 – not only from Africa,
but from all around the world –
and of these almost half have
signed up to receive an Email
alert when new issues are
published.
Ten of the journals have over
200 users signed up for these
alerts and one has over 300: this has been one of the most exciting new
developments which creates awareness, closer contact between journals
and readers and serves to regularly draw readers back to the site.
The number of document deliveries also increased dramatically during 2004
and it looks as if this upward trend will continue into 2005 with an expectation
of providing almost 3000 articles this year.
Another new development introduced during the last year was the ability of
individual journals to load their own content – including full text – and treat
their space on AJOL as their own publication site. Over 17 journals are now
managing their own space on AJOL, and there is already one journal in full
text, and others experimenting with selected articles and issues.
AJOL has become firmly established, and new journals apply to join on a daily
basis. It is an opportune time for new management to take the initiative over,
and for AJOL to move to full African ownership. Although we are sorry to lose
our daily involvement with this project, we know it will continue to be a
successful tool for African journals, and we will certainly stay involved and
committed to its success.
Sioux Cumming
INASP, Oxford, UK
Email: scumming@inasp.info
2
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
An African Vision for African Journals
OnLine (AJOL)
by Margaret Crampton
In March 2005, NISC SA were
appointed to take over management
of AJOL from INASP, so that the
service would be fully managed and
owned within the continent.
NISC is delighted to be appointed to
manage African Journals OnLine
(AJOL) and is pleased and proud to
be part of the AJOL programme. We
look forward to engaging with the
African academic publishing
community to grow AJOL in scope
and functionality to serve both users
and producers of African research.
The ethos of AJOL, as a service to
promote and make accessible
African-published research, exactly
fits the mandate of our organisation
— the promotion of African research
worldwide.
National Inquiry Services Centre
(NISC SA) opened in Grahamstown,
South Africa in May 1995, out of a
realisation of the need in Africa for
indigenous information and a local
service, and has since developed
and grown into a local and global
information provider. NISC is an
academic publisher of bibliographic
databases and journals and is the
recipient of several awards – notable
of which was the 2003 award from
the SA Minister of Science and
Technology for ‘The Most
Outstanding Women’s Technology
Company in South Africa’.
AJOL is currently being registered in
South Africa as an independent notfor-profit company and will work
alongside NISC. We intend to build
and develop AJOL in the spirit in
which it was initiated, and are
committed to developing its
sustainability, accessibility and
usefulness worldwide to allow AJOL
to reach its full potential.
Our vision for AJOL
The future for academic journals,
and for timely and relevant research,
lies in the accessibility of peer
reviewed articles. The Internet
promotes interconnectedness
from bibliographic database
records, article references and
abstracts to their full text
equivalents. NISC specialises
in the aggregation of bibliographic
databases with full text linking and
sees AJOL as an important addition
to the archive of African research.
Every journal on AJOL has a unique
situation and each one must be
financially sustainable. AJOL cannot
undermine this independence and
must support this and help in the
generation of a revenue stream for
ongoing journal publication where
this is needed. Thus the AJOL model
needs to be flexible, adaptable
and respectful of the individual
requirements of its participating
journal publishers whilst also
achieving its vision of making the
content visible to the world.
AJOL must be easily accessible to
individuals and organisations in both
developed and developing countries,
and the content, functionality,
software and ‘look and feel’ of AJOL
must be continually developed.
AJOL will remain a high quality,
state of the art, current, appealing,
useful and user friendly service and
ultimately we trust that it will
become a ‘must have’ research
resource.
There are many areas in which
AJOL can develop in the future, and
ideas that we have workshopped
include such things as:
• the addition of new journals in
an ongoing fashion
• the promotion of full text of
AJOL articles online
• website development to serve
publishers and users alike
• the development of an offline
system for publishers to post
their content via Email
• keyword indexing of articles to
enhance search and retrieval
• linking of article references and
abstracts on database collections
and publisher websites to their
full text on AJOL
• counter compliant user statistics
• the development of a DVD
version of AJOL for those with
poor connectivity
• the maintenance of a Listserv for
AJOL stakeholders
• subscription models and
functionality to serve publishers
and users alike.
Implementation of some (or all!) of
these plans will take time, and for
the immediate future our priority is
to maintain, grow and develop the
service in close collaboration with
INASP and the participating editors
and publishers. Together, into the
future, we plan to develop a major
information resource to serve the
needs of those requiring access to
the research output of this continent.
AJOL and NISC will work together
to support NEPAD (the New
Partnership for African
Development) by promoting access
to the research output of the continent.
We trust that this will promote
research collaboration on the African
continent and help to fulfil our need
for mutual understanding, peace and
for a better life for all.
Margaret Crampton
Managing Director of NISC SA and
AJOL
Email: margaret@nisc.co.za
Web: www.nisc.co.za and www.ajol.info
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
3
An African E-Journal
by Nyerhovwo J. Tonukari
One of the motivating factors that led
to the establishment of the African
Journal of Biotechnology – AJB,
www.academicjournals.org/AJB –
was to have an international journal
that publicised the current research
going on in African countries.
