INASP Review and Highlights 2003

 

Enabling Worldwide Access to Information and Knowledge

 

This report is also available to view as a PDF

 

Contents

Summary

Disseminating national research

Networking health information workers

Accessing research information

Supporting local publishing

Training in ICTs

Exchanging rural information

Revitalising African libraries

Evaluating INASP activities

Publications in 2003

Organisation and governance

 

Summary

 

The International Council for Science (ICSU) established INASP in 1992 to help ‘improve worldwide access to scientific information’. Today, INASP works with partners to address the information, networking and publishing needs of researchers, scholars, scientists, librarians, publishers, health professionals and rural development practitioners. INASP has scientific information as its primary focus. It also has a development orientation, working with developing countries as well as those ‘in transition’. INASP has a strong interest in sectors like health, education, and rural development where research information contributes to broader social and economic goals. As a networking organisation, it is frequently approached for advice and sharing of experiences by partners, development agencies and funders. This document introduces INASP work in 2003. More information on each activity can be obtained by contacting us at the address on the final page.

 

Disseminating national research

 

The visibility and accessibility of African research results was supported in 2003 through African Journals OnLine (AJOL) which now indexes the contents of 178 peer-reviewed journals from Africa (an increase of 65 titles during the year), and provides access to full text articles through document delivery. These journals have been actively promoted – particularly to all the countries involved within the Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERI) – and over 300 journal subscriptions have been sponsored by INASP. More than 600 document delivery requests were fulfilled during the year, and 3877 people registered to use the service during the year (with almost 2000 from Africa). The service is in the process of being updated and moved onto a more sophisticated database. This will enable greater access to African published research through improved functionality and increased linkage with other Internet sites.

 

In other regions, INASP assisted in the planning of similar online services. Within the Caribbean, INASP supported CARINDEX: initiated and managed by the University of the West Indies, it was launched on the INASP web site in 2003 with approximately 70 journals included. Discussions have also taken place with interested parties in Nepal and in Sri Lanka.

 

More information: www.inasp.info/peri/jourpub.html

Contact Pippa Smart: psmart@inasp.info

 

 

Networking health information workers

 

INASP Health was launched in 1996 to promote increased access to information for healthcare providers and researchers in developing and emerging countries. It operates through a networking approach centred around the provision of advisory and brokerage services, facilitation of regular meetings of the UK-based health information forum, moderation of the HIF-net at WHO email discussion list, maintenance of a health links gateway and publication of the INASP Health Directory of health information development activities. The Programme also supports efforts to strengthen local health information networking, especially in Africa.

 

During the year, approximately 550 information queries were answered; six health information forum meetings were held in London, attracting around 50 participants to each; and subscribers to the HIF-net discussion list grew by 39% reaching 1301. Some 56% of subscribers are from developing regions. Of the 580 messages sent on the list, about one half related to specific discussion threads, including: the brain drain, continuing medical education, impact of information on healthcare, support for medical libraries in developing countries, and access to information for nurses and midwives. The INASP Health Directory and Links 2003/2004 was published online, in print and on CD-ROM.

 

More information: www.inasp.info/health/

Contact Neil Pakenham-Walsh: health@inasp.info

 

 

Accessing research information

 

In 2003, INASP provided support for 19 countries to gain access to international scientific information in databases and full text. With the support of multiple funders (and through two main projects, the Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERI), and the INTAS e-Library Action), INASP negotiated discounted country-wide licences with commercial publishers and liaised with each country to identify the resources required, and to ensure local promotion and use of the content. In the interests of sustainability, local organisations started to combine forces to agree priorities together and began to mobilise the funds needed to pay for access in future years.

 

By the end of the year, INASP had secured reduced prices and country-wide licences for over 11,000 full text journals from 18 publishers, at a discounted rate of around 97.5% of the full price. Statistics from 9 of the main content providers show that researchers in the 19 countries together carried out 205,000 searches and downloaded about 165,000 full text articles. There is of course much variability among the countries, with some countries recording less than 100 full text downloads and others upwards of 30,000.

 

More information: www.inasp.info/peri/electronic.html

Contact Sarah Durrant: sdurrant@inasp.info

 

 

Supporting local publishing

 

Closely linked to the promotion of national and regional published research, INASP has provided support to local publishers (mostly journals) through activities including hosting a study tour in the UK for a Kenyan production editor, providing support for several journals to be included on indexing services and providing six workshops for journal editors and authors in Kenya (2), Nigeria, Chile, Georgia and Nepal. INASP has also provided support for six African titles to publish full text on the internet using international publishing platforms, and for two of them to be included in a sales package which will provide financial support. INASP has also worked with the Association of Learned, Professional and Society Publishers (ALPSP) to facilitate partnerships between 16 African journals with European or American journals.

 

During 2003, INASP also started preparation of two new books: A Practical Guide to Bookselling (supported by CTA) and The African Handbook for Scholarly Publishing (to be published jointly with the African Books Collective). These will be published in early 2004.

