Feasibility Study on the Establishment of a

Greenstone Support Organization for Africa

(GSOA)

Prepared by Dr D P Peters, DISA

for
The University of Waikato

Final report January 2006

Table of Contents

Chapter Page
1 Overview 2

2 Background to study 4
3 Steering Committee 6
4 Survey methodology 7
5 Survey response reports 11
6 Recommendations 25
7 Conclusions 35
8 Bibliography 38

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1 Overview of the current situation

st
As we move into the 21 century, higher education and heritage institutions
in Africa are facing fundamental transformation. This transformation is due in
part to the increasing use of sophisticated information and communication
technologies. It is due also, to a re-examination of the role of public
institutions to preserve the heritage of local communities in a global society.

In a post-colonial era, cultural heritage institutions are transforming their

role in promoting indigenous knowledge systems to construct a theory of
heritage that is based on social justice, to stimulate dialogue between
individuals and communities, and foster respect and tolerance for diverse
cultures. Conversely, education has become a significant market for cultural
heritage, the target group a growing number of mature students
encompassing a generation of historically disadvantaged groups, in providing
improved access to information in an open, democratic and knowledge-based
society.

If the legacy of colonialism, a history of injustice, inequality and oppression is

to be overcome, social and economic transformations must underpin the
rejuvenation of Africa. Sustainable development is recognized as an African
imperative, providing countries with the opportunity to focus on immediate
poverty alleviation and beyond, on using information as a tool for life long
learning and the empowerment of all sectors of society. The support for
digital library development is also a significant vehicle for harnessing the
value of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). The production, transmission
and utilisation of indigenous knowledge and technology plays an important
role in nation building, in heritage management and in education. Digital
libraries in Africa have immense inherent value as the interface of indigenous
knowledge systems with other systems of knowledge, capturing oral, visual
and documentary formats, and integrating IKS into the mainstream of
education. This changes the direction of the traditional flow of information
from the North to the South and provides developing countries with the tools
to enable them select information appropriate to their own assessment of
their needs. {WILD, 1994 #52} In a knowledge and technologically driven
globalised world, education in general and higher education in particular
must lie at the heart of these transformations.

In response to these challenges, the New Partnership for Africa’s

Development (NEPAD) developed a vision and strategic policy framework
for African renewal. {NKUHLU, 2003 #33} This policy recognises the need
to sequence and prioritise four major programmes be fast-tracked, in
collaboration with development partners:

– Communicable diseases: HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis;

– Information and communications technology (ICT);

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– Debt reduction;
– Market access.

It is the second of these programmes that points to the potential in Africa for
the development of digital libraries and the usage of GSDL. Comparative
advantage in Africa’s integration into the global economy is identified by
NEPAD in the intensive use of ICTs, a number of these objectives impact on
the need to develop digital libraries:

- To provide impetus to the democratisation process and

good governance;
–Facilitate the integration of Africa into the new information society,
using its cultural diversity as a leverage;
–Assist in a wide range of applications, such as remote sensing and
environmental, agricultural and infrastructural planning;
–Better utilize existing complementarities to provide training that would
allow for the production of a critical mass of professionals in the use of
ICTs;
–Establish African research programmes as well as technological exchange
programmes capable of meeting the continent’s specific needs, with
particular regard to the fight against illiteracy;
–To establish regional distance learning and health education
programmes to improve the situation in the health and education
sectors.

The potential in Africa for development of digital libraries and usage of

Greenstone Digital Library software must therefore acknowledge existing
complementarities within the various sectors. Recommendations for an
appropriate business model for a GSOA must take into account the
higher education and cultural heritage sectors already discussed. In
addition, valuable complementary work is being conducted by a number
of NGO’s, such as InfoWorld, INASP, and the Commonwealth of Learning
(http://www.col.org/). These will also be considered in the
recommendations on the outcome of this study.

2 Background to study

The study was conceptualised and originally motivated in 2004 by Dynal

Patel, a senior student in Computer Science at the University of Cape Town.
In providing training in the use of Greenstone Digital Library software in
Africa, as well as ongoing user support, he was able to gain valuable insight
into the challenges experienced when contemplating the establishment of a
digital library. He expressed the need for a Greenstone support organization
in Africa (GSOA) whose objectives would be to:

i) promote the Greenstone Digital Library (GSDL) software;

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 ii) support African users in initiating, developing and sustaining
DL projects;
iii) provide a permanent training resource facility which will back
up national training efforts;
iv) develop and maintain an African DL portal;
v) encourage the availability of developmental content on the
Internet and on CD-ROMs;
vi) collaborate with both local and international institutions,
particularly within the NZDL network;
vii) organize general promotional awareness-building activities and on
Free Open Source Software (FOSS), seen as a vehicle for increasing
collaboration and technical know-how, creating wealth and
attracting foreign investment in Africa.

The proposal drawn up by Dynal Patel forms the basis of this study. The
"Proposal for a Feasibility Study on Greenstone Support for Africa" provides
additional information on the realization in three phases of a Greenstone
Support Organisation for Africa (GSOA). In Phase 1 a comprehensive
feasibility study would be conducted with the support of an advisory panel of
African specialists, to serve as the basis for an agreement on the
organization and initial financing of the GSOA. In Phase 2, the facilities and
resources for the iminitial GSOA activities will be prepared. During Phase 3 all
the services will be launched and monitored. Sustainability should be reached
on completion of the third phase.

The proposal found the support of UNESCO in the form of a grant to the
University of Waikato. Prof Ian Witten, of the Department of Computer
Department of Computer Science, responsible for the development of the the
software at University of Waikato, in Hamilton, New Zealand, was nominated
the Project Convenor. The feasibility study envisaged in Phase 1 was sub-
contracted to DISA ( Digital Imaging South Africa). The Project Manager, Dr
Dale Peters had been previously engaged in similar research on skills
development needs in the use of digital technologies for libraries and
archives in South Africa.

The sub contract for the provision of research services specified the
following objectives:

1. On the basis of existing research, studies, action plans such as

NEPAD, supplemented as necessary by follow-up contacts to
individuals and institutions, provide an overview of the current
situation and potential in Africa for the development of digital libraries
and the usage of GSDL;

2. Identify the types of digital library support services required and

which could be offered through the GSOA (including but not limited
to training, funding, equipment acquisition/maintenance, project

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 formulation etc.) and establish priorities;

3. Examine possible GSOA organizational structures and provide

recommendations on the model that should be adopted;

4. Identify the minimum human resource, equipment, financial and other

operational requirements for the establishment of a GSOA and develop
a detailed business plan, budget and funding strategy for meeting
these needs and implementing phases 2 and 3 of the project;

3 Steering Committee

The project proposal made provision for a steering committee made up of

African digital library specialists and more general complementary expertise in
the areas of open source software and cooperative electronic information
projects at the regional level. Nominated persons were invited to participate by
contributing their time and expertise to the study in an advisory capacity.

In addition, language group representatives of the French, Arabic

Portuguese, and Amharic language groups were invited to promote the
study in their own national language community, by means of a sub-regional
complementary study. The intention was to gain a wider regional perception
across diverse multi-lingual African communities.

The terms of reference for such complementary studies were defined

as follows:
- to draft a work plan fro the complementary study in conjunction
with the feasibility study work plan;
- to circulate an announcement of the general and complementary
studies, based on a circular letter distributed for that purpose;
- to translate the survey instrument in the national language;
- to identify actual and potential Greenstone users in the specified
language community;
- to distribute the survey instrument accordingly and collate returns;
- to submit a report in English or French on user needs in terms of
support for Greenstone software implementation.