The vast majority of journals published
in Africa today are languishing in
obscurity because they are not known
outside their institutions or region.
Many journals published in Ghana,
for example, cannot be found in
universities or research institutions
in Kenya. Furthermore, African
researchers often lack access to
foreign journals as most of the
universities’ libraries cannot afford
to buy these journals anymore. On
the other hand, the scarcity of
African journals in the libraries of
the developed countries or on the
Internet makes it difficult for anyone
outside Africa to find information
on some issues peculiar to the
continent.
None of us who started AJB had
previous editorial experience in a
normal print journal; neither did we
have any idea initially of how to
start an e-journal. For economic
reasons an e-journal appeared to be
the best option since we all had
computers and Internet access.
Although we agonised whether
African researchers and lecturers
would be able to access and download articles from the Internet, our
calculation was that there will be
increasing access to the Internet with
time. My trip to Kenya changed my
views about Internet access in
Africa. I was pleasantly surprised
to see so many cyber cafes where
anyone can go online for a fee.
So with less than a $100 to register
and host the website initially, AJB
was born. AJB receives manuscripts
as Email attachments and uses only
Email to contact authors and reviewers.
Even proofs are sent as Email
attachments. Currently, there are
6 computers (3 desktops and 3 laptops)
in the AJB office with Microsoft and
4
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
Adobe software to handle all these
mails and other formatting. We also
have a printer and scanner. We earlier
used students and part time staff, but
there are now five regular support
staff and one web consultant in the
Editorial Office. This has curbed
staff turnover (due to low wages)
which plagued the journal for more
than a year.
Our initial goal is was to publish 2 to
4 papers per month. However, we
have become victims of our own
success. Because of the initial speed
of publication, we now receive too
many manuscripts. In 2002, we
published an average of 6 papers per
month which has now increased to
15 in 2005. AJB is a free access journal and everyone with access to the
Internet can read and download the
full articles for free as soon as they
are published.
So as not to be too dependent on
foreign donors, government or
research/academic associations like
other African journals, we charge
authors a modest handling fee, and
80% of it can be waived for most
authors from sub-Saharan Africa.
Even after 2 years, it is still difficult
to convince many authors that it
costs money to publish a peerreviewed and well formatted online
journal. Total handling fees received
for 2003 and 2004 were about
$3,800 and $8,700, respectively, and
the numbers of paying authors have
improved from 20% in 2002 to 45%
in the first quarter of 2005.
To date, AJB has not requested nor
received any funding. We still have
not reached any agreement whether
or not to apply for funding. But we
are very proud to be a self-sustaining
journal. The biggest challenge for us
at AJB is still Internet access. Unlike
in western countries, it costs quite a
lot to have constant Internet access
in most African countries. Since we
cannot afford our own direct Internet
access, we have convinced a cyber
cafe to extend their connections (for
which we pay monthly) to adjacent
offices which we rent. That is the
best we can do for now.
On the brighter side, AJB has now
become so popular thanks to the
Internet. Authors publishing in AJB
are happy that their articles will
receive the widest audience. AJB
also publishes articles from countries
outside of Africa so as to enrich its
contents and expose African readers
to research going on in other parts of
the world. The ‘hits’ on the website
have increased from less than 1000
per day in July 2003 to about 4000
in May 2005.
The most important requirement in
starting an online journal is access to
the Internet and some knowledge of
computers. Most software is easy to
use and affordable. Money is not a
limitation, but commitment from the
editors cannot be overemphasised. It
is nearly impossible for print-only
journals to compete with online
journals because of the speed of
publication. Although more than
95% of authors now understand and
appreciate the online (only) model
of AJB, we still get inquiries from
time to time for print copies. Several
authors and some libraries have
indicated their interest to pay for the
print copies. Maybe in the future, we
may print the issues.
and we are working hard and also
reinvesting its meager revenue to
make it Africa’s premier journal.
Having access to AJB’s full text
articles and especially the reviews
has been a boon to lecturers and
researchers in Africa. We are quite
pleased when they inform us that
they are using AJB materials in their
class notes and research. AJB cited
papers can easily be found even
from popular search engines like
Yahoo, Google and MSN. Currently,
there are several hundreds of
university libraries, research
institutes and other websites linking
to the AJB’s website. We are
humbled by the patronage and trust.
Because of its online model, AJB
editors and reviewers can be located
anywhere in the world as long as
they have Internet access. We are
quite optimistic about AJB’s future
Nyerhovwo J.Tonukari
Editor, African Journal of Biotechnology
Web: www.academicjournals.org/AJB
Email: tonukari@deltastate.net
TEEAL Update
This summer TEEAL (The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library) is
introducing a new local area network version. TEEAL is a complete collection
of agricultural journals with abstracts and full text articles. Formerly available
only on compact disc, now researchers and students will be able to access
articles from the convenience of a networked computer. Just click on a link and
the article appears — no compact discs to insert, no Internet, and no waiting.
