An African experience in providing a digital library service: the African
						Virtual University (AVU) example

Ngimwa, Pauline

doi:10.29085/9781856047920.004

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Moreover, print-based publications seem to be very expensive for the buying power of developing countries. In Africa, for instance, printed academic books cost too much for the majority of students in this continent [6]. In this context of asymmetric access to information, the scientific production of developing countries will keep having reduced impact [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building and Using Digital Libraries in the Developing World

Rosa¹,

Lamas

2013

EDU

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Given the several problems faced by developing countries on their struggle to access print-based publications, digital libraries are seen as the great hope as they enable access to a vast panoply of resources, anytime and anywhere. However, building such libraries in developing countries is a real challenge since these countries usually face several difficulties, such as low computer and Internet penetration rates, poor ICT infrastructures, lack of qualified human resources, lack of financial resources, etc. Thus, it is imperative finding alternative mechanisms of building and accessing digital libraries that best fit the specificities of these countries. It is also important to understand how digital libraries are used in these contexts. This paper features the process used for building a digital library in a developing country, characterized by scarce access to print-based publications and serious difficulties in accessing ICT resources. The challenges, the solutions and the adopted methodological framework are highlighted and can be useful for other digital library projects in the developing world. The paper also presents a comparative study on the usage of the created digital library when compared with a traditional library with the same content, and introduces a user study on the possibility of using mobile phones for accessing digital libraries in this context.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building and Using Digital Libraries in the Developing World

Rosa¹,

Lamas

2013

EDU

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“…In Africa, for instance, where more than 50% of poorest countries in the World are located, the printed academic books are too expensive for the majority of students [1]. In fact, the traditional distribution mechanisms tragically failed the developing world [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing mobile access to DSpace-based digital libraries

Rosa

Lamas

2012

Proceedings of the International Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces

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Developing countries face serious problems on building and using digital libraries (DL) due to low computer and Internet penetration rates, lack of financial resources, etc. Thus, since mobile phones are much more used than computers in these countries, they might be a good alternative for accessing DL. Moreover, in the developed world there has been an exponential growth on the usage of mobile phones for data traffic, establishing a good ground for accessing DL on mobile devices. This paper presents a design proposal for making DSpace-based digital libraries accessible on mobile phones. Since DSpace is a popular free and open source DL system used around the world, making it accessible through mobile devices might contribute for improving the global accessibility of scientific and academic publications.

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An African experience in providing a digital library service: the African Virtual University (AVU) example

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Building and Using Digital Libraries in the Developing World

Building and Using Digital Libraries in the Developing World

Designing mobile access to DSpace-based digital libraries

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