The feasibility study work plan was designed to provide specific points of
referral to the Steering Committee. These were identified in the circulation
of the draft report for comments of the Steering Committee and their
recommendation on potential sponsors and donors, and a final round of
consultation prior to submission of the report to the University of Waikato.
At the suggestion of the researcher, the level of consultation was
subsequently extended to include commentary on the design of the survey
instrument, and commentary on the survey report.

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The Steering Committee comprised the following persons:

Contact Person Institution Notes Country/Region

Barry, Boubakar University of Dakar French language Senegal

representative
Rose, John B. Waikato University France
representative
Were, Jacinta IFLA Africa Section Kenya
Belcher, Martin INASP Sweden
Benjamin, Peter OneWorld Open South Africa
Knowledge Network
Patel, Dynal University of Cape Greenstone South Africa
Town, Computer representative
Science Dept
Raseroka, Kay IFLA Chairperson Botswana
Chisenga, Justin FAO Ghana
Mustafa, Kamal University of Arabic language Sudan
Khartoum representative
Xerinda, Eduardo Mondlane Portuguese language Mozambique
Leonardo University representative
Dorri, Birru International Amharic language Ethiopia
Livestock Research representative
Institute

4 Survey Methodology

A survey instrument was designed to measure feasibility, highlighting for

analysis the actual challenges experienced, rather than a general poll of
African opinion (The instrument is available as a separate document).

While originally focused on support for GDL, the scope of the study
was considerable widened, following a recommendation from the
Steering Committee, to examine the need for support for general
digital library development.

Design principles guiding the structuring of the survey questionnaire were

threefold:
- To identify types of DL services required;

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 - To identify services which could be offered by a GSOA;
- To examine possible organisational structures as motivation for
an appropriate business model.
The survey instrument was divided into five parts, designed to take no more
than ten minutes of the respondent’s time.

The first part aimed to characterise the digital library community on the
African continent. Questions related to the host institution and staff
roles. The second part investigated the nature of digital libraries in Africa
-both planned or created - in support of the needs analysis in the third
section. Greenstone digital library software use and support was
measured in the fourth section. The final section sought comments and
ideas on the organisation structure most appropriate to the formalization
of such a support organisation.

The contribution of the Steering Committee to the research methodology

was of great value to the study. A draft questionnaire was circulated to the
Steering Committee on 26 June 2005, for pre-testing, with request for input
by 4 July. The purpose of pre-testing the questionnaire was to remove any
ambiguities, gather additional information, remove any irrelevant questions
and hence reflect a true picture of the environment in which the survey is to
be conducted. Four responses were received by 11 July, when the discussion
was closed. The summary of that discussion is outlined below.

Dr Justin Chisenga of the FAO in Ghana noted that Section 4 was structured
to be answered by individuals who are currently using the Greenstone
software, and that he recommended that questions in that section be
structured in such a manner that both current users and potential users of
Greenstone are able to provide inputs.

This recommendation was supported by John Rose and Martin Belcher, who
shared his concern about distinguishing between needs for Greenstone
support and broader digital library support. It was felt that many African
librarians will be more comfortable about advising on the need for broad
digital library support, but that, Greenstone potentially has a special role to
play because of its simplicity and flexibility of usage. The distinction between
digital library issues and Greenstone-specific issues, considerably widened
the scope of the study beyond that contractually agreed, but was
implemented nonetheless to maximize the value of the study. This was
achieved by redesigning the questionnaire in Week 9 to include a new section
4, entitled "Greenstone use and support", and the previous section 4,
entitled Organisational structure”, became section 5.

The survey was circulated on Wednesday 13 July, with a covering letter of

invitation.

Circulation

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A list of ninety four contact names was submitted by Dynal Patel as a basis
for circulation of the survey. This list represented an interest group amongst
whom were known and prospective Greenstone users. The listed contact
details were compiled into an e-mail group.

Notice of the survey was posted to the group, and to the following
discussion lists and news groups:

DISA
SASA
SAPCON
AFLIB
AFRICOM
SABINews
IFLA-ALP Gaborone Alumni
LIASA online

The e-mail invitation to participate in the survey was distributed to an

estimated 203 recipients. Included in the invitation was a request to forward
the invitation to other interested parties, and actual total distribution is
expected to have been in excess of this number. From 203 recorded
invitations, a total of 31 responses were received, indicating a response of
15,2 %.

Although the country of origin of respondents was not requested, IP

addresses and institutional affiliations of respondents reflect the
following range of countries represented in the resultant data set:

South Africa (20)

Kenya (4)
Zimbabwe (1)
Namibia (2)
Ethiopia (2)
Zambia (1)
Botswana (1)

The total of 31 responses represent a response of 15,2%. Subsequent

surveys in the designated language group communities, conducted following
the publication of the main survey results, resulted in the following
additional respondent figures:

Senegal (7)
Ethiopia (1)
Sudan (34)

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 Circulated Respondents %
French 12 7 58
Amharic 1 1 100
Arabic 100 34 34
English 203 31 15

TOTALS 316 73 22

It should be noted therefore, that the combined results of the various

surveys tend to be skewed by the differential sample bases circulated in
each, as typified in the Amharic response rate of 100%. The representation
of the sample bases circulated also tends to skew results, eg. French
respondents limited to university staff, and should be considered in
interpreting outlying results reflected.

Method of circulation

The English language survey was made available online on the DISA
website at:

http://disa.nu.ac.za/gsoa/survey.htm

Difficulties were experienced in submitting the online HTML version by

respondents where the e-mail service was not linked in the browser.
Instructions to this effect were added to the website, and alternative formats
in MSWord and PDF made available for download. Ten respondents chose to
download, print and return their submissions by fax.

The Arabic survey was distributed by e-mail to one hundred persons with
printable attachment. Approximately thirty were undelivered, where the e-
mail bounced. This was noted as being a common problem, where few
respondents have access to domain-specific e-mail addresses, and use a
variety of generic service providers, like yahoo and g-mail.

The Francophone survey was distributed to twelve colleagues in Dakar

University, and the Amharic report was complied on the basis of personal
interviews.

5 Survey Response Reports

5.1 Method of collation

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The data gathered in the English language report was collated in SPSS
V11.5.0 (2002) statistical software and transferred to MSExcel for reporting
purposes. Both frequencies and percentages are reflected in the statistical
report, but the graphical representation thereof was limited to percentages
for ease of interpretation. This was found to be most effective in evaluating
multiple selection responses that predominate in this study.

At points of requested elaboration, actual responses were recorded

and included in the report verbatim. Comments or points of clarity by
the research co-ordinator were clearly marked.

The English survey response report was circulated to the Steering Committee
for comment. Further language group surveys were conducted subsequently,
and reports submitted for inclusion in this report.

The Arabic survey report followed exactly the format of the English report. The
Amharic report took the form of narrative discourse, while the French report
addressed the five topics comprising the survey structure, viz. profile; digital
library experience; digital library support services; organisational structure of
future DL support organisation; and general comment.

5.2 Analysis

The language group representatives were requested to submit their

analysis of the survey responses each received, and these reports are
collated under the same reporting structure adopted in the survey design.

- Respondent profile
- Digital library experience
- Digital library support services
- Greenstone use and support
- Organisational structure of future DL support organisation

The combined analysis of the survey reports conducted in the Amharic

Arabic, English and French language groups in Africa follows the design
structure of the survey tool, and includes the subsequent input of the
Steering Committee.

Section 1 Respondent profile

The digital library community on the African continent was characterized by

a series of questions related to the host institution and staff roles. While
personal identification was requested for possible clarification of responses
given, the option to withhold such details from further distribution was
exercised freely. It may be assumed that beyond personal privacy issues,
respondents may have lacked confidence in answering questions in a new

11
area of experience, or may have felt that responses provided did not match
those of the institution represented.