 

More information: www.inasp.info/psi/

Contact Pippa Smart: psmart@inasp.info

 

 

Training in ICTs

 

A major feature of INASP support to the research community, and to the information professionals that support it, is training in various ICT-related subjects. During the year, 539 people from 19 countries participated in 37 workshops, 2 of which were part of the Carnegie (CCNY) supported public libraries project. The remainder were from the PERI, EC-INCO and INTAS programmes. Some features of this training include:

 

The travelling workshop methodology is used to design and deliver workshops. The key successes of the methodology have been:

 

More information: www.inasp.info/training/

Contact Martin Belcher: mbelcher@inasp.info

 

 

Exchanging rural information

 

As in the health sector, INASP promotes and facilitates information exchange among people and organisations working in agriculture and rural development. The main activities have been compilation of a directory of organisations working in these areas as well as a related set on Internet links and resources. During 2003, the latest directory was published in print and on CD-ROM.

 

In August-September 2003, INASP staff moderated an electronic discussion for CTA around the topic: ICTs – transforming agricultural extension? The results were input to a CTA meeting on this topic.

 

More information: www.inasp.info/south/

Contact Pru Watts-Russell: pwr@inasp.info

 

 

Revitalising African libraries

 

Recognising the important role that libraries can play in facilitating access to information, INASP has supported professional development and networking activities for librarians in Africa. Support for regional professional associations of university librarians began in 1999 with funding from the Government of Denmark. INASP also collaborates with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) to support university libraries.

 

A programme to support the revitalisation of African public libraries began in 2000 with funds from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY).

 

Regional associations of university libraries in Western Africa (SCAULWA) and in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa (SCANUL-ECS) received support to hold annual meetings, publish their newsletters, research policy issues and to publish case studies. In this final year of the current funding, the programme supported one regional meeting, four issues of the newsletters, three research case studies, and the publication of one book.

 

Also in its final year of funding, the CCNY-supported public library programme supported capacity building, research and training; assistance to regional and national professional associations; and the dissemination of information.

 

In 2003, capacity-strengthening efforts concentrated on the use of ICTs, support for lobbying, advocacy, and reader development. Two ‘using the Internet’ training workshops were organised with the national library services in Botswana and Kenya and one workshop on ‘advocacy and leverage’ was held in Kenya. A study surveying ICT use in public libraries in 10 African countries was drafted and two books were published: one documenting income-generating initiatives in public libraries in five African countries, and one on reader development and reading promotion in Africa. A workshop on the latter topic was held as part of a West Africa Library Association conference.

 

During the year, INASP worked intensively with national library associations in seven African countries to support the publication of association newsletters, and 15 issues were published. Three continuing education workshops on subjects like reader promotion, marketing and use of the Internet were also supported in Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

 

More information: www.inasp.info/lsp/

Contact Diana Rosenberg: drosenberg@inasp.info

 

 

Evaluating INASP activities

 

In 2003, two evaluations of INASP activities were carried out.

 

The first was an internal evaluation of the AJOL project, covering the years 2000-2002. The evaluation aimed to discover the project’s overall impact and how the service might be improved. Data collected show that AJOL is helping research published in African journals to become more widely known and used. Web hits soared and registered users grew between 100 and 200 each month, reaching just under 4,850 at the end of 2002. Journal editors greatly appreciated the impact of AJOL on their journals, saying that inclusion gave a journal respectability and credibility, as well as international visibility. Significant positive impacts on journal quality were also indicated with many editors reporting a growth in article submissions – particularly international submissions. However, an increase in income from additional subscriptions (apart from those sponsored by INASP) was not observed. Users valued the service, and made suggestions for improvement.

 

The second was an external evaluation of INASP Health. The aim was to identify its strengths and weaknesses and to recommend future directions and activities. Containing numerous suggestions and feedback on individual activities, the report endorsed the work of the Programme. The team suggested that more attention be given to the strategy of INASP Health, particularly its governance, expanding resources, and greater involvement by stakeholders in decision-making and the setting of priorities.

 

 

Publications in 2003

 

More information: http://www.inasp.info/pubs/

 

 

Organisation and governance

 

A major institutional development during 2003 was that INASP needed to be established as a fully independent legal entity, separate from ICSU, as a result of French auditing requirements. Initial steps were taken to register INASP as a company limited by guarantee and to seek registration as a charity in the United Kingdom. These actions will be completed in 2004.

 

The INASP International Advisory Board met once to review the emerging governance structure and to discuss strategies. Professor N. Mukunda of the Indian Academy of Sciences took over as chair of the Board from Mr Kai-Inge Hillerud from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

 

The staff continued to grow to satisfy demands. During the year, INASP said farewell to Colin Hatherall on his retirement and also to Cliff Benoni, and welcomed four new staff members: Peter Ballantyne, Sioux Cumming, Chris Follett and Blanca Gonzalez. Partly linked to the growth in staff, but also for efficiency reasons, INASP moved to a new office in the centre of Oxford.

 

INASP is grateful to the following organisations that provided funds for INASP activities in 2003: