African research & documentation最新文献

{"title":"Wikipedia for Africanists","authors":"Hans Muller, J. Damen","doi":"10.1017/s0305862x00021361","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305862x00021361","url":null,"abstract":"How can Africanists and information specialists in African research and documentation get the most out of Wikipedia, and how can they contribute to Wikipedia? This article argues that Wikipedia is useful both as a universally accessible - albeit not specifically academic - free reference tool and as a channel for outreach to disseminate sourced academic and non-academic information. The 'African Studies' article on the English-language Wikipedia provides some slightly dubious definitions but also gives a useful hyperlinked list of notable Africanists, institutions and degree courses. But not all the socalled 'notable' Africanists and institutions mentioned are in truth very notable (or are they: John Frank Clarke and Antumi Toasije?). One of the pitfalls of Wikipedia, namely its self-promotion, may be a factor here. At the same time, an information specialist of researcher using Wikipedia can obtain an overview within minutes, navigate to more information on the subject and can correct and provide additional information useful to colleagues and a general readership worldwide. This article considers how Wikipedia works and how it can meet some of the needs of African experts but also be of benefit to the general public.","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"2014 1","pages":"3-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56843148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Preserving and Protecting Press Freedom – Insights from the archive of the Commonwealth Journalists’ Association","authors":"D. Clover","doi":"10.1017/s0305862x00021373","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305862x00021373","url":null,"abstract":"The Commonwealth Journalists' Association (CJA) was established at a meeting of Commonwealth journalists held in Toronto, alongside the Commonwealth Press Union conference, on the 16th September 1978, following earlier discussions at a conference of Commonwealth NGOs at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1976. The organisation adopted its constitution at the first general meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 1983, with the stated purpose: \"To foster and promote better understanding and closer collaboration between the journalists of the Commonwealth; to further the interests of Commonwealth journalists in all aspects of their work; and, though the media, to enhance understanding and goodwill amongst the peoples of the Commonwealth\".Now with headquarters in Canada and an active UK branch (as well as many elsewhere) the Commonwealth Journalists' Association continues to be a professional association for working journalists throughout the Commonwealth. The CJA aims to raise journalistic standards by providing training courses, promoting awareness of Commonwealth affairs and defending the independence of journalists where this is perceived to be threatened, through national and regional chapters, advocacy and information sharing activities.The records of the Commonwealth Journalists' Association (CJA) from its beginnings in 1978 to 2003 were donated to the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library, now incorporated within the Senate House Library, University of London, after the organisation moved its headquarters to Trinidad and Tobago in 2003. The collection was listed at box level soon after the material was received, and was fully catalogued in 2012 with financial assistance from the Scott Trust Charitable Foundation and the Friends of Senate House Library.This article seeks to discuss how the collection reveals stories about the preservation and protection of press freedom in the 1980s and early 1990s in a time of civil and political upheaval in the post-colonial developing world, with particular reference to Africa. It will discuss the collection within the context of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies collections and highlight how institutional records of a pan-Commonwealth non-governmental organisation can add to our understanding of this period of a movement towards increased democracy in the post-independence period.This discussion will revolve around three groups of stories: first, one about why this collection sits where it does in this library and how it fits with related collections; secondly a set of narratives about press freedoms and responsibilities in parts of Africa during this period, which can be drawn from reading through the collections; and, thirdly and finally, a brief discussion, of how this collection can be used by researchers in the future.It is useful, I think, to start with some context about the institution and the collections themselves.The Institute of Commonwealth Studies first started to develop an archi","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"1 1","pages":"11-23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56843206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Annotated Maps: Charting Research Through Technology","authors":"Olebogeng Suwe","doi":"10.1017/s0305862x00020719","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305862x00020719","url":null,"abstract":"This paper addresses the long-term preservation and management of priceless library hardcopy resources, by converting them into a digital resource, using the University of Botswana's Okavango Research Institute (ORI) Library map collection as a case study. As libraries in developing countries increasingly adopt digitisation in order to expand ‘safe’ access to their resources, they are often constrained by lack of funds to acquire the necessary Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and recruit skilled personnel who can successfully develop, implement, host and manage such projects. Rather than striving to gather all the resources in-house, university libraries may seek external funding through collaboration with other departments or personnel within the same university, external partner organisations that may already have the requisite skills and infrastructure to assist them with bringing their projects to fruition.","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"1 1","pages":"21-28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56842519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Story of Black","authors":"T. Barringer","doi":"10.5860/choice.51-4818","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.51-4818","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"1 1","pages":"68"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71145469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"‘Patriotic pigeons’: pigeon politics and military service in war-time South Africa, c.1899 – 1945","authors":"Hendrik Snyders","doi":"10.1017/s0305862x00024201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305862x00024201","url":null,"abstract":"IntroductionContrary to P.S Thompson's contention that the Great War in Natal was \"chiefly the concern of the British community\",1 contemporary evidence indicated that this and other conflicts were equally the