The workplace in all surveys reflected a concentration of digital library

activity within university or college libraries. (Question 1.6) In order of
diminishing value, this is followed by research institutes, and can be similarly
accorded to the academic computing environment provided by the higher
education sector. This result is significant for the recommendations on the
organisational structure and business models envisaged for any support
organisation.

Question 1.7 sought to validate the result of the preceding question, in the
identification of the sector in which interest in digital libraries is evident or in
which digital library activity is currently taking place. In that respect, the
results clearly reflect predominant activity in the higher education sector,
ranging from 50% upward, with the upper value slightly skewered by the
limited base of Amharic and French surveys, limited to university staff. In
addition, the high value reflected in the Arabic report (58,8%), is also
attributable to the rapid growth in the number of universities in the Sudan,
from seven to twenty six institutions in the past ten years. Nonetheless, this
result is not unexpected, giving evidence to the growing demand for
electronic research resources over the past ten years.

The relatively large proportion of digital library interest or activity reported

from the public or government sector is accounted for in the representation
of national libraries, archives and museum. This result is supported in the
report on digitisation activities at national libraries in Africa, conducted by the
National Library of South Africa in 2005. {TSEBE, 2005 #56}

Although disputed in the design stage, the question on sector affiliation

sought also to provide a comparison with the recommended organisation
framework queried in question 5.6. In doing so, the value of responses
provided to 5.6 is enhanced by a reflection of the level of degree of
confidence in known organisational structures.

The main role or function of respondents queried in question 1.8 revealed

four interest groups at two levels of intensity; firstly the librarians and IT
specialists, followed by university lecturers and researchers. Multiple
selections all included an additional IT specialization, indicating an add-on
function of in-service training. That a relatively small proportion of
respondents claim to be academic staff using digital technologies in teaching
and learning, is a consideration for special attention in the business plan of
the proposed support organisation.

The range of professional backgrounds of respondents provides a useful

profile of the digital library community in Africa, and provides some
explanation for the wide ranging opinions noted in the survey responses.

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Section 2 Digital library experience

The second part investigated the nature of digital libraries -both planned or
created - in support of the needs analysis in the third section.

Question 2.1 set out to establish what proportion of the respondent base was
involved I the planning or creation of digital library collections. 87%
responded in the affirmative in the English survey, and 67% in the Arabic
survey. 100% of respondents in the French were planning to develop
collections, and the response to the Amharic survey was not clear on this
point.

The invitation to elaborate, intended to reveal the state of progress from

planning to implementation, was not specifically framed as such, and
interpreted by some respondents as an invitation to describe their planned or
extant digital library collections, resulting in some redundancy with the
following question. Other volunteered information on their personal
experience in areas such as library automation or data entry and
maintenance.

Question 2.2 sought to identify digital library types under consideration or

developed, as a means of assessing the growth areas and potential for
sustained support. The results indicate that electronic theses and
dissertations have captured considerable support in the Arabic community,
followed by special collections, while the English community are working
predominantly on special collections, followed by institutional repositories.
Personal administrative archiving is the main interest of the French
community. In general, the majority of digital library initiatives are still
emanating from Special Collections, but interest in instutional repositories
is growing in response to widespread support in Africa for the Open Access
movement. This result was confirmed by Martin Belcher as similar to the
experience of INASP.

The wide range of interest expressed is possibly less strategic and due
rather to previous exposure of respondents to the potential of digital libraries
to meet the need in their particular areas of interest.

Question 2.3 aimed at an evaluation of media types comprising digital

collections. The question was not framed specifically to indicate this, and was
therefore open to misinterpretation and confusion around digital or physical
collections. Multiple selections were noted, as expected in accordance with the
physical holdings of collections in a variety of media. That text based media
were most commonly identified is also expected, but the high proportion of
images, video and audio collections was surprising, given the increasing
technical complexity in conversion and in the management of the

13
resultant range of file formats. However, this result was also confirmed by
Martin Belcher in the similar experience of INASP.

Question 2.4 identified the overwhelming majority of collections to by

dynamic, indicating a strong and active interest in digital library
developments. This interest does not in itself motivate for a support
organisation, which should rather be extrapolated from this in conjunction
with subsequent reponses, especially Q5.1 whre the need was directly
questioned.

Question 2.5 focused on the computing skills available to the respondent

within the organisation. This proved to be a key question of the survey, both
in characterising the African digital library environment and in indicating
areas of need and potential areas for support.

It was noted that general computing skills were widely available to all
respondents in the English and French speaking communities, and was most
commonly available elsewhere. Key specialized skills were less readily
available, with human computer interface specialists reported as least
readily available, except in the Arabic report. This would reflect a strong
internal support infrastructure for general institutional computing, but little
specialization, which was again confirmed by martin Belcher as similar to the
experience of INASP.

The investigator noted that the question should have included an enquiry into
specific digital library skills of staff. Dynal Patel suggested that such
information might be extrapolated in conjunction with Q2.11, which sought
an assessment of training programmes attended. Since it was confirmed (in
Q2.10) that most training opportunities have derived from workshops and
conferences, Q2.11 does provide some insight into the skills acquired in this
manner.

When considered in conjunction with subsequent responses on support services

(Q3.1) and challenges perceived (Q3.2), this response does not reflect the lack
of specialised digital library staff, and must rather be seen within the
predominantly academic computing profile of respondents. (Q1.6)

Furthermore, this question did not follow up on the percentage of staff with
various skills, which may have provided a more accurate profile of computing
skills in Africa.

Question 2.6 queried whether collections were hosted locally, or externally.

or both. The aim of this question was to reveal both the technical capacity of
institutions as well as the will to support an external hosting service, such as
might be offered by a support organisation.

The latter was clearly supported in the response of the majority of

respondents in all surveys, who indicated that they were planning to host

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their collections both externally and locally (47-71%). This result was
surprising, and while it could indicate limited local storage facilities, it may
also indicate a high level of willingness to share content. Precedent for this
has been set in existing initiatives, like the Sudanese Libraries Virtual Library
organized by the Ministry of Higher Education in Sudan, and the DISA project
in South Africa.

The relatively small proportion of institutions reliant on external hosting

(12-14%) again reflects a strong institutional computing environment. It
should be noted that a consistent result was reflected in all surveys
undertaken, presenting an accurate reflection of current development in
technical capacity.

This aspect was further reinforced in Q2.7, which solicited a description of

the infrastructure available for systems administration. Responses varied by
institution. No servers were reported in the French or Amharic surveys, but
other respondents reported access to good server and backup systems, with
network connection ranging from leased lines to the dedicated national
network (TENET) available to South African universities.

Question 2.8 queried the level of familiarity with the use of digital library
software. The result varied between 45-69% in English and Arabic surveys.
Except for the French survey which reported a high level of awareness,
specific experience of the Greenstone software was rather low, and
commented on by the Steering committee. The user base in Francophone
Africa was reported to be very low, despite three training workshops
conducted by UNESCO in that region in recent years. The level of awareness
of Greenstone software is an issue for the consideration of a support
organisation, given the obvious need for greater publicity.

As stated above, Q2.10 confirmed that workshops and conferences provide

the most effective training opportunities currently available. Formal
educational opportunities appear to be available only in the Sudan, where
22.5 % of respondents reported experience of having attended classes. Of
further interest is the recorded use of online or computer-based tutorials,
reflecting a reliance on personal initiative to achieve professional
development. This again indicates a clear objective of any support
organisation, to examine the Sudanese model, and to provide and encourage
training, as confirmed in sections 3 & 4 below.

The final question in Section 2 (Q2.11) sought details of training

programmes, and a brief assessment of the effectiveness and usefulness of
each. The close examination of these responses was recommended by Dynal
Patel, as a means of elucidating the skills base reported in 2.5 above.

