HOW AGORA IS IMPROVING ACCESS TO UP-TO-DATE SCHOLARLY LITERATURE IN AFRICA

Gracian ChimwazaTEEAL/AGORA/HINARI Africa

OfficeHarare

gracian@cyberplexafrica.com

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/200-300km

Inadequate Infrastructure Slowing Internet Adoption• Not enough computers

– 1 computer serve 30-35 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 per Networked Computer by Regionn=73

1.67

8.42

2.32

4.95

9.60

3.36

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00

Southern Africa

Central Africa

East Africa

West Africa

North Africa

Average

Average Kbps/Networked Computer

Users per networked computers by regionsn=66

11

171

50

63

15

55

0 50 100 150 200

SouthernAfrica

Central Africa

East Africa

West Africa

North Africa

Average

Regions

Average number of users per networked computer

Average Bandwidth Costs

Source: ATICS Survey 2004

Average Bandwdith Costs ($USD per Kbps) by Region

0.12

0.52

3.63

4.38

4.70

5.46

8.00

0 2 4 6 8 10

US University

North Africa

Central Africa

East Africa

Southern Africa

Average

West Africa

Region

Mean Cost $USD/Kbps

Potential for Increase Access Growing

OpportunityFor

Online Access

•AGORA•HINARI•Other..

•Regulatory Reforms•Liberalization•Recognition of ICT importance

•Undersea Fiber•New Satellites

•Volume Pricing

Policy Reform

Relevant Content

Bandwidth

1

3 2

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HINARI/AGORA/TEEAL Outreach & Training Across Africa• 34 countries covered in last 7yrs • Making 25-30 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