LanTEEAL contains 114 journals from the original TEEAL collection selected
by a panel of 600 international scientists as the most relevant to research being
carried out in the developing world (visit the TEEAL website for a list of titles:
www.teeal.org).
LanTEEAL is available for $3,500USD* and includes the 1993-2003 literature.
Annual updates cost $1,000 USD each. The 2004 update will be available this
December.
Additionally, prices are plummeting on the compact disc TEEAL collection of
140 journals. The 1993-2003 CD set can be purchased for just $5000 USD –
over 2.2 million pages of journal literature valued at about $1 million in
developed nations. Annual updates on CD are available for $700 to $1000 each.
The 2004 update will be ready this December.
TEEAL is a project of Cornell University’s A R Mann Library and over 60
publishers, with the ongoing support of the Rockefeller Foundation. Contact
TEEAL for more information, at: teeal@cornell.edu
Nicole Joos
TEEAL Project Manager
AGORA update
www.aginternetwork.org
The AGORA initiative to provide
free or low-cost online access to
science journals on food and
agriculture was launched on
14th October 2003, and in its first
18 months of existence has seen
significant increase in user
participation. To date, 450 institutions
in 56 countries – from the 69 countries
eligible – have registered to use
AGORA's valuable online resources.
Eleven publishers have now joined
the initiative in addition to the nine
founding publisher partners. The
content available through AGORA
now comprises more than 700 key
journals in food, nutrition, agriculture
and related biological, environmental
and social sciences.
This is making a significant impact
on researchers, students and others
in the scientific community in
developing and transitional countries
but FAO and its partners such as
Cornell University are still seeking
to increase participation from users
and publishers even further.
It was also agreed that particular
attention needs to be paid to
improving accessibility of AGORA
content for organisations with poor
connectivity.
In its first 18 months, the AGORA
initiative has resonated among
policy-makers, and has received
endorsement from policy-makers –
such as the Honourable Charles
Keenya, the Minister of Agriculture
and Food Security of Tanzania, who
said: ‘My call is to all participants
to take advantage of this opportunity
and make sure that they carry the
new skills on accessing electronic
resources to their colleagues back
at their workplaces... . Our
development partners have not only
shown the way but also assisted in
very practical ways … . We are
therefore bound to make maximum
use of this opportunity. Our
research and training effort in
agriculture stand to benefit a lot.’
*Discounts on LanTEEAL available to subscribers with the compact disc version of TEEAL
(valid until Dec 2005).
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
5
Greater Access To Research in Cameroon’s Universities
by Kiven Charles Wirsiy and Rosemary M. Shafack
This article summarises the results
of a survey conducted in Cameroon
in 2001-2002. The survey drew
inspiration from how much of the
attention paid to the digital divide
was ignoring the knowledge gap
between developed and developing
countries. We sought to investigate
the relationship between the Internet
infrastructure in Cameroon and
the knowledge gap affecting the
availability of research literature
there.
We surveyed 91 Faculty, librarians
and students in six of Cameroon
Universities, to determine the level
of access to research literature
through the Internet. The consensus
among respondents was that,
although still at a developing stage,
the Internet is a promising source of
research literature that may be able
to reduce, to some small degree, the
knowledge gap in Cameroon and
other developing countries at a time
when print research information
resources have been declining over
the years.
The increasing availability of freeto-read research in Africa made
available through initiatives such as
HINARI, AGORA, PERI (including
African Journals OnLine – AJOL),
as well as by individual Open Access
journals and authors self-archiving
their publishing work, means the
Cameroonian University community
and those of other developing
countries can access the research
literature far more easily and cheaply
with viable Internet facilities.
Although in 2001–2002 the availability of Internet access was still scarce
and relatively expensive, the
University community in Cameroon
had already realised the advantages
easy access could have in their
academic and research activities. For
some, the importance of Internet
access was to provide access to upto-date research findings and thus
enable them to catch up with their
counterparts in other parts of the
6
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
world: for others the importance was
in being able to get information
resources so that they could perform
better in their teaching, learning and
research endeavours.
The Faculty and researchers also
indicated that easy access to the
Internet would also enable them to
find suitable journals in which to
publish their research findings and
thus give their own scholarship a
worldwide exposure. Many were
able to name titles which they
looked forward to being able to
access.
In conclusion it was posited that
without greater access to academic
and research resources through the
Internet at this time, it is difficult to
deliver and participate in university
education. The Cameroonian
University community has a right
to take advantage of free to read
electronic resources by having the
necessary Internet connectivity, the
hardware and software to enable
them make maximum use of these
academic resources.
Between 2002 and 2005, the situation
of connectivity has improved
enormously, especially with increasing
availability of broadband connectivity
through V-SAT technology.
Cameroon’s Universities in the past
3 years have realised the importance
of Internet access to their faculty and
students and are putting in place
the necessary infrastructures and
equipment to take advantage of the
new information and communication
technologies. In a recent visit to the
six Universities under study, it was
discovered that virtually all the
Universities have on-campus Internet
access either in libraries, faculty
offices and/or in Information
Technology Centres and media
resources centres. The access –
although at times limited by
the bandwidth and equipment
breakdown – is an enormous
amelioration of the Internet access
situation of 2001–2002. More still
has to be done especially in the area
of provision of broadband and more
ergonomic hardware to give greater
access to these Internet resources.