While it should be noted that attendance at a workshop or conference does

not assure the acquisition of skills. The experience of the DISA project in this
regard has led to a recognition of the need to assess serious training

15
needs and separate these from the associated allure of foreign travel
provided in workshop attendance. Further details are provided in Q3.2
below. The most frequently reported training programmes attended denote
a general level of awareness of basic digital library practice, with technical
expertise limited to website architecture and design. There seems also to
have been some confusion regarding digital library training and that in the
use of CDS/ISIS and related online public access (OPAC) bibliographic
database software systems. This would indicate a introductory level of
exposure to electronic interfaces.

Jacinta Were commented specifically that competition from systems like

WINISIS should be considered, since many institutions in Africa have made
an investment in training staff in CDS/ISIS. For them to convert to
Greenstone or other products, they would need assurances of the added
value. John Rose responded that an interface had been developed with
UNESCO support, to enable the building of digital libraries using the
metadata entered into CDS/ISIS databases, so that libraries using CDS/ISIS
can use Greenstone to provide full text access to their documents while
retaining their CDS/ISIS applications for assignment of metadata and for
library automation. He commented that when one speaks of "competition" to
Greenstone, it would seem appropriate to consider other packages with
similar digital library functions (for example, DSPACE), rather than
CDS/ISIS. This competition is confirmed in the South African experience,
where recent interest in digital library software has been driven by training in
the use of D-Space software for institutional repositories (IR’s). A current
barrier to wider Greenstone application in Africa, as is that of other digital
library software systems, is its small user base, and resultant difficulty in
providing adequate local and regional support in Africa.

Digital library experience in Africa would seem therefore to be generally low,

although a growing interest in academic applications in ETD’S and IR’s,
beyond the traditional conversion projects emanating from special
collections. There is evidence of adequate technical infrastructure available
but few training opportunities for the professional development of
information specialists. Knowledge of Greenstone software is minimal, and
following even repeated training opportunities provided in Francophone
Africa, the implementation rate is low. This would suggest a need for
ongoing support in implementation, in the establishment of a support
organisation with the widest possible user base, and that training should be
an important objective of such an organisation.

Section 3 Digital library support services

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With the establishment in section 2 of the nature of digital libraries, section 3
comprised a needs analysis to elucidate the technical and other related
problems faced in creating digital libraries in Africa.

Question 3.1 queried the perceived need for support services in a range of
areas. These included services identified in advocacy for digital library
development; a dedicated African digital library portal development; to
encourage the availability of African indigenous knowledge content online; to
promote general awareness of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS); to
facilitate collaboration with related local and international institutions; to
strengthen civil society in building repositories of information useful to
individuals, NGOs, business and governments; and to contribute to the
preservation of African works of cultural and historical importance. These
were areas of support considered in the survey design to be valid. The
questioned was open-ended in the additional request to elaborate on these or
other perceived needs.

The response was informative for any business proposal, in that respondents
selected multiple and often selected all available options, and added
comments that all identified services were needed. Responses to this
question therefore provide a valid needs assessment. It was noted that this
multiple selection question elicited a most enthusiastic response, resulting in
high scores, reflecting both breadth of need and a possible lack of DL
experience to discern areas of prioritisation.

It is interesting that a relatively low score was assigned to need to

strengthen civil society, and that more immediate informational needs were
given higher priority.

Advocacy and a vehicle of collaboration emerge as the most sought-after

services in Africa. Comments on this question were particularly informative,
in the identified need for “home grown solutions” to a unique African
environment, and in the perceived need for co-ordinated effort.

The major challenges that might be encountered within institutions outlined

in Q3.2 included a lack of funding, multiple languages, a lack of specialist
staff, managerial apathy, poor vendor support, inadequate infrastructure, (in
terms of electrical wiring, telephone lines, buildings) and slow network
connectivity.

The response was consistent across all surveys, in that the greatest
impediment to development was the lack of funding, followed by the lack of
specialist staff. Managerial apathy and slow network connection were also
rated significantly, followed by the inadequate infrastructure reported in the
Francophone survey.

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It is notable however, that both funding and staffing are managerial, rather
than technical issues. This points to an important target group of any
support organisation. The experience of the DISA project in consulting for
UNESCO, IFLA , ICA and other international organisations is that multi-
national training programmes, designed for specialist technical staff, are
often intercepted and retained by management of invited national libraries
and national archives, as a “perk of the job”, and not filtered down to the
appropriate target level of technical staff.

Contrary to level social inclusion in the global information society enjoyed

by information professionals in the developed world, the availability of a
single leased line to the national library or national archives excludes many
interested African information professionals who wish to develop the level of
information literacy required for digital library work. When permission must
be sought from the director to use the single available Internet connection,
technological access problems are compounded by the problems of social
hierarchy.

As a result, the training is ineffectual as long as managers, despite their

inability to affect specialist digital library training offered, continue to retain
such invitations for themselves. It is therefore imperative that future support
structures should clearly define the target support groups; that managers
are provided with training in strategic planning; that managers are
requested to endorse digital library support in terms of the strategic plan of
the institution, and that mechanisms are put in place to assure a level of
accountability to implement the training provided. This latter consideration
has relied in an honour system of subsequent reporting at predetermined
intervals – a request that is often ignored. This aspect of accountability is an
important consideration of a support organisation in the formulation of legal
agreements and financial loans to participating institutions.

Section 4 Greenstone use and support

Greenstone digital library software use and support was measured in the
fourth section. Question 4.1 determined the level of current usage of the
Greenstone software. In all surveys, the positive response was very low,
averaging 15%, except for the French response of 100%. However, that
outlying result is due to the fact that the French survey was limited to seven
recipients of recent Greenstone software training programme.

The small user base in Africa is evidenced in this result. The level of
awareness of Greenstone software is an issue for the consideration of a
support organisation, in the obvious efficacy of training, and the need
for greater publicity.

18
The responses to Question 4.2, in describing the strengths and weaknesses
are of interest to the software developers. The digital library interface and
specifically the search functionality have wide appeal. The need to
repeatedly rebuild and the limitation on collections size are seen as
disadvantages. Perceptions that were expressed included the questionable
long term development, outdated architecture, and high level of computer
literacy required. These perceptions should also be addressed by a support
organisation.

The existing support services provided by the New Zealand Digital Library
(NZDL) project were queried in Question 4.3, in terms of their use in
implementing Greenstone. The manual appeared to be most well received,
followed by tutorials where those had been held, and then the discussion
groups. Mr John Rose noted that the support service infrastructure was
reportedly more widely used than the software itself, as reported in Question
4.1. This would indicate that a greater number of respondents had
investigated the software than those who implemented it.

No difficulty was reported in Question 4.4 in making use of the support

mechanisms provided by NZDL; and no suggestions for improved
services were offered in response to Question 4.5.

What types of digital library services should be developed as a priority for

Africa was the framework for Question 4.6 The range of options covered
operational support, digital library management management support, and
software development. The English language group clearly favoured
operational support, with the prioritization of training. The French group
identified training, guidelines for best practice, and the mobilization of
fundingas areas of priority, while the Arabic group favoured the digital
library management areas like organistional and strategic planning and
software development above training.

Martin Belcher commented on this result, that most respondents want

general advice (e.g. on digital libraries per se and all softwares) and also
training, but that is often also generally on offer from other sources (such
as INASP) as well.

Further analysis of the perceived need for support services is provided

under Question 5.5

19
Section 5 Organisational structure of a digital library support
organisation

The final section sought comments and ideas on the organisation structure
most appropriate to the formalization of such a support organisation. This
section reflected a high proportion of missing values, indicative of a lack of
experience at the management level amongst respondents.

