Spotlight

Libraries promoting Access to Knowledge

Access to knowledge (A2K) is essential for the functioning of a healthy and democratic society. Without a well-informed citizenry, enlightened public discussion cannot take place on political, social, environmental or economic issues. Without widespread debate, the broad consensus upon which a healthy democracy is based cannot be achieved.

It is universally acknowledged that access to knowledge is fundamental to education and research and the creation of human capital upon which the development of societies depend. This is especially true in the information society where economic progress depends on having a literate and educated population.

Libraries and education are synonymous. A library has little meaning if it cannot impart knowledge. Good education cannot exist without access to quality information resources to support teaching, learning and research.

Libraries of all types therefore are an essential building block in the information society and the starting point from which citizens can have access to information on an equal basis and in a trusted and neutral setting.

This is why libraries are a key component in the burgeoning social movement that is A2K. Since 2004, the A2K umbrella has brought together groups from a diverse range of interests, such as consumer and disability organisations, the open source software community and public health activists, united by the desire for fair access to knowledge and knowledge-based goods, especially with regard to copyright laws and other legal instruments.

Academics have embraced the ideas and deepened the analysis, drawing comparisons with the beginnings of the environmental movement more than fifty years ago, when it was realised that the natural world was part of a fragile interconnected ecosystem that must be carefully maintained. Similarly, the balance afforded by copyright between rights of protection and access must be nurtured to safeguard the original purpose of copyright, which is to encourage learning.

Members of the international consortium, Electronic Information for Libraries (eiFL.net) are a natural ally in the A2K movement. With millions of users in over 2,000 libraries in 50 developing and transition countries, they know only too well the value of providing access to critical educational and training materials for the scholars and researchers, doctors and lawyers, students and teachers in their countries.

They recognise that ICTs offer libraries wonderful new ways of providing access to global resources and opportunities to develop new services. They see at first hand how the digital environment has the potential to transform access and use, especially for those disadvantaged by distance or economic circumstance.

Libraries in developing and transition countries are working hard to ensure that learning content is made available to the widest possible base as part of their focus in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and in contributing to the social and economic development of their countries.

Librarians support a vibrant public domain, fair and balanced copyright laws that take into account the stage of development of a country, transparency and participation in decision-making and openness to new models, such as open access and open source software.

“Access to Knowledge” means many things to many people. First, we asked librarians how to say “Access to Knowledge” in their own language. The variety of responses shows a rich diversity of language and culture, with the common purpose of making access to knowledge a reality for library users in developing and transition countries.

We hope you watching enjoy the video!

August 2008

Kyrgyzstan: promoting professional and personal development

The Kyrgyz Republic, known as “the Switzerland of Central Asia" due to the high mountains that cover most of the country, became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991 and is now a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 2007, its gross domestic product (GDP) was ranked at 139 out of 179 countries by the International Monetary Fund.

The Kyrgyzstan Library Information Consortium (KLIC) was formed in 2002 with the goal to develop the Kyrgyz “information space” in order to promote social, cultural, educational and scientific development, and to foster library integration into the global information community. “The consortium is about much more than providing access to electronic databases, although this is a core part of what we do”, said Sania Battalova, eIFL country coordinator. “We benefit from sharing experiences and learning about new ideas, such as open access and open source software, which contribute to our professional development.” “For example”, added Safia Rafikova, eIFL Open Access coordinator, “we are establishing the first open archive in central Asia that is OAI (Open Archives Initiative) compliant. The documents can be fully harvested, so that Kyrgyz content effectively belongs to one global collection, accessible to everyone. And, of course, foreign material is available to Kyrgyz researchers and scientists. Without eIFL, we wouldn’t have known about the importance of interoperability and its powerful potential for library users, when setting up our archive”.

Library users are at the heart of the consortium’s activities. We asked some local scientists and researchers to tell us about their experiences.

Tinatin Doolotkeldieva, Dean of Agriculture and Professor of Food Engineering

“I teach at the Food and Environmental Engineering Departments at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University in Bishkek. My research interests are environmental microbiology and biotechnology, food safety and biocontrol. It is invaluable to be able to search the online catalogue and scientific journals in the university library. I use several sources, including BioOne, DOAJ, EBSCO, Oxford Journals and SpringerLink, where I can get quick access to abstracts, tables, references and full-text articles in my subject areas. The Electronic System Service of our university has been a great support for me.”