concern of the 'animal community' including that of pigeons. In fact, history abounds with the tales of pigeons fulfilling a critical intelligence role in both local and overseas conflicts, including the Anglo-Boer War, First World War and World War Two. Indeed, in all cases special war measures were promulgated to regulate the keeping, general treatment, utilisation and transport of the birds. The Dickin Medal, also known as the Victoria Cross for Animals and awarded to recognise conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty of animals and birds associated with or under the control of any branch of the Armed Forces or Civil Defence Units under the British Imperial Army, was awarded to 32 pigeons. Although the role of pigeons in the great wars has been acknowledged in a number of international studies, very few academic studies and in-depth research into the socio-political aspects of the subject have thus far been undertaken. The existing studies mostly deal with the military contribution of these 'patriots' to the war efforts of the United States, United Kingdom and the armies of continental Europe.2 Locally, beyond Swart's groundbreaking study of horses and the Anglo-Boer War3 and McGill Alexander's limited study on the military use of animals in South Africa,4 no new research on animals and war has been published. This lacuna is confirmed by Van der Waag's bibliography of existing secondary source history of the South African National Defence Force between the years 1912 - 1995.5 Katz suggested that the over-emphasis of certain topics to the detriment of others in South Africa's military history can be ascribed to the strong political undertones that characterised the field locally.6 It is, therefore, not surprising that the role of animals in general, and of pigeons in particular, in shaping the history of the nation is neglected and that their wider impact on the shaping of society is not recognised.This article, starting with investigating the existence and influence of an empire-wide 'military pigeon consciousness', traces the role of these animals throughout the South African War (1899 - 1902) up to the end of the Second World War (1939 - 1945). An attempt is also made to map the efforts of the animal welfare movement and of pigeon fanciers to advance their own agenda following the strategic elevation of pigeons and other war-time transport animals.'Military pigeon consciousness' in the British EmpireThe role of pigeons as war-time messengers, as previously indicated, is a widely acknowledged fact in the history of humanity. Its use offered the military authorities a greater measure of secrecy since there was very little danger of having messages intercepted as well as enabling continuous communication in situations where difficult terr","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"8 1","pages":"3-21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56844062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Regional Approach to Building Digital Archives Capacity in Uganda","authors":"J. Lowry, David Luyomba","doi":"10.1017/s0305862x00024213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305862x00024213","url":null,"abstract":"IntroductionIn Uganda, records and archives management in government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) is the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Service through the Records and Information Management Department (DRIM). The Uganda National Archives is a section of DRIM. Officially, the Department's responsibilities include:* initiating and developing records management and archives administration policies* planning and budgeting for records management and archives administration programmes* giving guidance in the management of current records, semi-current and non-current records* co-ordinating the implementation of records and achives laws and policies* developing guidelines and procedures for records and archives administration* sensitising records creators and members of the public to enhance awareness on the importance of records* designing career development plans for records and archives staff, ensuring that government organisations follow good records management practice managing public records in all media or formats, including digital records* establishing records centres for maintaining and providing official access to semi-current records; one of the records centres will be especially equipped to house classified documents of top secret level* establishing and implementing procedures for the timely disposal of public records with no on-going value and transferring public archives for preservation to the National Archives, which will be the principal archival repository where public archives are preserved and made available for consultation, or in another established place of deposit.In practice, the necessary structures, resources and capacity are not in place to deliver many of these responsibilities.Statement of the ProblemThe Government of Uganda has made a commitment to information and communication technologies (ICTs). Its Vision 2025 strategy was in place by 1999 to address development challenges and develop online services for the public and private sectors. A National ICT Policy was in place by 2003, and there is now also a comprehensive National Electronic Government Framework in place. The Government wishes to build a national technological infrastructure for use by citizens and the private sector, and computerise its own operations in order to improve efficiency and allow citizens to deal with government remotely, through e-government systems. This move towards a digital working environment is already producing digital records of government's decisions, actions, and transactions with citizens. The National Archives has no capacity to receive digital records. At present, there is no digital repository available to provide controlled storage and no expertise in how to develop and implement guidelines for managing digital records. This situation has the potential to result in a gap in the government archives, which would have repercussions for the government, the people of Uganda, and the national historical reco","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"1 1","pages":"23-33"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56844119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Origins of the Afro Comb: 6,000 years of culture, politics and identity","authors":"T. Barringer","doi":"10.1017/s0305862x00024249","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305862x00024249","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"1 1","pages":"61"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56844191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Obituary: Hans E. Panofsky","authors":"David L. Easterbrook","doi":"10.1017/s0305862x00021956","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305862x00021956","url":null,"abstract":"Hans E. Panofsky, Curator Emeritus of Northwestern University's Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, died in Madison, Wisconsin, on July 1, 2013. Hans was appointed the Herskovits Library's first curator in 1959 and retired in 1991. His engagement with the Herskovits Library, Northwestern's