This article takes a broad, general perspective of scholarly communication in Africa, using a simple systems model based on the Lasswell formula. The model identifies and analyses the following components: Creators, Contents, Mediation, Users and Infrastructure. It recognizes that these are to be studied in their cultural, political, economic, legal and ethical contexts. Taking each component in turn, a number of critical issues and problems relevant to the North-South/South-North divide are identified and some observations are made on the position and roles of libraries. The article presents a list of desiderata and emphasizes that scholarly communication has both digital and analogue dimensions. It is a complex phenomenon that needs to be addressed holistically.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Barton, G. (2005) The Lasswell formula. Available: http://www.geoffbarton.co.uk/files/student-resources/Communication/Theorypercent20Sheets/Thepercent20Lasswellpercent20Formula.doc. Accessed 2006-09-04.
2.
Britz, J.J. and Lor, P.J. (2003) A moral reflection on the information flow from South to North: an African perspective. Libri, 53(3) 160—173.
3.
Britz, J.J. and Lor, P.J. (2004) A moral reflection on the digitization of Africa's documentary heritage. IFLA Journal, 30(3) 216—223.
4.
Britz, J.J., Lor, P.J. and Bothma, T.J.M. (2006) Global capitalism and the fair distribution of information in the marketplace: a moral reflection from the perspective of the developing world. Journal of InformationEthics, 15(1) 60—69.
5.
Britz, J.J., Lor, P.J., Coetzee, E., and Bester, B.C. (2006) Africa en route to a knowledge society: a reality check. International Information and Library Review, 38(1) 25—40.
6.
Conference of Directors of National Libraries. ( 2005) Maintaining our digital memory: a declaration of support for the World Summit on the Information Society. Available http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/declaration-CDNL2005.html. Accessed 2006-07-22.
7.
Consumers International. (2006) Copyright and access to knowledge: policy recommendations on flexibilities in copyright laws. Kuala Lumpur. Consumers International Asia Pacific Office. Available: http://www.consumersinternational.org/Shared_ASP_Files/UploadedFiles/C50257F3-A4A3-4C41-86D9-74CABA4CBCB1_COPYRIGHTFinal16.02.06.pdf . Accessed 2006-09-04.
Hank, C. (2006) Digital curation and trusted repositories, seeking success: JDCL Workshop report. D-Lib Magazine, 12(7/8). Available: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july06/hank/07hank.html . Accessed 2006-09-06.
10.
Ifla. (2002) The IFLA Internet manifesto. Available http://www.ifla.org/III/misc/im-e.htm . Accessed 2006-09-05.
11.
Ifla. (2003) IFLA statement on open access to scholarly literature and research documentation. Available: http://www.ifla.org/V/cdoc/open-access04.html. Accessed 2006-09-06.
12.
Ifla. (2005) Beacons of the information society: the Alexandria proclamation on information literacy and lifelong learning. Available: http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/BeaconInfSoc.html . Accessed 2006-09-06.
13.
IFLA/International Publishers Association Steering Group. (2002) Preserving the memory of the world in perpetuity: a joint statement on the archiving and preserving of digital information. Available http://www.ifla.org/V/press/ifla-ipa02.htm. Accessed 2006-09-04.
14.
International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications. (2006) Publishing support initiatives. Available: http://www.inasp.info/psi/index.shtml. Accessed 2006-09-06.
15.
International Telecommunication Union. (2004 a) Africa, ICT indicators, 2003. Available http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/at_glance/af_ictindicators.html. Accessed 2006-09-04.
16.
International Telecommunication Union. (2004 b) ICT indicators, 2003: Europe and CIS. Available http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/at_glance/E2_EuropeICTIndicators_2003.pdf . Accessed 2006-09-04.
17.
Internet World Stats. (2006). Internet usage statistics for Africa. Available: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm. Accessed 2006 -09-04.
18.
Kanellos, M. (2004) A billion PC users on the way. Available: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-5290988.html. Accessed 2006-09-05.
19.