All of this places increasing emphasis
on the access question and what
academic and research literature is
free to read online in the form of
full-text journal articles, books, and
other sorts of electronic archives.
What is critical at this point is
greater faculty and scholarly society
awareness of how important Open
Access to research and scholarship is
to Universities in Cameroon and
elsewhere. What needs to follow are
for faculty members everywhere to
find ways of supporting this greater
knowledge exchange on a global
scale by ensuring that their work is
publicly available, as a first step in
advancing this exchange.
The full survey results can be read in
Willinsky, John, Randall, Jonas, Kiven
Charles Wirsiy and Rosemary M.
Shafack (2005). Access to Research
in Cameroonian Universities.
Electronic Journal on Information
Systems in Developing Countries, 21.
www.is.cityu.edu.hk/research/
ejisdc/vol21/v21r2.pdf
Kiven Charles Wirsiy
Senior Librarian at the University of
Buea, Cameroon
Email: kiven_c@yahoo.com
Rosemary M. Shafack
Acting University Librarian at the
University of Buea
Email: roshafack@yahoo.com
Connectivity in African Tertiary
Institutions – The ATICS survey
by Roy Steiner, Nyasha Tirivayi, Mike Jensen, Karanja Gakio
The African Tertiary Institutions
Connectivity Survey (ATICS) website
is an African Virtual University
(AVU) initiative aimed at enhancing
connectivity in Africa’s tertiary sector.
The AVU supported a survey of
Internet connectivity needs in tertiary
institutions across Africa completed
late in 2004. The survey collected
information from 83 institutions,
representing 40 countries in Africa.
The following summarises the
findings of this survey.
Key findings
Bandwidth type
(i) The majority of the sampled
universities use terrestrial based
leased lines for connectivity
purposes with satellite (VSAT)
coming closely in second place.
Unfortunately, over 7% rely on dial
up connections for their Internet
connectivity. (ii) Only 48% of
institutions surveyed had access to
international fibre.
Bandwidth availability
(i) The average bandwidth reported
for the sample is 537/769 Kbps –
roughly equivalent to a broadband
residential connection in North
America or Europe. (ii) Institutions
with fibre connection tend to have
the highest connectivity, while dial
up connections have the lowest
capacity. (iii) Underlining the
demand for bandwidth amongst
most institutions, the average time
where links are at 100% capacity is
over 60%. This is extremely high, as
this is measured over 24 hours a day.
Bandwidth costs
(i) The highest bandwidth cost is
being paid by Université de Yaounde
of Cameroon. Some institutions are
paying very little (or even nothing)
because of subsidies. (ii) VSAT
companies, followed by national
telecoms, are charging the highest
prices per Kbps, while donor
initiatives and academic networks
charge the least. (iii) The greater the
volume of bandwidth being purchased
the lower the marginal cost of that
bandwidth. This fact also strongly
underlines the argument for
bandwidth buying consortiums for
African tertiary institutions.
(iv) None of the respondents gave
a negative response to the idea of
joining a bandwidth purchasing
consortium, and the majority are
clearly willing to join such a
consortium. (v) Regionally,
institutions from West Africa are paying
the highest amount of US$8/Kbps
while institutions from North Africa
are paying only US$0.52/Kbps.
Bandwidth quality
(i) 66% of the institutions surveyed
reported either that they did not have a
Committed Information Rate (CIR)
for their connectivity or did not know
what a CIR was. (ii) Institutions where
the respondent claimed not to know
if they had a CIR or not are paying
the most for their bandwidth, while
those who are part of a consortium
and have the highest quality of
bandwidth get the lowest cost. This
dramatically shows the power of
knowledge and volume in
bandwidth purchasing decisions.
Bandwidth utilisation
(i) There are large differences in
levels of computer access among the
institutions. The highest number of
users per computer is 929. The
average across the sample is 55,
however, even 11 users (southern
Africa average) per networked
computer is a high ratio compared to
the average students per networked
computer ratio of USA institutions,
which is thought to be about 5.
(ii) Campus networks are present in
97% of the institutions. (iii) The
highest average bandwidth (regionally)
per networked computer was in
North Africa while the lowest was in
Southern Africa (probably the result
of more computers within institutions
without adequate bandwidth). Central
Africa has a relatively high bandwidth
per network computer – primarily
because there are so few computers
at the institutions surveyed.
Bandwidth management
(i) The majority of the respondents
(59%) reported that they did not
practice bandwidth management,
indicating a critical need for skills
training. Improving bandwidth
management is probably the easiest
way to improve the quantity and
quality of bandwidth for educational
purposes. (ii) Although 51% indicate
that they monitor their bandwidth,
only five of the universities could
provide basic usage figures, indicating
that monitoring is sporadic.
(iii) VSATs have a higher rate of
failure than other links, with fibre
having the lowest rate of failure. It
appears that electricity cuts affect
VSAT and wire most.