Program of African Studies as well as African studies world-wide continued well beyond his retirement. Until just a few years ago, Hans regularly attended Program of African Studies lectures and never missed a visit to the library whenever he was on campus.Hans was born in Berlin in 1926. From 1939 until 1943 he attended the Mill Hill School in London followed by a year at the London School of Economics. He served in the British military from 1944 until 1947. Hans moved to the United States in 1951 to study at Columbia University from which he received two degrees: a B.S. (Sociology) in 1951 and an M.S. (Library Service) in 1952.In 1952, Hans was appointed Reference Librarian at the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University. Hans pursued an M.S. in labor economics at Cornell which he received in 1958. A copy of his thesis, \"The Significance of Labor Migration for the Economic Growth of Ghana\", is among the Herskovits Library's holdings. While at Cornell, Hans met Gianna Sommi. They were married in Parma, Italy, in 1958 and arrived at Northwestern shortly after where their home became a centre of Africanist hospitality at Northwestern as important as the Herskovits Library and the Program of African Studies. Gianna died in 2010. Hans is survived by two sons, David and John, their spouses and children.In 1959, the development of research collections in area studies was a relatively new concept. Hans became a leader for African studies by building the resources of the Herskovits Library and through participation in the African Studies Association (ASA) and its Africana Librarians Council (ALC). Hans played a major role in the creation of the Cooperative Africana Microform Project (CAMP) of the Center for Research Libraries. Through the years, Hans held just about every position of responsibility possible in the ALC and CAMP. Hans served as a member of the ASA's Board of Directors from 1977 until 1980. In 1985 Hans was the recipient of the ASA's Distinguished Service to African Studies Award. Through the years, Hans participated in many SCOLMA conferences including presenting a paper at SCOLMA's silver jubilee conference in 1987. Hans also served on the board of the International African Institute (IAI) from 1987 until 1995.In honor of Hans' thirty years of service to Northwestern and to African studies librarianship, the ALC presented him with a festschriftin 1989, Africana Resources and Collections: Three Decades of Development and African Research & Documentation No. …","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"1 1","pages":"67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56843497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamic Library Leadership for Sub-Saharan Africa: investing in what works","authors":"M. Adeogun","doi":"10.1017/s0305862x00021944","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305862x00021944","url":null,"abstract":"IntroductionThe continuous evolution of communication systems and the availability and accessibility to a wealth of instant information is promoting new ideas, issues, individualised learning and evoking curiosity. Today, being knowledgeable is not enough; rather, the ability to create knowledge is cherished. This diffused information environment is enabling people to gain expertise in many areas and is making people more assertive than ever. Countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Mauritius are experiencing economic vitality because their people are adapting knowledge, information and technology to create enterprise clusters (World Bank, 2008). Knowledge, information, and the ability for self-education are setting people free of the age-long dependence on the library. They are claiming responsibility for their own lives. And in the memory professions, such as the librarianship, life and practice are complicated by the fact that we are working and providing services to a generation that understands better the economic and political importance of information for their wellbeing and self-actualisation. It is against this backdrop that the library finds itself. It is obvious that the leadership practices and behaviours that enhanced library services before the dawn of the knowledge age are no longer the most appropriate for achieving results in the present environment. In this paper the terms, leader, and library director are used interchangeably to refer to library leadership. And the terminology memory profession is used generically to refer to libraries, archives, museums and other information services centres.RationaleCertain developments in the knowledge age in general, and in Sub-Saharan Africa specifically pose considerable challenges to library leadership:* The possibilities created by the Web/library 2.0 emphasising usercentred change through participatory information services call for a reexamination of leadership perception. Library 2.0 operates a model of the library as a community service, bringing a change factor underscored in the community centredness of the library. The argument is that since community interests change frequently, libraries must change as the community changes, and most importantly, they must let the community participate in the change (Maness, 2006), and utilise the same applications and technologies as its community to effect change (Habib 2006). The emerging information industry calls for a new leadership style that is user-centred and participatory; a style that embraces user/community participation in the day-to-day management of the library. In the rural communities of Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, where young people are creating jobs using information and technology, their participation in the affairs of the library in determining library services becomes very critical to the survival of their entrepreneurship. So also are the NGOs which are designing intervention programmes for poverty alleviation in rural comm","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"1 1","pages":"55-65"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56843484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Obscured if Not Hidden: Records Relating to Africa in the National Archives of the Uk (TNA)","authors":"Mandy Banton","doi":"10.1017/s0305862x00020781","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305862x00020781","url":null,"abstract":"In August 1841 twelve little boys boarded the British steam ship Albert. They were sons of the village chief at Aboh on the River Niger. The ship's surgeon, James McWilliam, noted that they were about the same age, and had been circumcised. He added: “many of them had the hair cut close or shaved leaving tufts and lines describing diamonds and other angular figures …” The drawing in figure 1 is by John Duncan, the ship's master at arms. McWilliam describes the chief and his wives - their physical appearances, clothing and ornamentation, commenting in particular on their coral jewellery. He writes about a ceremony marking the signing of a treaty.","PeriodicalId":89063,"journal":{"name":"African research & documentation","volume":"1 1","pages":"3-13"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"56842543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}