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Bridging the North—South Divide in Scholarly Communication in Africa — a library and information systems perspective

Secretary General, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), PO Box 95312, 2509 CH, The Hague, The Netherlands, Peter.Lor{at}IFLA.nl

This article takes a broad, general perspective of scholarly communication in Africa, using a simple systems model based on the Lasswell formula. The model identifies and analyses the following components: Creators, Contents, Mediation, Users and Infrastructure. It recognizes that these are to be studied in their cultural, political, economic, legal and ethical contexts. Taking each component in turn, a number of critical issues and problems relevant to the North-South/South-North divide are identified and some observations are made on the position and roles of libraries. The article presents a list of desiderata and emphasizes that scholarly communication has both digital and analogue dimensions. It is a complex phenomenon that needs to be addressed holistically.

IFLA Journal, Vol. 33, No. 4, 303-312 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0340035207086056


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