Question 5.1 Do you consider an African-based support

organisation for digital library initiatives/projects is
needed?

The general perception of need for an African-based support organisation

for digital library initiatives and projects was measured in Question 5.1. The
positive response was overwhelming, ranging between 88 -100% across the
language groups. No negative responses were recorded.

Question 5.2 If so, what model might be appropriate, in your

opinion, for structuring such a support organisation?

An appropriate model for structuring such an organisation was sought in

Question 5.2. The options of centralized, networked and associative received
varied responses, with comments indicating ranging interpretation of the
question. Distinctive roles and functions of the various models should
possibly have been clarified to obtain a more indicative result. Despite wide
ranging comments, valuable points of interest in motivating for a support
organisation are revealed: co-ordination and direction needed; requisite skill
set spread so thinly as to support collaboration; accessibility to expert
services and benefit from shared typically African experience; need for wide
representation of various stakeholder communities; sustainability. Opinions
indicated that the centralised model, or centres of excellence, appeared to
offer greater sustainability, while the associative model seemed to offer more
opportunities to share experience.

The networked models clearly favoured in the English and Arabic

communities would suggest a positive previous experience of this model,
and a strong existing network infrastructure. The networked model follows
international trends, and could also accommodate an association around a
central service centre. The DISA model has proven the efficacy of such a
networked association, but the benefit from this model is apparently not
evident where the existing network infrastructure does not provide
adequate access. A greater level of support was shown by the French and
Amharic communities for an associative rather than a networked model.
This is consistent with the lack of infrastructure reported in the French
survey (Q3.2)

This social division need further investigation to ascertain the significance of

this result, which may be indicative of the level of social inclusion in the

20
context of that community, reflecting institutional and societal structures that
support access to ICT.

Question 5.3 What governance mechanisms should such a

support organisation employ?

Question 5.3 offered the option of four governance mechanisms: a

governing committee; user representation; national chapters, and
professional organisations or NGO’s.

The wide range of results from different surveys requires further

consideration and consultation on the preferred governance mechanisms.
However, only the mechanism of a governing committee received
consistent support from all respondents in all surveys. The strongest level
of support however, was recorded for the use of local professional
organisations and relevant NGO’s, but seems to be dependent on previous
existence and positive experience of vibrant professional organisations, as
reflected in the Arabic community.

The significant number of missing values recorded in response to this

question reflects uncertainty, and even a lack of management experience
among digital library practitioners.

Comments received provide valuable insights into concern about structural

proliferation, political implications of resource control, and the need to
position a support organisation within the information profession.

Question 5.4 How would you support the sustainability of a

digital library support organisation?

Opinion on sustainability is significant again in the variation of responses

based on cultural divisions, with English language group preference for
membership subscription, indicative of a higher level of confidence in
organisational commitment, based possibly on positive experience of
exisiting library consortia relationships. This is reflected in contrast to
greater support for contributions in kind, expressed by other communities.

Noteworthy is the multiple selection breakdown, by which the fee for service
model is seen to achieve the highest common level of support across all
communities. The range of options selections is clear recognition of the
need for a combination of strategies to promote sustainability of a support
organisation.

As in the previous question, the high number of missing values recorded in

response to this question again reflects uncertainty, or a lack of management
experience among digital library practitioners.

21
Question 5.5 If you support a fee for service model, for which of the
following services would you be willing to pay a fee?

The responses to this question indicate the level of current digital library
development in Africa, with the combined surveys reflecting the following
result, ranging from the highest bid for consultancy and training services, to
the lowest in areas of providing DL services:

Consultancy: 45.5%
Online training courses: 39.4%
External hosting: 21.2%
Access rights management: 24.2%
IP Management : 18.2%
Content payment mechanisms: 15.2%

These responses are both direct indicators for support in areas for DL
startup. The marked increase in missing values for the remaining options
can bed seen as evidence again of a lack of experience in the subsequent
provision of such services. With respondents indicating a consistent need for
training throughout the various communities, this question provides an
accurate needs profile, and a fair reflection of the status of digital libraries in
Africa.

The response to this question provides an interesting correlation on

sustainability, in addition to that questioned in Q5.4 above.

Q2.6.3 Plan to host collections on an external host (12.9%)

and
Q5.5.3 Willingness to pay a fee for dedicated external hosting service
(22.6%)
More respondents are more willing to pay for a service than are currently
using external hosting. This indicates a strong market opportunity, serving
the sustainability of a support organisation.

The response to this question also provide an interesting needs analysis in

terms of services for which respondents are less prepared to pay, in
comparison to those support services prioritized in Question 3.1 and the need
for general support services identified in Question 4.6. The questions were
not formulated in identical manner, complicating a direct analysis.
Therefore, two common, and most frequently selected values are compared
here, training, and intellectual property management. In both cases the
willingness to pay for such services is lower than the suggested level of need.
Clearly there is an expectation that services should be made available freely. In
the case of intellectual property management, there seems to be an

22
unwillingness to outsource the provision of such service, which may well
indicate a confusion between ownership of physical collections and rights to
use digital reproductions of local content, despite the long existence of such
organisations in the music industry (eg. South African Music Rights
Organisation (SAMRO)).

This question reflects the status of digital libraries in Africa, where start-
up operations (and predominantly training), are currently valued more
highly than the development of essential new service areas.

Question 5.6 In which kind of organisational framework could

such an organisation best be positioned / structured?

Strongest overall support was recorded for a combination, or cross-

sectoral organisational framework, followed by the highest single sector
support for the university/higher education sector.

This question was deliberately included as means of evaluating confidence in

respondents’ own sector to support DL development as indicated in the
sector affiliation profile provided in question 1.7. The level of confidence in
the private commercial sector matches that of current affiliation, (both
3.2%), while that of the independent legal entities, such as NGO’s, notably
exceeds that of current affiliation. Current confidence levels in the other
sectors do not meet the requirements of respondents, to provide a suitable
organisational structure for a support organisation. This may be interpreted
as a perception that NGO’s tend to offer focused core function services, as
against peripheral functions of other sectors.

The outcome of this comparison, together with the range of preferred

governance mechanisms expressed, confirms the strong support for a cross-
sectoral organisational framework, as indicated in question 5.6, and led by a
dedicated NGO, preferably with access to the technical infrastructure afford
by a university, but also affiliated to the information management sector.
This is a major finding of the survey, with implications for the development of
an appropriate business model.

Conclusions to survey responses

The survey results offered above are based mainly on the English-language
survey, with differentiation of analysis provided by leaders of the sub-
regional language group surveys. The results were integrated only for
section 5, based on the suggestion of Martin Belcher, and supported by
other Steering Committee members, that the validity of the feasibility study
was questionable, given the meagre response provided to this section on the
management of the GSOA and how to pay for it. It is hoped that the
synthesis of all regional analyses will allay this perception.

23
However, it should be pointed out that while the similarity in English and
Arabic sample sizes provided for legitimate comparison, the variable sample
sizes and limited number of respondents French and Amharic language
surveys often provided misleading outlying results. For example, the entire
French sample was university based, preventing useful measurement of
other organisational structures supported by that community.

Report On The Workshop Discussion Regarding The Establishment Of

A Greenstone Support Organisation For Africa.

The findings of the feasibility study were presented for discussion to the
Greenstone Training Workshop, led by Prof Ian Witten, and held at the
University of Cape Town on 1 December 2005.

The workshop was attended by 26 participants representing not only South

Africa, but also Lesotho, Namibia, Ethiopia, Senegal and Sudan.