Bandwidth and ICT initiatives
(i) Many of the tertiary institutions
surveyed are planning to implement
various ICT initiatives. A substantial
number said they were planning to
expand or establish campus networks,
but only 45% have a written
e-learning/IT strategy. (ii) Only 8
countries currently have National
Educational & Research Networks,
and only 22% of the institutions
surveyed are members of these
networks.
Recommendations
The state of Internet connectivity in
tertiary institutions in Africa can be
summarised by three characteristics
– too little, too expensive and poorly
managed. From this survey the
following recommendations are
suggested:
1. Formation of bandwidth buying
consortium.
2. Improved bandwidth management.
3. Centralised network management
and technical capacity.
4. Improved regulatory policies
regarding educational bandwidth.
Full report:
www.atics.info/ATICS2004Report.pdf.
Website: www.atics.info
Roy Steiner
Email: roy@cyberplexafrica.com
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
7
Viewpoint: The digital divide continues
by Denise Nicholson
Digital technology has created an
explosion of information in the First
World dimension of South Africa
and in metropolitan areas of other
African countries. Commerce and
some areas of education have been
revolutionised. However, high costs
of equipment, networking, limited
bandwidth and maintenance still
hamper the educational process. In
addition, restrictive licences, high
costs of electronic information,
copyright and technological protection
mechanisms restrict access to
information, thus reserving
knowledge for the elite only.
In the digital environment, contract
law overrides copyright law and
erodes users’ rights. WIPO and IFLA
state that digital is not different, then
why do rights-owners constantly
find new ways to restrict access to
electronic material? And why has
WIPO proposed a Webcasting Treaty
which will create more restrictions,
even over public domain material?
It is said that ‘the world becomes
a stage – if one has access to a
computer!’ Alas, this does not apply
to millions of Africans who do not
have access to a telephone or
electricity, never mind a computer!
Education is seriously affected
because of this – for example the
Register of Needs Survey undertaken
by the South African Department of
Education in 2000 reported that 46%
of schools did not have any electricity
and only 12.3% had computers for
teaching and learning. Current studies
report that only 7% of South Africans
have access to the Internet [1]. Apart
from low general literacy levels,
computer literacy levels are also low,
and the statistics are far lower in the
rest of Africa.
Technology is advancing at such a rate
that the ‘digital - rather information
– divide’ continues to widen. Most
consumers in developing countries
lack the IT maturity levels and training
to utilise ICTs effectively. In many
instances, technology transfer and
ICT projects just increase dependency
8
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
on advanced countries. Technological
activity consists mainly of learning
to use, maintain, sustain and advance
imported technologies, rather than
innovating and encouraging
independence on the technological
frontier [2].
Proprietary software has become
too expensive and most African
countries cannot pay for, or sustain
the licences. Large international
proprietary software corporations are
cleverly entrenching their products
in Africa by making large donations
of software and equipment to poor
communities. However, they are not
providing the financial resources and
adequate infrastructure to maintain
the licences or to update the software and hardware in the long term.
This ultimately ties those countries
to their products for ever after.
Maintenance of proprietary licences
creates a huge financial burden on
developing countries.
The IT industry in South Africa has
realised that unless it makes its
knowledge base more accessible in
the public domain, it will collapse.
No longer is ignorance commercially
viable. Without informed consumers,
there is no sustainable future for the
industry. It has therefore initiated a
project based at the University of the
Witwatersrand and supported by the
City of Johannesburg in partnership
with Government and ICT Industry.
It has established a Centre for
Software Engineering to draw on
well-established academic and
research programmes at the
University and will provide the focal
point of a software development
cluster.
The Johannesburg Centre for
Software Engineering (JCSE) aims to:
• promote best practice in software
development within an African
context;
• grow South Africa’s capacity to
deliver world class software; and
• develop research and training
initiatives to strengthen the local
software development industry.
Further information can be found at
their website
www.wits.ac.za/depts/wcs/jcse.
This is a positive move in the
application of ICTs in the context
of a developing country. There are
various ICT projects in South Africa
and in other parts of Africa, some of
which have been successful, but with
the continuous new developments in
technology, they are nowhere near
addressing the major ‘digital divide’.
References
1. The Goldstuck Report: Internet Access
in South Africa 2004 (Executive
Summary). World Wide Worx (Pty) Ltd.
(arthurg@internet.org.za) (The OCLC
environmental scan (2003) also listed
7% of South Africans as internet users.)
2. Lall. S. and Albaladejo, M. Indicators
of the relative importance of IPR’s in
developing countries. Working document
2002. No. 85. Retrieved 9.06.2005
www2.qeh.ox.ac.uk/RePEc/qeh/
qehwps/qehwps85.pdf
Denise Nicholson
Copyright Services Librarian, University
of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Email: Nicholson.D@Library.wits.ac.za
APNET launches a new website
The African Publishers Network,
established in 1992, brings together
national publishers associations
and publishing communities to
strengthen indigenous publishing
throughout Africa. APNET is a
pan-African, non-profit making
network with a Secretariat in
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
APNET now has membership of
47 countries. APNET provides a
variety of services to African
publishers and they have now
updated their website to make it
easier to use — please visit us at
www.apnet.org
Electronic Networks: Experience from Mexico
by Gabriela Romo
Networks are emerging as an
important avenue to help NGOs
meet the challenges they face. The
main goal is to learn from each
other’s practical experiences (good
and bad) and a network may serve
its members in different ways, e.g.
to convene meetings and engage
support, or to provide a learning
forum. In both cases, belonging to
the network enables them to learn
more.
