The African Virtual University: Africa and Information Technology Conference Session

Posted on September 24, 2013 by sheriff2@illinois.edu

I attended the opening event of Africa and Information Technology: Practices, Potentials and Challenges – a conference hosted by the University of Illinois’ Center for African Studies beginning September 11, 2013. The aim of this three-day conference was to catalyze the critical engagement of topics concerning the expansion of access to and development of information technologies on the African continent. In his opening address, Professor Ilesanmi Adesida, University of Illinois’ Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost stressed Africa’s rapid pace of change in terms of technological advancements and the expanding potential for technology to be harnessed as a means to pave the way for “alleviating some of the critical problems on the continent and improving the quality of life for Africans.” Adesida maintains that improved broadband access for online education is necessary for disseminating educational videos to spread lifesaving information on AIDS/HIV, agricultural practices, etc.

Following the provost’s opening remarks, Dr. Atieno Adala, guided the audience through her PowerPoint presentation on “The African Virtual University and the Future of Science and Technology Education in Africa”. Adala is the manager of Academic Programs Development and Delivery with the African Virtual University (AVU) and author of Can the virtual university expand access to higher education in Africa? The dialectic of the local and the global. According to Adala’s presentation, the AVU is a pan-African intergovernmental organization that started out as a World Bank project in 1997 with the goal of expanding information and communication technologies (ICT) in Africa’s colleges and universities by developing and disseminating eLearning online courses (modules), degree granting programs, training materials, and workshops that cover a number of disciplines including biology, chemistry, food security, ICT basic skills, mathematics, and renewable energy. Modules were released (in English, Portuguese, and French) as open education resources that any student in higher-learning institutions can use for professional development and additional degrees. These modules are accessed by 1.7 million users worldwide in 201 countries and territories. There are also courses offered within the AVU Capacity Enhancement Program to train institutions’ faculty in up open distance and eLearning (ODeL) technologies, thereby enabling partner institutions to successfully design, develop, and manage ODeL programs.

Dr. Atieno Adala presented on the African Virtual University during the Africa and IT Conference.

In 2003 the AVU adopted distance and eLearning as a model for instruction and has contributed to training more than 43,000 students enrolled in African colleges and universities. The AVU has partner institutions all over Africa, including Francophone and Anglophone nations and, according to Adala, has cultivated a flexible set of courses and training materials to accommodate differences in Anglophone and Francophone curriculums. The AVU works with partner institutions, such as Kenyatta University and the University of Dar es Salaam, to design and develop online degree programs, setup ODeL centers, and provide internet connectivity when possible. Other AVU partners include Addis Ababa University, the University of the Gambia, and others from Ghana, Cameroon, Mali, and Niger. Adala reports that the AVU boasts 597 scholarships awarded to students during the program’s first phase.

Despite the program’s successes, Adala also underlined several challenges to eLearning in Africa including, but not limited to unreliable internet connectivity, especially in rural areas; the high cost of Internet connectivity; intermittent power disruptions; unstable access to computers and other Internet enabling devices such as smartphones; and a scarcity in human resources such as personnel with training in ICT. The disparity between people who have access to Internet and ICTs and the ‘have-nots’ has not yet been bridged to provide equal access to the benefits of eLearning.

Shortly after leaving the first session and reviewing my notes, I returned to Adesida’s statement that “improved broadband access for online education is necessary for disseminating educational videos to spread lifesaving information on AIDS/HIV, agricultural practices…” I reflected on the fact that many of the targeted groups in need of this information are disproportionately vulnerable, underserved, and located in rural areas where internet connections are oftentimes unpredictable. Conference attendees were able to explore this issue further in the Day-Three session entitled “Extending Access: Tackling the Digital Divide,” which was presented by Professors Sharon Tettegah, Abu Bah, and Jon Gant who is the director for the University of Illinois’ Center for Digital Inclusion at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

I’m positing this question to our readers: Are there ways in which online programs such as the AVU can address problems of the Digital Divide (technology gap) between the information rich, and the information poor? I encourage you all to check out resources at the University of Illinois’ library on the Digital Divide, ICTs, and public policies on these topics. I recommend From digital divide to digital opportunity and Into or out of the digital divide?: a perspective on ICTs and development in Southern Africa, among many other insightful books. Feel free to post your comments!

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Timbuktu Manuscript project and Promoting Libraries on Mass Media

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Ximin Mi

In one of our previous blog posts, we introduced the plight of Timbuktu ancient manuscripts in Mali during the ongoing war.[i] As recent report says, after being rescued from the Islamic fundamentalists, these materials were relocated to South Mali, which has caused new threats to them. Now they are facing preservation issues caused by humidity in their new home. This area is much more humid than Timbuktu, which is very arid. After being moved to South Mail, these manuscripts are still kept in footlockers, which are not moisture proof. These manuscripts are printed on rag paper and are very fragile to the humidity. Some manuscripts are already damaged by the moisture,[ii] showing signs of mildew and rot.[iii] The damage will become more severe if these manuscripts are not better preserved by mid June, the rain reason of Mali.