It was noted that the results of regional surveys, conducted in the French,
English, Amharic and Arabic speaking communities were compiled for
evaluation purposes. The response in areas of strategic management had
been limited, and number of issues were opened to discussion by the
workshop participants as an supplementary multinational group, informed
on the level of support required.

The discussion was minuted by Dynal Patel for purposes of reporting, and the
response documented here as a means of testing the validity of the findings
of the study.

1. Fee for Service

Participants believe that access rights are important. There is confusion

between ownership and copyright. Perhaps this confusion could have skewed
results. There seems to be a reluctance to outsource IP management. Many
participants confirmed that they had sold their heritage in exchange for
equipment etc. Libraries are unwilling to pay a subscription fee. There is a
contradiction in the vision OPEN ACCESS vs Fees for content for
sustainability. Also Africans cannot be expected to pay for their heritage.
Perhaps the GSO should focus on using content that is less contentious. The
question that arises then is if the content will be relevant or useful?
External hosting does not seem as viable an option as suggested, since DISA
currently offers the service for free.

2. Governing Mechanisms

There is an inclination that the GSO should be affiliated with NGOs. The

24
reason being that there is generally a positive experience when collaborating
with NGOs. The governing committee of the GSO should be affiliated with
Universities or other organizations to take advantage of the networks that
currently exist.

3.Ways Forward

For the GSO to work towards sustainability it explore two options:

consultancy and online courses. Once must be careful as consultancy is a
loaded term, that in essence covers the spectrum of activities that are
necessary for sustainability. Institutions such as UNISA have had a mindset
and now encourage their employees to enroll for training programs. GSO
must align its vision with this emerging trend.

For there to be any DL development in Africa the content development must be

free. There is a need for managers capable of strategic planning amongst other
things. Training must target the right individuals and not managers wanting to
go for a free holiday. There are lots of individuals attending training but there
are still nothing to show at many institutions. There is
a need for a more holistic approach for DL training. There is a need to
train everyone in the chain.

In West Africa, the strategy in promoting Greenstone has been to offer

courses. The emphasis has been on promoting free and open source
software. There is a need to involves everyone NGO, Government, Academic
instructions and Global organizations. There is a need for several determined
experts in each of these organizations.

6. Recommendations

It is inevitable that the recommendations on the feasibility of establishing a

digital library support organisation should be coloured by the personal
experience of the investigator, as project manager of DISA. A grant-funded
not for profit organisation, DISA was established in 1998, primarily to test
the feasibility and lately to support digitisation efforts in South African
libraries and archives. It is further notable that following a seven year period
of operation, a number of responses, especially those of South African
respondents may be perceived to be similarly coloured. The potential bias
this represents in the study is therefore acknowledged.

By way of balance, and despite the resultant delay, the analysis of each
of the parallel regional language group studies has been considered, and
significant results integrated in this report. In addition, the input of the

25
Steering Committee was sought at predetermined intervals, and at the
conclusion of the study.

The major design principles guiding the structuring of the survey

questionnaire were threefold:
- To identify types of DL services required;
- To identify services which could be offered by a GSOA;
- To examine possible organisational structures as motivation for
an appropriate business model.

The combined analysis of the survey reports above allows for a number
of recommendation to be made in these three areas of investigation.

6.1 Types of digital library services required

The nature of digital libraries identified in Section 2 of the survey, and the
inquiry into computing skills available proved to be a key area of
investigation, both in characterising the African digital library environment
and in indicating areas of need and potential areas for support. These were
specifically queried in Section 3, to establish technical and other related
problems experienced in creating digital libraries in Africa.

6.1.1. African advocacy for digital library development

The perceived need for digital library services was measured across a
range of options, including advocacy for digital library development; a
dedicated African digital library portal development; building African
indigenous knowledge content online; promoting general awareness of Free
and Open Source Software (FOSS); facilitating collaboration with related
local and international institutions; strengthening civil society in building
repositories of information useful to individuals, NGOs, business and
governments; and contributing to the preservation of African works of
cultural and historical importance.

Advocacy and a vehicle of collaboration emerge as the most sought-after

services in Africa. Further comments on this question were particularly
informative, in the identified need for “home grown solutions”, appropriate
to a unique African environment, and in the perceived need for greater co-
ordinated effort.

6.1.2 Digital library training

The overwhelming demand for technical training was paramount to the

findings of the survey. One of the most significant additional outcomes of
the study is the identified lack of management experience among digital
library practitioners. This finding was indicated in poor response rates to
relevant questions in Section 5, and was also reported indirectly in the
challenges encountered within institutions. Although managerial apathy was

26
listed third, after the major challenges of lack of funding and lack of specialist
staff, the latter are notably managerial rather than technical issues. In addition,
the need for digital library management training is also identified by the Arabic
community as the highest perceived priority for the development of digital library
services, in areas of organisational and strategic planning.

It is recommended that this important management target group is clearly

identified and fostered in a number of ways:

• Managers should be provided with training in organisational

and strategic planning;
• Support for policy development should include lifecycle management,
ie. e-Resources collection development, content management and
digital preservation;
• Mangers should be required to endorse digital library support in terms
of the strategic plan of the institution, and that mechanisms are put
in place to assure a level of accountability to implement the training
provided.
• Managerial accountability should be supported in the formulation
of legal agreements around financial loans to participating
institutions who may wish to benefit from other services provided.
• The emphasis on digital library management training should not be
seen as downgrading the immense need for more technical training
and awareness in the digital library area.

6.1.3 Start-up support

The combined surveys reflected consistent willingness to pay for

aggregated services in three distinct areas of priority:

• consultancy and training, followed by

• external hosting, followed by
• delivery services, such as access control, IP management and content
payment mechanisms.

These responses are both direct indicators for the development of support in
areas for DL startup. The consistency reflected throughout the various
communities provides an accurate needs profile, and a fair reflection of the
current status of digital libraries in Africa.

6.2 Services offered by a GSOA

The target market of the support organisation is identified in four interest

groups at two levels of intensity; firstly the librarians and IT specialists,
followed by university lecturers and researchers. Given the relatively small

27
digital library community in Africa, the synergy between these two groups is
critical, and demands attention to their separate needs, outlined below, to
support their reciprocal relationship in developing digital libraries.

6.2.1 Training and consultancy services

While there is evidence of adequate technical infrastructure available within

the African academic computing environment, few training opportunities exist
for the professional development of information specialists in the library and
IT group.

The percentage of staff in possession of various computing skills was

unfortunately not measured, making it difficult to draw up an accurate
profile. It is apparent however, that general computing skills were widely
available and additional skills are available on a decreasing scale, with
human computer interface specialists reported as least readily available.

Workshops and conferences currently provide the most effective training

opportunities available, formal educational opportunities appear to be
available only in the Sudan. The current skills profile is therefore best
characterized by reported workshop attendance, reflecting a general level of
awareness of basic digital library practice, with technical expertise limited to
website architecture and design.

The recommendation is therefore linked to and develops upon the need for
start-up support in 6.1.3 above, and should entail:

• introductory operational training in basic digital library practice

• information literacy services
• consultancy services in areas of specific need, eg metadata,
web design, xml, etc.
• ongoing implementation support for defined period following training
• all training designed as modular units certified by a
reputed qualification authority

6.2.2 User support

Digital library experience in Africa would seem to be generally low, although

a growing interest in academic applications in ETD’S and IR’s, beyond the
traditional conversion projects emanating from special collections. This is
believed to be due in part to widespread African support for the Open Access
movement .

28
The recommendation is to provide user support to the secondary group
identified, comprising university lecturers and researchers. Such services
should include areas of support for teaching, learning and research:
• Educational technology, eg. Integration of content with online
learning sysytems
• User interface development eg. Personalization, portals and gateways
• Online interaction in blogs, messaging and chat

6.2.3 External hosting

The majority of respondents in all surveys indicated that they were

planning to host their collections both externally and locally (47-71%). This
result was surprising, and while it could indicate limited local storage
facilities, it may also indicate a high level of willingness to share content.