However, the experience of the Gulf of
California Learning Network (GCLN)
comprised by 29 organisations
throughout this region in Mexico
illustrates some barriers that often
are not taken into account when
setting up networks.
Different degrees of organisational
maturity
The more established organisations
are interested in having the network
as a tool for influencing broader
policy issues external to themselves.
The smaller and newer organisations
tend to be more inwardly focused
and interested in developing and
improving their own management
tools. These differences have an
impact on what is contributed to the
network and on difficulties in setting
a pace in organisational learning.
Power relationships
Large organisations have self-confident
staff that tend to dominate the smaller
organisations, particularly those with
shy people. They also tend to provide
the majority of the content of the
network, and to set the agenda and
thus the direction of the network.
Domination by a certain group of
organisations and/or individuals
serves to marginalise others and
create an elite group.
Centralisation of information
Information that is centralised by the
manager of the network creates
dependency within its members,
and if the contact person of an
organisation is also centralising
the flows of information to the
organisation, that organisation may
even die in the eyes of the network
because no one else feels they have
the authority or knowledge to
convene meetings or start activities.
Competition and fear
Although participant organisations
understand that to learn it is necessary
to recognise mistakes, in practice few
are either open to recognising their
mistakes or willing to share them
with others – particularly when
experiences are posted on the web.
One of the reasons found was that
such exposure was felt to have
negative consequences on funding.
Lack of infrastructure
In the GCLN there was an assumption
that all NGOs participating had an
appropriate and homogenous level of
infrastructure in their organisations.
However, it was discovered that 20%
of the organisations do not have full
access to computers at work and
30% have low speed connectivity.
This led to some organisations
feeling excluded, frustrated and
marginalised.
Cultural barrier of electronic
communication
Several of the network participants
claimed that electronic communications
were impersonal and not sufficient to
facilitate effective knowledge sharing.
It was found necessary to complement
virtual exchanges with regular faceto-face meetings to minimise this
barrier. It was felt that face-to-face
communication provides the necessary
environment of trust and confidence.
Unprocessed Information
When NGOs in the GCLN were
asked to share their knowledge, it was
difficult to get documented and
processed knowledge rather than raw
information. In some cases, lessons
relevant to their work were hidden
and kept in ‘donor-seeking jargon’.
Issue of resources
The generous approach taken by the
GCLN has contributed to a lack of
commitment to the network on the
part of the participating organisations,
risking the long-term sustainability of
the initiative.
E-networks provide great opportunities
for NGOs to engage in mutual
learning and collaboration in a costeffective way. At the same time, it
is critical that these networks are
well managed. These – and not the
introduction of the technologies
themselves – are the real challenges
facing electronic networks. NGOs
have a great opportunity to influence
and form part of greater processes
for development – how they respond
to these will determine the future of
the societies in developing countries.
This is a summary of ‘Information
And Communication Technologies
And Non-Governmental
Organisations: Lessons Learnt
From Networking In Mexico’,
published in The Electronic Journal on
Information Systems in Developing
Countries, www.ejisdc.org
Gabriela Romo
Email: gabrielaantonioli@hotmail.com
Bioline
International
www.bioline.org.br
A not-for-profit electronic publishing
service committed to providing
open access to quality research
journals published in developing
countries. With full text peerreviewed journals from Brazil,
Cuba, India, Indonesia, Kenya,
South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe
and more to come, the site provides
a unique service by making bioscience information generated in
these countries available to the
international research community
worldwide.
To contact us, please Email:
Bioline.International@utoronto.ca
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
9
Resource for
librarians:
Digitization &
Digital Libraries
The IMARK module ‘Digitization
& Digital Libraries’ was developed
jointly between FAO and UNESCO
with the support of the National
Centre for Science Information
(NCSI) at the Indian Institute of
Science (IISC). This module is
intended to train librarians and
other information specialists in the
conceptual and practical bases for
the digitisation of collections, and
in the creation and provision of
access to digital libraries. It also
uses and builds upon topics from
the IMARK module ‘Management
of Electronic Documents’.
The Module is delivered on CDROM and is available in English.
