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. 

This is a 'must read' from Eve Gray on Open Access in Africa!

Very interesting piece on Eve's blog:
 "...I have come to think that the green/gold debate is in fact a distraction from dealing with more insidious issues in our research publishing systems. These include the dominance of journals at the expense of other forms of publication; the almost universal adoption of the ISI and its Impact Factor as the basis for recognition and reward; and, most insidious of all, the marginalization of great swathes of global research through the implementation of this commercialized ranking system...." (Eve Gray)

 

Eve will moderate the session on OA and Improving Assessment of Research and Scholarly Publication at the Berlin 10 Conference in November in Stellenbosch (Roelien, Ujula, Debbie & Eileen will be attending this).

N ACCESS AND IMPROVING ASSESSMENT OF RESEARCH AND SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING