Access to African Published Research: African Journals Online (AJOL) & NISC SA

Complementary Approaches working together.

Margaret Crampton

www.nisc.co.za & www.ajol.info

Africa needs

     Access to

own African research publications

Improvement in

worldwide access to African research publications

Improvement in the

dissemination of African research in Africa & worldwide

To

share the research publications

50+ countries of the Continent of the

Access to the research on Africa

worldwide scattered www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

  

The Traditional African Information Environment (Western influences)

Access to African publications problematic

 

Information sources in Africa: Derive from Europe and America Flow from North to South is



Western information , although essential: Not always appropriate

 

Not always relevant Is incomplete for Africa’s needs

www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

African Information Environment (distributed sources)



Thousands of academic journals are published in Africa and about Africa There is no single database source for African information



Databases are scattered



Journal web sites are scattered



use different formats and software



There is a need to integrated these diverse resources



Adjacent countries cannot access their research output



The world struggles to access African publications

Aggregation is the key www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

NISC SA Contribution

Database Aggregations since 1995      Compiles databases Publishes databases Integrates African resources with world sources World footprint NISC SA Database aggregations include:      Africa-Wide NiPAD Fish, and Fisheries Worldwide Water Resources Worldwide African HealthLine South African Studies www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

AJOL Contribution:

aggregates African academic research articles

 220+ African Academic journal titles ( and growing)  From 22 African countries  Fully Searchable  Free access to Tables of contents and abstracts  Some full text articles (and growing)  Journal information

Document delivery service

www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

2005 AJOL – moves to African management in association with NISC in South Africa

 AJOL now a not for profit company  Moved from INASP in Oxford UK to NISC in Grahamstown South Africa  Funded by international organisations, including Sida, Norad, DFiD  Now independent but working in association with NISC www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

Combined Mission of AJOL and NISC SA is: Worldwide Promotion of access to African research and the publication output of the Continent in the spirit of NEPAD.

www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

AJOL journal selection criteria

 Scholarly content, and original research  Peer reviewed and quality control  Ability to provide electronic format  Permission for AJOL to operate a document delivery service  Published on the African continent www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

Number of journals on AJOL

Number of Journals on AJOL

250 200 150 100 50 -

45 71 113 177 216

Jan 2001 Jan 2002 Jan 2003 Jan 2004 Jan 2005 www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

Registrations - geographical

Annual document delivery by region

2500

1976 2036

2000 2003 2004 1500 1000 500

662 478 783 391

0

315 414 51 32 97 87

www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

AJOL Priorities for the future user-related

       Addition of new journals online publication of full text (top priority) Website development to serve users’ needs Linking of article references and abstracts on database products and publisher websites to full text Counter compliant Usage statistics Development of a DVD version of AJOL for those with unreliable connectivity Variety of subscription models to serve both users and publishers needs www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

AJOL Priorities for the future journal-related:

 Addition of new journals in an ongoing fashion  online publication of full text (top priority)  Website development to serve publishers and editor’s needs  Sustainability through income generation  Promotion worldwide  Development of an Offline system for posting content via e-mail www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

NISC Database Aggregation  Related databases combined  Databases with varying sizes and aims  New databases added at any update  Users benefit from exposure to all databases  Combinations span geography and time  Links to full text No single database can be comprehensive www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

Database overlap and composite records

 Duplicate detection software  Builds composite records  Retains all unique contributions from each database in one record  Composite records are “value added” records www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

African HealthLine A Collection of Bibliographic Databases from Africa, the USA and Europe covering relevant African Health Issues

AIDS African Index Consortium Medicus Filariasis Bibliography WATERLIT SAMED ALNAP Community Health Information Database Composite Records HealthLink SA Periodicals NEXUS SA Theses Medicines InfoCentre      

Records Databases Updates Access 806 865 13 Period 1924 to Current Abstracts Yes quarterly CD, internet (Available on subscription )

MEDLINE

FREE with African HealthLine: AIDSearch online or CD-ROM

www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

Africa Wide NiPAD African Multi disciplinary Information: Social Science, History, Politics, Law, Economics, Development and More Others NOAK BIRD NELM Africa Institute IBISCUS NEXUS SANB African Studies, Leiden Media Africa. (Full text) Composit Records UCLA AJOL Campbell &



DonAfrican NAMLIT Bibliogr.

 

SARDIUS

  

Records Databases Period Abstract Updates 1,905,586 39 19 th Century to to Current Yes quarterly Access CD, internet (Available on subscription) SOAS Index to SA Periodicals NATCHA NIZA

www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

Bibliographic Databases embed the links,

full text is a click away Biologists - Click to species profiles on the web Contact author : by E-Mail, Snail mail Click directly to fulltext article Locate related Articles: lateral search Click to full text article On the web - pay by view Link to publisher’s Site e.g. AJOL Click to free internet sources Link to holding library Link to OPAC: •Locate print •Locate E-journals

Databases Workstation

E-Mail results to: •colleagues •librarian for Document delivery F www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

r o

NISC Features Include

     African research integrated with world resources Detailed indexing by subject specialists ensuring relevance for specialists Powerful user-friendly search engine with inbuilt intelligence offering superior retrieval Full text linking capability to electronic articles in E- journals from publishers and journal aggregators worldwide. Detailed usage statistics www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

NISC and AJOL combine to serve information needs

For more information visit our demonstration, request a trial Log on to www.ajol.info

& www.nisc.co.za

END www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za

www.ajol.info & www.nisc.co.za