The subsequent correlation those who plan to host collections on an external

host (12.9%) and those willingness to pay a fee for dedicated external
hosting service (22.6%) reveals a further recommendation of note, viz. that
more respondents are more willing to pay for a service than are currently
using external hosting, providing a strong market opportunity, serving the
sustainability of a support organisation. The substantial demand for paid
external hosting services is inferred however, from the comparison of
relatively small figures from two questions which were not formulated with
this comparison in mind. Greater emphasis must be placed on the clear
demand for consultancy and training, while the idea of hosting services as an
interesting lead.

6.2.4 Marketing

The level of awareness of Greenstone software is a further issue for the

consideration of a support organisation, given the obvious need for greater
publicity.

6.3 Organisational structures

A concentration of digital library activity is evident within university or college

libraries. (Question 1.6) In order of diminishing value, this is followed by
research institutes, which can be similarly accorded to the academic
computing environment provided by the higher education sector. The
sequential level of activity listed under government or public institutions can
be accorded to the role of related heritage institutions, archives and
museums.

29
Given that advocacy and a vehicle of collaboration emerged as the most
sought-after services in Africa, it is not surprising that strongest overall
support was recorded for a combination, or cross-sectoral
organisational framework, followed by the highest single sector support
for the university/higher education sector.

The level of confidence in independent legal entities, such as NGO’s, notably

exceeds that of current affiliation. Current confidence levels in the other
sectors do not meet the requirements of respondents, to provide a suitable
organisational structure for a support organisation. This may be interpreted
as a perception that NGO’s tend to offer focused core function services, as
against peripheral functions of other sectors. It may also be a result of the
large number of respondents who preferred an unspecified combination of
sectors including perhaps their own. The emphasis displayed here on higher
education, cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge applications is based
to a large degree on the affiliation of respondents, on existing applications
and on an analysis of certain development and political tendencies. While
the importance of these application
areas is acknowledged, the GSOA should reamin open to other sectors such
as government information, scientific research and the media.

The outcome of the regional comparison, together with the range of

preferred governance mechanisms expressed in the data, confirms the strong
support for a cross-sectoral organisational framework, as indicated in
question 5.6, and led by a dedicated NGO, preferably with access to the
technical infrastructure afford by a university, but also affiliated to the
information management sector. This is a major finding of the survey, with
implications for the development of an appropriate business model.

Role of African Universities

There is increasing recognition that the role of universities in Africa in

research, information transfer and technology development is critical to
national social progress and economic growth. The results of this study
highlight significant nodes of digital library development within African
universities. The consideration of any business plan must therefore take
cogniscence of the special role of universities as potential partners. A history
of poor national economic performance, inappropriate governing structures,
political interference, weak internal management and political instability all
contributed to a decline in tertiary education infrastructure the latter half of
the twentieth century. In the light of these developments the Association of
African Universities (AAU), the World Bank, African organisations with an
interest in higher education and the Working Group on Higher Education,
proposed strategic guidelines in 1999 for the revitalisation of universities in
Africa.

30
University leaders and stakeholders were encouraged to exercise strategic
planning as a means to analyse conditions, express a vision and formulate
goals thereby promoting the advancement of the institution in a systematic
manner. Critical issues identified for discussion included the budget
allocation process, management, institutional autonomy, accountability to
government and the public etc. The significance of these issues suggest the
need for carefully negotiated agreements between the proposed support
organisation and African university partners.

The adoption of state of the art management information systems was also
recommended by the Working Group on Higher Education, as a powerful
instrument that enables accessible information on institutional performance,
to support the management of learning, and to achieve meaningful change
by re-designing instructional technology as both a strategic and a cognitive
tool. The role of digital library development in support of research, teaching
and learning has become well established in the developed world, but this
study confirmed the limited uptake of educational technology by academic
staff in Africa. A number of reasons were cited by respondents, paramount
being a lack of resources and a lack of trained staff. This is an area of
activity that deserves closer attention in the establishment of a digital library
support organisation for Africa.

The AAU is establishing an ICT Unit to constitute a clearing house for

information on relevant ICT initiatives, trends and opportunities. This Unit
and its stated aims are of particular relevance to this study in the potential
parallel role to a digital library support organisation: in facilitate networking,
collective action and the sharing of good practice and expertise; in
undertaking informed advocacy and lobbying on ICT issues affecting Africa’s
knowledge centres. {HOBA, 2005 #61}

Diversification of the funding base of higher education institutions to

supplement government funding was further recommended by the AAU to
include the charging of tuition fees, the mobilisation of donor funding and
the establishment of private-public partnerships in order to position the
university at the centre of the information technology driven developmental
pathway. {, 2004 #1} This recommendation might suggest a similar
business model for a Greenstone support organisation in Africa.

31
6.4 Business model

6.4.1 Suggested models

The survey did not provide a clear indication on the most appropriate
organisational structure for a support organisation. The wide ranging results
on preferred governance mechanisms was also inconclusive.

John Rose suggests that he main reason why such uncertainties exist is the
low level of awareness and expertise in the digital library area in Africa,
which has led to a low level of response to the survey in terms of both
quantity and quality.

The strongest level of support however, was recorded for the use of local
professional organisations and relevant NGO’s. Some concern was expressed
however, on unnecessary structural proliferation, political implications of
resource control, and the need to position a support organisation within the
information profession.

6.4.2 Sustainability

The variation of opinion on sustainability based on regional divisions is again,

inconclusive. The willingness of respondents to pay a fee for services rendered
proves in itself, the feasibility of establishing a support organisation to provide
the services identified. However, there is some ambiguity between the
recommendation here that the GSOA be established within the higher education
sector, and the analysis in section 5.6 which indicates a greater level of
confidence in the NGO sector. The inference could also be drawn that the result
of the survey has been coloured by the DISA model, which currently functions
as a national collaborative grant funded project based within the higher
education sector. While that model does not provide a sustainable solution in
itself, without a more detailed concept of the organizational structure and terms
of reference of the GSOA, it does serve as
a basis from which to develop an NGO, which could approach potential
donors or sponsoring organizations for support.

Much of the existing digital library development has undeniably been made
possible by donor funding. That such funding is relatively readily available in
the higher education sector may account for the predominance of this sector
recorded in this study. However, donor agencies have historically operated
individually in the African context, and not always with the priorities of
African higher education in mind. Concerns of cultural imperialism have
arisen from experiences of obligatory partnerships with institutions in donor
countries, without proper legal framework for shared management of
intellectual property rights, and the resultant loss of swathes of indigenous

32
knowledge, held for “safekeeping” in a donor country. This experience
supports the establishment of a GSOA based within the higher education
sector, where donor funds are most readily available, but it is recommended
that the GSOA serve as a gatekeeper, to advise the wider library community
in the development of digital libraries. It is further recommended that such
libraries do not continue to rely solely on grant funds; that the GSOA assists
in building meaningful and constructive partnerships that avoid the exchange
of sovereignty over local heritage and memory in return for seemingly
expensive equipment that is inevitably obsolete within a few years.
{PETERS, 2001 #290}

• It is recommended that the nature of such partnerships be carefully

considered as a core function of a digital library support organisation in
Africa. The role of donor agencies in a GSOA private-public partnership
should therefore be well defined within the framework of investment in
higher education for social and economic development.

• Donor support for a GSOA should be deflected from content

ownership and concurrent intellectual property rights issues, and
redirected into higher level digital library development activities such
as advocacy, collaborative agreements, strategic planning,
information and communication technology infrastructure, institutional
linkages within and between existing consortia and in digital library
management training.