In order to gain outside help rescuing these manuscripts, Timbuktu librarians launched a campaign to raise funds for preserving these materials. Approximately 7 million dollars are needed to purchase archival boxes and humidity traps to keep these manuscripts before they can be returned to Timbuktu. In view of the time limit, Timbuktu librarians used multiple approaches to seek outside help. This effort has been promoted in a variety of ways, including CNN news channel, Facebook, twitter, and Reddit. All of them are gaining considerable attention. An Indiegogo channel was created to collect donations. As of the close of the campaign, on June 20, 2013, $67,446 was collected out of the $100,000 asked for.[iv] You can still contribute to the manuscripts cause through a Pay Pal account linked from the T160K website.

This campaign is a perfect illustration of using Internet to promote library activities. Internet spreads information much faster than the traditional library outreach approaches, such as poster, departmental collaboration, exhibits, etc. The funding Timbuktu library gets on Indiegogo increases exponentially day by day. It also collects a much larger audience. This campaign gets supporters from Facebook users, Twitter users, CNN followers, and Reddit readers. Other libraries can learn this experience for their own outreach. Despite of some limits of mass media promotion for library activities and fundraising, such as less targeted user group and some security issues, it does bring a faster and more influential option to future library promotion. Also, other online resources could also be used to collect user experience information and other feedback to improve library services and increase our influence all around.

For more information on the manuscript rescue, listen to the interview of Abdel Kader Haidara on BBC Outlook: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01b19d6.

[i] Denise Rayman. (2013) The Timbuktu Library Burnings and the Importance of Library Disaster Planning. http://publish.illinois.edu/iaslibrary/2013/03/01/the-timbuktu-library-burnings-and-the-importance-of-library-disaster-planning/

[ii] Timbuktu Libraries in Exile. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/timbuktu-libraries-in-exile

[iii] Saved from Islamists, Timbuktu’s manuscripts face new threat. http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/28/world/africa/timbuktu-manuscripts/index.html?iref=allsearch

[iv] Timbuktu Libraries in Exile. Indiegogo. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/timbuktu-libraries-in-exile

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The Timbuktu Library Burnings and the Importance of Library Disaster Planning

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Denise Rayman

Overview: A Tragedy Dodged

On Saturday the 26th of January, Islamic rebels set fire to two Timbuktu libraries of ancient manuscripts as they fled from incoming French and Malian troops [1]. Initial articles in the media reported it to be an enormous loss of ancient knowledge, uncounted numbers of ancient Islamic manuscripts, some dating back to the 11th century, gone in one day [2].

However, a few weeks later the librarians and Timbuktu citizens came out with happy news: prior to the burnings the majority of manuscripts were surreptitiously removed from the libraries in 2012, put in cataloged metal boxes, and stashed “beneath mud floors, into cupboards, boxes, sacks and secret rooms, into caves in the desert or upriver to the safety of Mopti or Bamako, Mali’s capital” [3]. It had been done quietly, and “a few hundred” manuscripts left behind, so as not to alert the terrorists to their actions [3]. Some manuscripts have been lost, but the traditional form of conservation practiced by the local family guardians of these manuscripts, simply hiding them, in combination with modern digitization efforts that have been going on for the past two years, has prevented a tragic loss of global heritage. UNESCO has also pledged to help with recovery efforts [4].

Mathematical manuscripts from the Timbuktu collections. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

If you would like to view some of the digitized manuscripts for yourself, check out the The Tombouctou Manuscripts Project website, and search through their database.

Library Disaster Planning

The Timbuktu manuscripts were saved because there was effective, unique disaster planning in place for them. While most archivists would not consider hiding their holdings in the houses of local families, for the Timbuktu manuscript guardians, who were used to unstable governments, it was the most effective available option.

While disasters present a threat to all librarians, the majority of libraries do not have irreplaceable manuscripts, and the majority are also not under threat from terrorists. However, all libraries need disaster plans. Fire, water, and natural disasters (such as tornadoes and earthquakes) are the biggest threats to the majority of library collections. Water presents the most obvious damage to anyone who has dropped a book or magazine in the bath, but it presents a second threat of mold if the book is not dried properly. Fire presents the first damaging effect of burning the paper, but the use of water-based fire-suppression systems adds the damage of water and mold.

Library disaster plans outline what should be done in the case of damage to buildings and materials, and how collections should be triaged and made stable for later conservation processes. Our own library has a detailed disaster plan which outlines what is to be done the case of disaster with all types of materials we hold, from Albumen Prints to Vinyl Records. (The library’s disaster plan is not available to the public for safety reasons.)

In the wake of the world’s increasing globalization, the importance of protecting heritage documents has become an international, and not just local, concern. Blue Shield, “the cultural equivalent of the Red Cross,” is a group working to create internationally coordinated responses to threats to cultural heritage, such as the terrorist threats to the Timbuktu manuscripts, and they are also working to protect the cultural heritage of Syria during its current political unrest.

Glocal Notes

from the International and Area Studies Library

Tag Archives: Africa

The African Virtual University: Africa and Information Technology Conference Session

The Timbuktu Library Burnings and the Importance of Library Disaster Planning

Overview: A Tragedy Dodged

Library Disaster Planning

Further Reading