The Spanish and French versions
are in development as well as the
web-based version.To request a
copy visit the website.
www.fao.org/IMARK
A Practical
Guide to
Bookselling
Edited by Oluronke Orimalade
and Bridget Impey
Published jointly by INASP and
CTA, Netherlands, this book
provides guidance on establishing
and running a successful bookselling business, and is designed to
be a resource for both existing and
new booksellers. It covers subjects
such as starting a business, planning
the business, managing both stock
and staff, and how to develop new
strategies for success. Available in
print only, in either French or
English, see www.inasp.info/pubs
10
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
PERI Mid-term Review 2004
by Sara Gwynn
During 1999/2000 INASP was asked
by research partners and librarians
from developing and transitional
countries for assistance in
information production, access and
dissemination utilising information
and communication technologies
(ICTs). Following significant
consultation, the Programme for the
Enhancement of Research
Information (PERI) was created.
After three years of PERI activity, a
review was undertaken. The review
took a participatory, capacity
strengthening approach and was
designed and implemented by key
stakeholders, including programme
implementers, participants and funders. It considered five key aspects
of the programme.
1. Relevance: the overwhelming
impression was that PERI-enabled
access to international electronic
resources, support for local
publishing and locally published
journals and training is very relevant
and is addressing the needs of
stakeholders.
2. Usage: the review found that there
has been significant use of services
and resources via PERI, with
researchers downloading hundreds
of thousands of articles from
scholarly journals, extensive use of
the AJOL service, and delivery of
over 60 training modules in over
20 countries. However, this use
varied widely between and within
countries and even within individual
institutions and departments.
3. Management: although PERI’s
management structure has allowed
the programme to develop
significantly over the first three
years and has led to a great deal of
activity in the countries involved,
several suggestions for improvement
arose during the review (see below).
4. Sharing: feedback indicated that
useful sharing of experience and
knowledge is happening but in a
mostly informal, unsystematic way
and that this could be improved.
5. Sustainability: although it is early
days for PERI, some countries
within the programme have made
significant steps towards sustaining
their access to the international
resources and training activities.
However, there is still a long way to
go before any of the countries
becomes fully self-sustaining.
As well as confirming that the
programme was relevant and useful
to stakeholders, the review team
were pleased that the review also
generated positive recommendations
for improving PERI during it’s next
phase (2005–2008). Over twenty
recommendations emerged, which
fall broadly into five categories:
• effectively embedding PERI
within its wider community by
strengthening links with policy
makers, end users and
complementary initiatives;
• sharing of clearer documentation
on the planning, implementation
and evaluation of the programme;
• increasing use of PERI services
and resources;
• improving programme monitoring
and evaluation;
• supporting progress towards
sustainability of activities
currently supported via PERI.
As a Director of Postgraduate Research
observed: ‘Services emerged out of a
genuine need, that need is there and
it is being met. That must be made
clear. But you have made a problem
for yourselves by creating more
demand.’ It is a challenge that we are
looking forward to addressing in the
coming months and years. The
recommendations have now been
prioritised by PERI Country Coordinators and INASP staff and actions
are being taken to implement them.
A copy of the entire review and an
4-page executive summary can be
found in INASP’s website:
www.inasp.info/pubs/PERIreview05.shtml
Sara Gwynn
PERI Coordinator
Email: sgwynn@inasp.info
Towards the Digital Library: Findings of
an investigation to establish the current
status of university libraries in Africa
In 2004 INASP commissioned a
survey of the current status of digital
libraries in sub-Saharan Anglophone
Africa. The results have now been
published, both in full text and
summary formats.
The report examines the progress
that has been made by university
libraries in Africa in introducing
electronic systems and services and
suggests where developments and
investments might now be made to
further advance the implementation
of digital libraries. Although the
survey data is confined to subSaharan Anglophone Africa (not
South Africa), it is hoped that many
of the results are also relevant to
other African countries and the
developing world in general. The
term digital library is used to refer to
a library where some or all of the
holdings are available in electronic
form, and the services of the library
are also made available electronically
– frequently over the Internet.
One conclusion is that university
libraries in Africa are at very different
stages of digital development, with
very different needs. Programmes
that assume that all libraries within a
region or country have the same
needs and aspirations are unlikely to
be successful. It is important to
recognise that a library must also
have the basic building blocks of a
digital library in place before it can
move forward into providing
electronic services. Training of
library staff remains key, but there
is a call for training methods to be
diversified and new emphasis placed
on ensuring that the curricula and
teaching in library schools has kept
pace with the new digital environment.
User education remains a challenge.
Finally, librarians say that they lack
advice as to where to go next.
Mechanisms for sharing in-country
experiences or driving forward
digital developments are not widely
available.
The contents and action points of the
report will be covered in more detail
in the autumn 2005 issue of the
Newsletter, which will have digital
libraries as its theme.
Full report (30pp) and summary
report (4pp) available for free
download from
www.inasp.info/pubs/
Eldis/HRC Health Resource Guide:
new key issues guide on maternal,
newborn and child health
Policy tensions exist between maternal
health and child health, and between
clinical and community-based
approaches. Who matters most – the
mother or the child? Is skilled care the
only answer and what happens while
coverage is still low? These conflicts
are explored in a new Key Issues page
now available on the HRC/Eldis
Health Resource Guide. This clear and
concise guide outlines the key policy
debates, and examines what action is
needed to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals on maternal and
child health. Written by experts in the
field, the guide can be accessed at
www.eldis.org/health/MNCH.htm
New updates to
the INASP
Health Links
gateway
www.inasp.info/health/links
•
For most of the ‘specific health
resources’ pages listed on the
table of contents, we have added
‘PubMed - Free Fulltext Articles
on’ searches. These searches
identify and link to all free full
text e-journal articles for the
specific subject within the
PubMed database.