• Given that advocacy and a vehicle of collaboration emerged from the

survey as the most sought-after services in Africa, an appropriate
organisational model for implementing digital library services is one
that is limited to facilitating these services and indirect in their
implementation. This would entail the establishment of a small
organisation, possibly only one person primarily responsible for
advocacy, and closely linked to the existing formal library structures,
such as IFLA-Africa. Such a model would be facilitative in directing
African libraries and archives to the relevant resources, including
exisiting NGO’s working in related areas. Support for this limited
model would entail a salary at library management level to effect the
necessary profile. Together with office administration expenses, and
a limited travel budget, this model is estimated at US$50,000 per
annum.
• A digital library support organisation designed to implement the full
range of digital library services identified is closely aligned to the
organisational model of a associative collaborative framework with
direct representation of various stakeholder groups at the level of a
governing board. This model does equate to a dedicated NGO, aimed
to meet the needs specific to the support of digital library development
in Africa.

33
 This fully-fledged support organisation would require, in addition to the
facilitative model above, further two posts to meet both technical and
information management service requirements, as well as one
administrative support post.

The cost of establishing a fully-fledged support organisation

is estimated as follows:

Staff salaries 50,000

Furniture and equipment 35,000
Operating expenses 45,000

US$ 130,000 per annum

• The full implementation is based on the combined content

development, including remote hosting and capacity building services
identified in the study. Given the rate of technological advancement in
digital libraries, this model is designed to stay abreast of developments
and convey relevant aspects in training workshops.

• This necessitates a fully operational digital library service, with

hardware and software expenses reflected under furniture and
equipment. This should comprise a a networked environment with 2-3
media-specific capture workstations; a 10 seater LAN teaching
environment; a high-speed server, with generous extensible data
storage capacity, RAID controller and backup hardware.

34
7. Conclusions

Rosenberg reports on the current status of African university libraries in

Africa that while libraries worldwide have increased their holdings of
electronic information and automated their operations over the past
fifteen years, within Africa digital development has been uneven.
{ROSENBERG, 2005 #58}

Evidence would point to the risk of a growing digital divide. Supporters of

globalization see the current advancement of ICT as an opportunity to gain
access to knowledge and services from around the world in a way that would
have been unimaginable previously, as well as allowing Less Developed
Countries (LDCs) to leapfrog the development of their infrastructure and
economy by providing a unique opportunity for low-income countries to
approach equity in their utilization of wireless network. Globalisation skeptics
however, view the current technological revolution as creating a new digital
gap between rich developed countries and LDCs. Developed countries
possess the required capital and technology and thus, have much greater
access to the Internet and communications services. {WAHAB, 2003 #57}

The AAU recognizes the threat of the growing digital divide stemming
primarily from the overarching condition of poverty and limited resources
experienced in Africa. In addition specific challenges identified within the
higher education sector include the absence of the required infrastructure,
services and policy at the national, regional and international levels,
resulting in inadequate connectivity and high cost. ; weak institutional and
individual capacity to design and manage effective systems, leading to sub-
optimal use of available bandwidth and other facilities; and the absence of
content and structures that place a premium on collaboration and networking
as key means of information sharing and knowledge generation. {HOBA,
2005 #61} The key issues identified by the AAU that also emerge from this
study are “content” and “collaboration.”

The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of developing a digital
library support organisation in Africa. The recommendations set out above
indicate that such an organisation should seek to address the digital divide
on a number of levels, more complex than a bipolar division between haves
and the have-nots.

A support organisation aimed at the use of technology for social

development in Africa cannot be limited to the provision of physical
resources in the expectation of digital resources in return. It cannot aim to
support digital libraries for the sake of content alone. It is evident from this
study that access to online information is framed by the political, economic,
institutional, cultural and linguistic contexts considered here. Given that
advocacy and a vehicle of collaboration emerged from the study as the most
sought-after digital library support services in Africa, the inequality of the

35
digital divide must be recognized as primarily social, not digital.
{WARSCHAUER, 2003 #59}

A number of conclusions can thus be drawn from the results recorded in

this study, on the feasibility of establishing a digital library support
organisation for Africa:

1. The first is the need to include African experience in developing an

international private-public partnership to build African digital library content,
and provide a framework for African collaboration. Multi-national
partnerships are sought that are meaningful in their recognition of equity,
and operate within the proper legal framework for fair management of
intellectual property rights to protect indigenous knowledge systems and
ensuing knowledge products.

2. The recommendations draw attention to the role of the existing academic

computing environment within African universities and the work of existing
NGO’s, providing nodes of infrastructure as bridges across the digital divide.
A second conclusion can be drawn in the need to utilise this enhanced level
of technical infrastructure currently enjoyed in the higher education sector in
Africa. This infrastructure offers the highest current level of social inclusion
in the global networked environment, where ICT and online access are
embedded in the institutional culture.

3. In addition, such partnerships need to respond to the increased demand

for e-learning, distance education, and the integration of indigenous
knowledge systems into the mainstream of education. Digital library support
is therefore critical not only in the provision of hardware and software, or
even in basic digital library operational skills, but in developing human
capacity within African universities, and particularly in African libraries, in the
pedagogy of instructional technology and the effective use of ICT’s to access,
adapt and create new knowledge.

4. A digital library support organisation for Africa is mandated by the

outcome of this study to build a support infrastructure for the management
of digital content. This entails the collection development and management
policies to build e-resource collections, hybrid collection comprising non-
digital, born digital and those collections resulting from the digitisation of
local content. , and the assurance of long- term provision of such e-
resources.

5. In addition to content building, a DL support organisation in Africa will have to

give some attention to building human capacity evidently lacking at present to
provide the necessary information services required. Information literacy
services are already growing, and were not included in this study, but should be
given consideration in the vital role of the digital library to utilize

36
technology for greater social inclusion. Information services investigated and
which merit further support include the development of user interfaces to
provide easy access through websites, gateways and portals. They include
the development of local ontologies and standard analytical tools to enable
users to navigate, search retrieve and re-use information; and
personalization services and online interaction models ( wicki’s, blogs, chat)
that allow the remote user to participate in the process of resource discovery.

6. There is a further need expressed in the survey responses, (reflected

negatively in the high level of missing values) for a DL support organisation
to aim also at the underlying service infrastructure. This includes support for
improved national network connectivity, access management policies for
common authentication and authorisation, in a single sign-on facility (eg.
Shibboleth). The service infrastructure might also include payment services
for subscription-based content, and billing systems for intellectual property
rights and related services through a common interface.

7. The significance of the survey lies in the lack of management

experience currently evident among digital library practitioners. This
mandates a DL support organisation to address the need for a digital
environment that is managed both strategically and operationally. Staff
development and training needs should reflect the strategic vision in the
library. Support for policy development and legal frameworks are
needed to control Internet usage, the licensing of commercial content,
and the digitization and intellectual property management of local
content. New job descriptions and performance measurements are
required in the digital environment. The managed digital environment
should also reflect a commitment to providing long-term access to
electronic resources.

NEPAD is evidence that Africa has embarked on a process of accelerating

the bridging of the developmental, trade and digital divide. The strategic
policy framework acknowledges that bridging the development gap between
the North and the South is ultimately the responsibility of the South. It is
timely indeed to realize the objectives of the major identified programme in
information and communications technology, to be fast-tracked, in
collaboration with development partners.

There is now an urgent need to attract further funding to this GSOA initiative
to support digital library development in Africa that will enable the creation
and management of electronic information resources, to preserve the
heritage of indigenous knowledge in a global information society, and
strengthen the mechanisms and capacity of civil society.

37
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