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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.

References

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


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Lor, P. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?