Archives des mots-clés : Africa

Diffusion du droit et Internet en Afrique de l’Ouest

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L’accès au droit en Afrique de l’Ouest est difficile et restreint, et cela pour de nombreuses raisons. Parmi celles-ci peut être citée la faible diffusion papier des ressources juridiques nationales, qui est en partie due au manque de moyens matériels et financiers. Or, depuis une dizaine d’années, des projets de diffusion des ressources juridiques via Internet se développent, donnant ainsi un accès libre aux informations juridiques publiques. Ce mode de diffusion du droit représente une alternative pour les États africains, leur permettant de bâtir de nouvelles stratégies favorisant l’accès au droit.

Néanmoins, ce nouveau mode de diffusion du droit fait ressurgir une réflexion relative à la nature plurale des droits ouest africains et de la place des droits originellement africains dans ces nouvelles stratégies.La présente analyse montre que l’utilisation des nouvelles technologies, telles qu’Internet, dans des stratégies de diffusion du droit est pertinente, à la condition que les États africains redéfinissent leur culture juridique, en prenant en considération les sources originellement africaines afin qu’elles prennent place dans la diffusion du droit via Internet.

Access to legal information in West Africa is difficult and restricted because of a weak dissemination network. The insufficient publication and distribution of national legal resources can partly be attributed to a lack of financial and material resources. Over the past ten years, legal resource publication projects on the Web have been developed to offer free access to public legal information.

This type of document dissemination model represents an alternative solution for African States by allowing them to elaborate new strategies to increase legal information dissemination. This new law publishing model, however, has brought about the need to reconsider the pluralistic nature of West African laws and the place these originally African laws occupy within the new strategies being put forth.

The following analysis demonstrates how the use of new technologies such as the Internet has proven to be relevant for legal resource publication and distribution insofar as African states always take into consideration originally African sources when redefining their legal cultures through the dissemination of their laws via the Internet.”

URL : https://www.editions-ue.com/catalog/details/store/fr/book/978-613-1-57639-3/diffusion-du-droit-et-internet-en-afrique-de-l-ouest

Establishing an Institutional Repository A UNISA Case Study…

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Establishing an Institutional Repository: A UNISA Case Study :

“The purpose of the paper is to share and learn about the roles of Academic Libraries with reference to the establishment of the Institutional Repository as a mechanism which can benefit scholars to expose their work, putting the institution at the level where-in its research output can
be evaluated and accessed by their peers. The institutional repository provides opportunity for citations, providing an opportunity for the required expose to other web based access tools. It can provide an alternative to the conventional publishing channel. The paper will focus on the practical experience of the UNISA library as a result of the implementation of the Institutional Repository through a pilot project.

UNISA, as an international university with its vision “Towards the African University in the service of humanity” has comprehensive and valuable research output by its academics. The institutional repository is a tool which can benefit scholars to expose their work and putting the
institution at the level where in its research out can be evaluated and accessed by their peers. The
institutional repository provides opportunity for citations, publication which is free, providing an opportunity for the required expose to other web based access tools.

One of UNISA’s strategic objectives is to implement an institutional repository, starting with the pilot project in 2008. This decision has created a positive platform for the library to utilize the
skills available to create a repository for the research output for UNISA. UNISA library has embarked on a pilot project to establish an institutional repository as a vehicle to expose its academic research output in a coherent manner. There are challenges in the process which require further debates on the benefits this platform would bring to both the university and individual academics. There is still a lot of mistrust, resistance and lack of skills from academics. Unless the information is shared, debates and workshops are held on the benefits from putting ones work on the institutional repository, African researchers will continue to aspire to exposure outside Africa. Institutional repositories can provide the platform to electronic journals, with a bigger potential if co-ordinated through the academic institutions to have the African market of
researchers more exposed, thus building our own African research output. The benefit of this is to
disseminate the research of African academics.

An overview of the role the Library plays in creation and establishing the Institutional repository will be provided. Information will be shared with the colleagues who wish to establish an Institutional Repository, while also providing an opportunity to learn how to utilize the tool to benefit researchers who are challenged, in terms of publishing their work. The academic libraries in higher education are willing to assist in establish a platform through the institutional repository, which is available through any internet.

The paper will conclude by highlighting some solutions to ensure that the research work of academics is exposed to the world. It will also provide an alternative to start providing access for potential articles which can get into the “international journals”. It will tell the UNISA library
story.”

URL : http://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4297

Information access needs of satellite ca…

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Information access needs of satellite campuses in Kenya – Can OER close the gap? The Case of Moi University Nairobi Campus :

“This case study was aimed at obtaining the experiences of faculty and students of Moi University, Nairobi Campus in accessing information resources for teaching, learning and research. The study examined background information regarding knowledge societies and the role of higher education in society. This was done with a view to exploring the potential of Open Educational Resources in enhancing access to teaching, learning and research information resources at the campus. The literature review focused on the concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) and provided a critical examination of access to knowledge and learning materials in higher education. Evidently, little empirical studies have been conducted in Africa concerning OER. The Communities of Practice theory was adopted to inform the study with regard to learning experiences and their realization in communities. Online questionnaires and interviews were the principle data collection instruments. These were administered upon faculty, students and the librarian of Moi University, Nairobi campus. Furthermore, data was also gathered through interviews with OER experts from North America, Europe, and Africa. These experts provided vital information on the potential of OER in enhancing access to teaching, learning and research information resources to institutions such as the case for this study. The findings of the study revealed that the concept of OER was not clearly understood by the respondents and interviewees from the case institution. Respondents confused the concept of OER with other concepts like e-learning. Nevertheless, they signaled appreciation for access to open resources. In addition, it was evident that the faculty and students of this institution had insufficient access to resources. The library was not sufficiently stocked with information materials and facilities to cater for the growing population of the campus. The study recommends the adoption of more open educational practices through the creation of electronic institutional repositories that are open and searchable. Furthermore, the study suggests greater collaboration and sharing of resources and teaching practices among faculty within the campus and beyond. To achieve this, both faculty and students require information literacy skills. Finally, the study recommends that the librarians and information professionals be more proactive in identifying and bringing awareness to clients about available and relevant open resources.”

URL : http://eprints.rclis.org/handle/10760/15384