Kiondo, E. (2004) Historical practice in managing theses and dissertations at African universities and university libraries. Presentation to the Association of African Universities DATAD workshop on Intellectual Property, Governance, Dissemination and Funding Strategies, Accra, Ghana, February 19—20, 2004. Available: http://www.crl.edu/PDF/datadkiondo.pdf. Accessed 2006-09-05.
20.
Lockss. (2006) Homepage. Available http://www.lockss.org/lockss/Home. Accessed 2006-09-06.
21.
Lor, P.J. (2000) Role of the National Library of South Africa in ensuring access to research results and data collections among organs of state. Meta-infoBulletin, 9(3) 10—15.
22.
Lor, P.J. (2004a) Report on the Workshop on ICTs and the Library: Experiences, Opportunities and Challenges for Libraries in Africa , Kopanong Hotel, Benoni, South Africa, 20—23 July 2004. Unpublished.
23.
Lor, P.J. (2004b) Storehouses of knowledge? The role of libraries in preserving and promoting indigenous knowledge. Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous KnowledgeSystems, 3(1) 45—56.
24.
Lor, P.J. and Britz, J.J. (2004a) Digitization of Africa's documentary heritage: aid or exploitation? Journal of InformationEthics, (Fall) 78—93.
25.
Lor, P.J. and Britz, J.J. (2004b) Information imperialism: moral problems in information flows from South to North. In: Information ethics in the electronic age: current issues in Africa and the world; ed. by Tom Mendoza and Johannes J.Britz. Jefferson (North Carolina), McFarland, 15—21.
26.
Lor, P.J. and Britz, J.J. (2005) Knowledge production from an African perspective: international information flows and intellectual property. International Information and Library Review, 37(2) 61—76.
27.
Lor, P.J. and Britz, J.J. (2007) Information Society, Knowledge Society: possible without freedom of information? — A moral and pragmatic reflection. Journal of Information Science, 33(3). Available: http://jis.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0165551506075327v1
28.
Lor, P.J., Britz, J.J. and Watermeyer, H.C. (2006) Everything, for ever? The preservation of South African websites for future research and scholarship. Journal of informationScience, 32(1) 39—48.
29.
Lor, P.J. and Snyman, M.M.M. (2005) Preservation of electronic documents in the private sector: business imperative and heritage responsibility. South African Journal of Information Management, 7(1). Available: http://general.rau.ac.za/infosci/raujournal/default.asp?to=peervol7nr1.
30.
Palaima, Carolyn; Myrick, Leslie; Simon, James and Reilly, Bernard F. (2004) Political communications web archiving: an investigation funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Final report. Chicago: Center for Research Libraries. Available: http://www.crl.edu/PDF/PCWAFinalReport.pdf. Accessed 2006-09-06.
31.
Research Libraries Group. (2001) Attributes of a trusted digital repository: meeting the needs of research resources. Draft for public comment. Available: http://www.rlg.org/longterm/attributes01.pdf#search=percent22trustedpercent20repositoriespercent22. Accessed 2006-09-06.
32.
Rosenberg, D. (1997) University libraries in Africa: a review of their current state and future potential. London: International Africa Institute. 3v.
33.
Shannon, C. and Weaver, W. (1949) The mathematical theory of communication. Urbana: University of Illinois.
34.
Thelwall, M. and Vaughan, L. (2004) A fair history of the Web? Examining country balance in the Internet archive. Library and Information Science Research , 26(2) 162—176.
35.
Tsebe, J. (2005) Networking digital heritage: Africa. Paper 157-E presented at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress, Oslo, Norway, 14—18 August 2005. Available http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla71/papers/157e-Tsebe.pdf. Accessed 2006-09-04.
36.
Van der Hoeven, Maria. [Interview] (2006) Open dataverkeer versterkt de productiviteit van het onderzoek. e-Data and Research, 1(1) 5.
37.
Zulu, B. (2006) Africa: ITU support for NEPAD. AllAfrica.com. Available: http://allafrica.com/stories/200608110136.html . Accessed 2006-09-05.
38.
Adapted version of a keynote address presented to the CODESRIA-ASC Conference on Bridging the North-South Divide in Scholarly Communication on Africa: Threats and Opportunities in the Digital Age, Leiden, The Netherlands, 6—8 September 2006.
