HOW AGORA IS IMPROVING ACCESS TO UP-TO-DATE SCHOLARLY LITERATURE IN AFRICA Gracian Chimwaza TEEAL/AGORA/HINARI Africa Office Harare

African Libraries Budgetary constrains have led to: –Little investment in facilities –Small, often old collections Print make 80-90% of collections E-resources introduced in last decade

Budget Cuts Rising Libraries greatly affected No new books, periodicals Researchers work quality affected Working with minimum resources Electronic resources have become an affordable alternative

Use of e-resources Searches for research & literature review Keeping up to-date with current developments in one’s discipline Teaching resource –Many professors using materials they received during their training HINARI, TEEAL, AGORA, INASP-PERI providing relevant literature

e-journals making a difference “With TEEAL, students quality of research & literature review has improved” V. Hungwe, Africa University-Zimbabwe “time spend on research literature review has drastically reduced from weeks to a few hours” Dr. Howard Tembo, Mt Makulu Research -Zambia TEEAL….a jewel in the absence of any reference resources” R. A. Rege, KARI -Kenya

Challenges at Institutions Lack of funds to acquire new titles –No new journals acquired in 10 years when TEEAL arrived in 2000 at the Mt Makulu Research Station Library -Zambia. Government grants too little – too many critical issues competing Enrollments skyrocketing –ABU, Nigeria has grown from 5,000 to 35,000 students since late 1980’s Telecommunications barely exist –Most rural Africa its 1 phone/ km

Inadequate Infrastructure Slowing Internet Adoption Not enough computers –1 computer serve students at Bunda Agriculture College, Malawi Inadequate Bandwidth –Too little & Too expensive –At Univ. of Ag, Abeokuta, Nigeria only 256K link serve thousands of users –Internet café’s popular

Inadequate Infrastructure slowing Internet adoption (cont’d) Satellite/radio links spreading –Capital investment required beyond majority of institutions Unreliable electricity –Power cuts widespread particularly in E & W Africa

Students access limited Source: ATICS Survey 2004

Average Bandwidth Costs Source: ATICS Survey 2004

Potential for Increase Access Growing

HINARI/AGORA/TEEAL Outreach & Training Across Africa 34 countries covered in last 7yrs Making missions annually Reaching 350+ institution/yr 50+ training workshops to date Targeting librarians/info specialist, researchers, doctors, students

Ongoing HINARI/AGORA training workshops 12 Workshops over 2 years (2005-6) Collaborative effort funded by Rockefeller Foundation, WHO, FAO and Cornell University 3-day training workshops in: –Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe 250 trainers trained to date Hosted by local Univ/Res. institutes

Ongoing Training in Africa Train-of-trainer approach Small classes (30 people max) Hands-on practical sessions A computer per participant Handouts, CDs, Video

Problems found at institutions Some decision-makers still not aware of importance of e- resources Need to know what is available, where and how to access it –‘Hold-hand-and-point’ strategy –Localized outreach & marketing more effective

…At National Level Lack of supportive ICT public policy –promoting role for libraries to facilitate funding Governments monopolies control Internet Bandwidth –Comes with gross inefficiencies –Stifles growth in sector Special waivers for universities & research institutions difficult to obtain

Externally funded programmes Programmes not sustainable when money runs out –INASP’s PERI model –HINARI, AGORA, TEEAL models Duplication of efforts by funders –Some programmes trying to ‘reinventing the wheel’ –Minimum returns on the ground Collaboration key to success

Training problems Limited user skills – Great need for ICT skills Face to face training effective – But expensive to organize Workshop venues with adequate facilities not readily available – Local institutions willing to host

Other initiatives helping African institutions Several initiatives in the last 15yrs: –CD-ROM based systems TEEAL, CAB Abstracts, Silverplatter –AVLIN (Africa Virtual Library and Information Network) Aggregate information resources across continent –African Journals Online (AJOL) initiative –FAO’s AGRIS - harvesting NARS output

Africa off the starting line.. Demand for relevant scientific literature increasing Increased Affordable Bandwidth critical –Africa Virtual University Bandwidth Initiative CD-ROM technology practical and affordable External Funding making a difference

“I am a young research scientist working towards alleviating poverty in the most deprived area in my country. Unfortunately, I have a pile of data sitting on my desk -without access to current literature/journals to enable me publish my findings. I just came across your AGORA free journals online-site. I can access this valuable source of knowledge for the benefit of my people and the scientific community at large”. Adams Frimpong, Research Scientist, Savanna Agricultural Research Institute, Tamale, Ghana