Open Access in Africa

Integration of open access agenda in research and civic literacy and some ethical dimensions
from Innovation : journal of appropriate librarianship and information work in Southern Africa : Information Ethics - article by Dennis Ocholla

Since the day of the first printing press, i.e. the famous Gutenberg Press in 1440, which lay the foundation for mass publication, publications have continued to proliferate and have surpassed the wildest dreams of Gutenberg with the internet, arguably the greatest revolution (in the infosphere) of all time, and Google taking the lead in Open Access (OA). As a result of the internet, the publishing industry is increasingly taking on a new shape where Open Access plays a crucial role for increased information access to some of the remotest parts of the world that exist in Africa, and elsewhere, that would not have had access to information - freely - as they do today. Thus, the publishing industry is swiftly moving away from print/traditional publishing to electronic publishing and from the control of large, traditional publishing firms to small, private or personal publishing initiatives and activities, introducing new, but pleasant challenges such as those originating from social media. In this paper, we examine Open Access (OA) within the context of civic literacy as a whole and, in particular, in Africa. Our work is based on personal knowledge and experiences, observations and desk research.