•
A new dental health page that
contains links to relevant
information in this discipline
www.inasp.info/health/links/
dental.html
•
Links to two invaluable clinical
tools: Where There Is No Doctor
and Where There Is No Dentist.
Both contain invaluable clinical
information for the nonphysician environment and are
available in English and Spanish.
Print copies can be ordered by
Emailing inasp@inasp.info
INASP publishing resources
These are available from the INASP website – www.inasp.info/psi/resources
New resources include:
Consensus Statement on Good Editorial Practice. Developed jointly with
Index Copernicus, this document provides a tool for evaluating a journal to
ensure that it complies with internationally-accepted standards in terms of
presentation and format of content.
How to write a good scientific paper. Written by Kumar Mainaili, from the
Himalayan Journal of Science this paper provides a concise guideline on how
to structure a scientific paper for journal publication.
How to publish your research work. Written jointly by James Falaiye (African
Journal of Reproductive Health) and Pippa Smart (INASP), this provides
guidance for authors on the selection, submission and publication of journal
papers, and tells them what to expect from the process.
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
11
Obituary
Dr T B Rajashekar
Dr Tarikere Basappa Rajashekar, who was the Associate Chairman of the
National Centre for Science Information (NCSI) at the Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, was killed in a road accident near Bangalore on 3 June 2005.
Raja’s role in the creation of the Nation’s first computerised current awareness
service in the early 1980s at NCSI is commendable. He had an exemplary
skill in programming and an innate ability to understand, apply and disseminate
newer programming paradigms to stay current all the time. Notable achievements
included setting up India’s first interoperable institutional open access archive,
and at the time of his tragic death there were more than 2,000 papers in the
archive, and he had conducted many training programmes on setting up open
access archives elsewhere in India.
Raja was on many committees, including the CODATA, and had contributed to
the development of INFLIBNET and INDEST. He was also elected Fellow of
the Society of Information Science (India).
When he was on course to achieve much more, fate has snatched him away
from us. Once he remarked to his students, what mattered in life was what one
left behind for others to remember and continue. By that yardstick he has done
extremely well.
Subbiah Arunachalam and N. Balakrishnan
INASP Infobriefs
INASP Infobriefs are a series of short (4pp) reports based on research undertaken
by INASP, and culminating in recommendations for our community. They are
all available free on the INASP website (see www.inasp.info/pubs)
1. (July 2003) Optimising Internet Bandwidth in Developing Country Higher
Education
2. (February 2004) Empowering Youth and Connecting Schools: Lessons from
the SchoolNet Namibia Approach
3. (July 2004) The Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
in African Public Library Services
4. (February 2005) PERI Review 2001–2004: Executive Summary
5. (March 2005) Towards the Digital Library in Africa
6. (July 2005) Journal Access Programmes in African University Libraries. In
2003, INASP carried out a survey of the journal access programmes that
were being used in universities in Africa. The survey results formed a
background document for two follow-up roundtables (in November 2003
and October 2004) between representatives of African universities,
programme providers and publishers. The roundtables were enabled by the
Association of Commonwealth Universities and INASP. This Infobrief
describes the key outcomes and recommendations of these three activities.
Two new
biographies now
freely available
online
The Open Access Bibliography:
Liberating Scholarly Literature
with E-Prints and Open Access
Journals presents over 1,300 selected
English-language books, conference
papers (including some digital video
presentations), debates, editorials,
e-prints, journal and magazine
articles, news articles, technical
reports, and other printed and
electronic sources that are useful in
understanding the Open Access
movement's efforts to provide free
access to and unfettered use of
scholarly literature. See
http://info.lib.uh.edu/cwb/oab.pdf
Scholarly Electronic Publishing
Bibliography
This selective bibliography presents
over 2,275 articles, books, and
other printed and electronic sources
that are useful in understanding
scholarly electronic publishing
efforts on the Internet. See
http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.html
or
http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.pdf
Human Genomics – free online
access for researchers in the
developing world
A bimonthly journal dedicated to
providing a forum for the publication
of primary research and reviews
relating to the application of
genomic research in drug discovery
and medicine. For more information
on the journal see
www.henrystewart.com/journals/hg
For more information, and registration,
please contact Liz Caldwell:
liz@hspublications.co.uk
The next INASP Newsletter will be published in November 2005 and will be a themed issue on the subject of
digital libraries. If you would like to contribute to its contents, please write to the editor at the Oxford address.
Contributions must be received by 1 September 2005.
12
INASP Newsletter Summer 2005
Enabling worldwide access to information
58 St Aldates,
Oxford OX1 1ST, UK
Tel: + 44 (0)1865 249909
Fax: + 44 (0)1865 251060
Email: inasp@inasp.info
Website: www.inasp.info