"Neue Entwicklungen im Bereich der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) bieten die Möglichkeit, den freien Zugang (open access) zu Informationen physisch zu erleichtern und neue Systeme und Netzwerke wissenschaftlicher und technologischer Innovationen zu etablieren. Insbesondere im Be
...
reich des wissenschaftlichen Publizierens können elektronische Vertriebswege helfen, Entwicklungsländer an das globale Informationsnetz besser einzubinden und deren wirtschaftliche Situation zu stärken. Folgende positive Wirkungen für Entwicklungsländer lassen sich beispielhaft benennen: Erhöhung der Sichtbarkeit der Forschungsaktivitäten; Förderung des Informationsaustauschs sowohl unter Wissenschaftlern in Entwicklungsländern als auch mit Wissenschaftlern in den westlichen Ländern; Erhöhung der Attraktivität wissenschaftlicher Standorte und damit Verringerung der Abwanderung von Wissenschaftlern; Erschließung neuer Einnahmequellen für universitäre Einrichtungen durch die Etablierung von neuen Geschäfts- und Finanzierungsmodellen im Bereich des elektronischen Publizierens auf Basis der wissenschaftsgestützten Informationsversorgung. Bislang gibt es nur wenige Initiativen, die Wissenschaftler oder wissenschaftliche Institutionen in Entwicklungsländern bei der strukturierten elektronischen Veröffentlichung eigener Publikationen unterstützen. Dies mag zum Teil noch an den schlechten infrastrukturellen Voraussetzungen liegen, entscheidend sind aber mangelnde Kenntnis der Potentiale sowie unzureichende institutionelle und rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen in den meisten Entwicklungsländern. Die Bundesregierung hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, durch wissenschaftlich-technologische Kooperation mit Entwicklungsländern deren Leistungsfähigkeit und damit die Entwicklung und den Wohlstand zu fördern. Die Wissenschaftlich technische Zusammenarbeit des BMBF ergänzt entwicklungspolitische Maßnahmen des BMZ in Partnerländern u.a. durch Auf- und Ausbau der wissenschaftlich-technologischen Infrastruktur. Zur Unterstützung wissenschaftsgestützter Publikationsprozesses im Rahmen der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit werden unterschiedliche Handlungsfelder dargestellt: Aufbau institutioneller Archive; Teilnahme an „Open Access Journals“; Entwicklung von Standards zum Austausch von Daten und für die Langzeitarchivierung, sowie Kompatibilität mit internationalen Standards; Aktivierung unterschiedlicher wirtschaftlicher und politischer Akteure auf allen Ebenen für die Unterstützung neuer Bibliotheken, fachspezifischer und regionaler Zugänge, neuer Mehrwertdienste und Geschäftsmodelle. Schlussendlich gibt die Studie zahlreiche Anregungen, wie Projekte im Bereich des elektronischen Publizierens konzipiert werden können." (Zusammenfassung)
more
"A comprehensive guide for authors – especially students and budding scholars – designed to facilitate communication and understanding between authors and editors at CODESRIA, covering aspects of presentation and organization of manuscripts, notes and reference systems, tables and illustrations,
...
obtaining permissions to reproduce material, preparing text on disk, dealing with copy editing queries and proofs, preparing an index, and more. While principally designed for CODESRIA authors, it will be useful for any author preparing a manuscript for publication." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2454)
more
"Electronic publishing has been heralded as a worldwide solution to information dissemination. This article considers the problems experienced by traditional journals published in the developing world, with particular reference to those published in sub-Saharan Africa. The opportunities offered by e
...
lectronic online publishing are discussed to determine how they can resolve the current problems in dissemination and improve quality. Two case studies of different initiatives are presented: an online-only journal, the African Journal of Biotechnology (AJB), and an online journal table of contents and abstracting service, African Journals Online AJOL. The authors conclude that although online publishing is not a quick fix solution for all the problems experienced by journals in developing countries, it offers great potential for increasing the visibility and quality of indigenous knowledge, and thus offers journals the opportunity to take a place in the global publishing community.“It is imperative that African journals and authors embrace this model for research communication to ensure their continued existence and recognition of the importance of indigenous research." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1855)
more
"Uzbekistan faces severe ecological problems including the rapidly shrinking Aral Sea, desertification, residues of biochemical weapons, and environmentally related respiratory disease. Even so, the country’s print and broadcast media do little in-depth or analytical reporting on environmental iss
...
ues, nor are journalists trained to cover such topics. In Spring 2002, a U.S. Fulbright lecturer at the Uzbek State World Languages University and his Uzbek colleague developed the first envirojournalism course at any university in Uzbekistan. The pilot course faced administrative and operational obstacles. It was also hindered by students’ inadequate scientific backgrounds and their limited access to information and resources." (Abstract)
more
"Charts the planning and implementation of a digital publishing programme over a three-year period at the Human Sciences Research Council, a large South African social science research body. The case study is contextualised in the need to overcome the digital divide to give African scholars a real v
...
