The Availability of Academic Journals in Africa

Abstract

Research requires a good flow of the latest scholarly information—books, journals, data—and sub-Saharan universities have long faced particular challenges in Africa. But the past decade has shown considerable efforts to address this information gap. In fact, a study published by the Association of Commonwealth Universities last year suggests that the picture may actually be much brighter than is often assumed.

Management and usage of open access scholarly online resources in university libraries in Nigeria

“…It gives citizens access to peer-reviewed research outputs, most of which are unavailable in public libraries. According to Harle (2011) and Suber (2010), the ultimate aim of OA is to facilitate optimal use of and access to scholarly works. In his assessment, Harle (2011) noted that the scale of what is now available online is impressive.…”

“…This brought about restricted access to scholarly journals, evident in near-empty shelves of current materials in Nigerian academic libraries. Harle (2011) reported on this sad state of empty university library shelves in poor African countries and noted that the result was huge volumes of critical information by-passing African academics and students. Altbach and Rapple (2012) cited three factors that have contributed to this problem: exorbitantly priced journals; bundling of subscriptions; and non-disclosure of the terms of agreement requiring library signature. …”

“…Initially, OA journals were primarily concerned with scholarly articles; however, OA digital books, electronic theses and dissertations and research data are becoming more common. According to Grans (2010), Harle (2011) and Suber (2010), the intent of OA is to encourage the vision of a global and accessible representation of knowledge, through sustainable maintenance of the future web, to be interactive and transparent, and to make content and software tools openly accessible and compatible.…”

“…Currently, there are no established Nigerian OA repositories. There are also no established management procedures for international OA resources (Harle, 2011). Not only is knowledge of OA repositories, websites and resources minimal in Nigeria, human resources and management skills are lamentably lacking.…”

“…Not only is knowledge of OA repositories, websites and resources minimal in Nigeria, human resources and management skills are lamentably lacking. The implication of all this, as Harle (2011) stated, is that academics and students are denied access to huge volumes of information that can be retrieved online. Against this backdrop, the need for Nigerian librarians to acquire infrastructure and develop the management skills and human resources with which to embrace the OA innovation, can hardly be overemphasized.…”