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Presented at the launch of the Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme at the University of Namibia
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Access to Africa’s
Knowledge Scholarly Communication in
Africa
University of Namibia
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What do we, in African countries, seek to gain from our investment in
research?
The aim is surely African knowledge,
for Africa, from Africa, widely accessible...
...and available for economic and
social development.
Globally, scholarly communications is at a crossroads...
as the internet offers greater
connectivity, lower cost
http://manypossibilities.net/african-undersea-cables/
We face two very different poles of
opportunity...
Enhanced global competitiveness and
prestige....
...or open communications
and collaboration to address
development challenges
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We constantly ask questions about the link between
research and development...
‘How could the application of knowledge end poverty and hunger in Africa? How could higher education empower women and promote gender equity? How can knowledge be considered in the African context to address child mortality and improve maternal health?’
Nahas Angula, Namibian Prime Minister, UNESCO 29th Conference on Higher Education, 2009
Photo: coda Damien du Toit http://www.flickr.com/photos/coda/Creative Commons Share-Alike
Yet we are still caught up with old
paradigms...
...stuck in a free rider mentality...
...in which African higher education
does not see publication as its responsibility...
...instead measuring success
on the basis of counts of journal
articlesin the ISI indexes..
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... a system run by a single commercial
company...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adactio/ CC attribution licence
The result is tunnel vision...
...which ignores all but a small
segment of the publishing
ecosystem..
... namely journals, particularly foreign
journals...
... marginalising African research
.. ignoring other communications
activity...
.. and offering little support and
recognition to the communications that
emerge from development-focused
research...
There is a penalty...
Science Research - 2001
http://www.worldmapper.org 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).
World poverty
http://www.worldmapper.org 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).
How can we address this?
Leveraging technology in a
networked world ....
... using open access publishing
models...
...aligning communications with
institutional and national strategies...
Research Councils UK and HEFCE have a shared commitment to maintaining and improving the capacity of the UK research base to undertake research activity of world leading quality, and to ensuring that significant outputs from this activity are made available as widely as possible both within and beyond the research community. Open access to published research supports this commitment and, if widely implemented, can benefit the research base, higher education, and the UK economy and society more broadly.
...raising quality through national
initiatives...
...revaluing ‘grey publishing’
... leveraging open access...
...by publishing in open access
journals...
...using collaborative
publishing platforms...
...rethinking business models...
...gaining wider impact and
reach...
...using open repositories and
portals...
How can the University of
Namibia harness this potential to
deliver its strategic goals?
Eve GrayHonorary Research Associate
Centre for Educational Technology
University of Cape Townhttp://www.gray-area.co.za
http://www.http://www.sca2kafrica.org/
http://www.cet.uct.ac.za