oice in the global community. It deals with the challenges faced by African scholarly publishers and organizations wanting to use digital media to disseminate their research findings: the importance of strategic choices, finding the right mix of technologies, managing the technical and organizational process of getting a digital publishing programme up and running, and putting effective promotional and distribution strategies in place to ensure the success of a digital publishing programme. The case study also examines how applicable its findings are to other countries in Africa and, in particular, explores the limitations of digital dissemination in a South African context and identifies the ways in which a multi-pronged approach, using digital, print, e-mail and fax, can most effectively reach a wider market. It concludes that such a multi-pronged approach can be an effective way of ensuring the international reach of Africa scholarship." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2069)
more
"[...] it is important that the practice of science communication reflects the fact that it takes place in social context. In other words, it is not just a question of conveying information, but also of engaging the potential users of that information. The need is to encourage dialogue and eventuall
...
y to empower those to whom the information is being provided so that this information can be applied in a practical and useful way. It was with this in mind that the Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) was launched in December 2001 as a source, through its Web site (www.scidev.net), of online news and analysis about the role of science and technology in meeting the needs of the developing world. Much of the material we use is taken from the science journals Nature and Science, both of which provide us with free access for up to four articles each week, the selection being based on a decision about which articles—ranging from news items or editorials to full scientific papers—are directly relevant to the needs of developing countries. In addition, other news articles are contributed by staff writers and a growing team of correspondents, including science journalists in South Africa, India, Tanzania, Brazil, Colombia, and China. We also summarise and link to relevant news stories, feature items, and opinion articles from media outlets around the world." (Page 28)
more
"This wide-ranging dissertation examines the policies and practices of six sub-Saharan Africa university presses in five African countries (in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe), to investigate how far the presses have adopted, and/or have adapted, their policies to suit the environmen
...
t and special needs of Africa. The study examines the extent to which current constraints impede their publishing activities and publishing strategies. The author finds that there is “a serious absence of competition and cooperation between the presses surveyed”, lack of aggressive fund raising strategies, together with weak or non-existent policies for commissioning and list building, and without a clearly defined subject focus. The author also examines the various strategies adopted by the presses to adapt to the rapidly changing scholarly communications environment. In his conclusions he recommends the setting-up of a continent-wide consortium of African university presses, with each press “to operate as a Trust in order to enjoy autonomy as a private company, but be registered as a non-profit organization.” The author calls for more active collaboration among African scholarly presses (including joint publishing ventures, sharing of resources and expertise, reciprocal distribution, etc.); much stronger emphasis on the use of new technology, particularly print-on-demand; makes some suggestions regarding possible sources of funding for the presses, and recommends further research into the effect of ICTs on university press publishing in Africa." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2281)
more
"An internal evaluation of the African Journals Online (AJOL) project following the first three years of the full programme, aimed at discovering the overall impact of AJOL and how the service might be improved. The main objectives of the evaluation were to find out (i) whether the results of resear
...
ch published in African journals were becoming more widely known and used, and, (ii) whether the journals had benefited, either through increased income from subscriptions or other ways from exposure in AJOL." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1973)
more
"While not specifically focusing on Africa, this directory from the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) is a useful resource as it provides detailed information on almost 400 agencies, organizations, institutions, learned societies, professional associations
...
, donors, and foundations involved in activities that support the production, access and/or dissemination of information and knowledge in or between developing countries. It covers both subject-specific organizations in particular areas of the sciences, the humanities and social sciences, as well as organizations that specialize in library and book development, and for both groups this includes details of book and journal assistance schemes operated, or other type of support provided. Information is very full, and for most entries includes name and address, telephone/fax numbers, email address and Web site, contact personnel, aims and objectives and/or a mission statement, target audience, countries of operation, current activities, publications (if applicable), and future plans. No further print editions have been published following the 2002/2003 edition, but entries are now continuously updated in the online version. The electronic version can be browsed by the sector each organization works in, and each database entry offers organizational and contact details, profile details, and information about activities. Organizations can also be viewed by country, or searches can be conducted covering the entire database." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1392)
more
"In this paper, I will try to briefly summarize the present state of electronic publishing of science in the People’s Republic of China, and to explore how Chinese scientific publishers seem to be more successful in resolving the very same issues that confront their Western counterparts." (Introdu
...
ction)
more
"This case study shares recommendations and details the lessons learned during a communications project to improve media reporting on tuberculosis (TB) in Zambia. Project partners Relay and the health research consortium TARGETS, brought together journalists and TB researchers in Zambia to explore s
...
tigma around tuberculosis and to explore areas of potential conflict and collaboration. Health researchers then acted as expert advisors to journalists who produced a series of national newspaper articles and radio programmes on both national and community radio. The case study describes the partnership between Relay and TARGETS and includes several useful recommendations for organisations interested in undertaking similar projects to report research." (Panos website)
more