“As a student, the research process was the most challenging for me academically. Online databases provided the best information and enabled me to deepen my knowledge and improve my studies”, said Aygul Hanova, graduate of the European Studies department at the American University of Asia.

Dr. Talant C. Zhumagaziev, Republican Center of Urology, National Hospital, Ministry of Public Health of the Kyrgyz Republic

“I sincerely thank KLIC for the opportunity to use electronic databases, an invaluable resource for my PhD dissertation on pre- and post-operative treatment of hyperplasia of prostate cystitis. The availability of medical research results facilitates debate amongst international colleagues, and has helped us in resolving medical problems in actual cases. I like to work in the central medical library where I have access to databases, and where specialist librarians can assist when I am searching for specific information”.

Dr. Saltanat Mambaeva, Head of Interpretation Department, KTU

“Access to electronic databases since 2004 has proved very convenient for our staff who can now conduct their research from their own offices. It’s been a great bonus, especially as here in Kyrgyzstan, we have little access to well-known libraries or up-to-date materials.”

July 2008

Bulgaria: keeping up with the web-savvy generation

Librarians around the world know one thing for sure: new technologies have had a great impact on the way that libraries work, as well on the types of services that libraries can provide to clients. Traditional job titles have changed beyond recognition. A librarian can be called a metadata specialist, a knowledge manager or a lifelong learning co-ordinator, or perhaps an information broker, digital services manager or cybrarian.

Libraries have long utilised technology for back-room operations, such as the purchase of bibliographic records in MARC format (MAchine-Readable Cataloging record) or for the streamlining of library functions e.g. book loans to patrons. The latest technologies are notable for facilitating new and improved front-end services. Features expected by web-savvy users of today such as federated searching, the "did you mean?" feature and RSS are fast becoming part of next-generation library catalogues.

“That’s why it is so critically important for librarians in Bulgaria to be at the leading edge”, said Nadya Terzieva, eIFL Country Co-ordinator for the Bulgarian Information Consortium (BIC). „We recognise that technologies are changing quickly, especially digital technologies, and that we must know about the latest database trends, preservation techniques and the mobile web in order to provide the best possible services to our users“.

Each year, BIC organises two popular events to keep track of developments and to provide a forum to share experiences. „Good Library Practice“ enables BIC members to exchange ideas on a core, contemporary theme. The first seminar of 2008 took place at the library of the Technical University Gabrovo on “Modern Technologies for Information Services”. Topics included RFID, Web 2.0, and statistical publications in digital formats. Previous seminar topics are modern library architecture, digital collections for education and research, and copyright and access in the digital world.

“Technology Days” are open to all librarians who want to learn about the latest library technologies, including automation systems, new publisher databases, technical products and services from local library suppliers. Usually attended by over sixty librarians, Technology Days have featured union catalogues, new applications of open source software and locally developed resolvers, and changing interactions with students.

A presentation in 2007 on social software by Toshka Borisova, Head of Access Services and Reference at the American University in Bulgaria, inspired BIC to recently start its own blog. Local librarians like the mix of practical information and news contained in the blog, such as announcements for library exhibitions and trial access to electronic journals, a library slide show and open access resources.

Touring cities throughout Bulgaria and attracting over 1,600 participants, the seminars have had a broad regional impact. A nice feature is that librarians who have attended international events, such as the eIFL General Assembly, pass on their knowledge to local librarians at the seminars.

“BIC actively seeks to popularise the use of electronic resources and to use new technologies to distribute knowledge and research results”, said Nadya Terzieva. “We have consciously adopted the model of resource and knowledge sharing to achieve this.” After only five years, BIC has established itself as the leader in technology and best practices for the library community in Bulgaria. The library community is stronger and services to users are improved – everyone is a winner!

About BIC

The Bulgarian Information Consortium (BIC) was founded in 2002, with encouragement and a start-up grant from eIFL.net, by enthusiastic library managers from the New Bulgarian University, American University, Technical University Sofia and the Academy of Economics in Svishtov. BIC funds its activities through membership fees from its 38 members, services to members and external clients and sponsorship. BIC is a legally registered, independent organisation with working groups for public relations and fund-raising, electronic resources and training, subscriptions and the website.

May 2008

Advocacy, accountability and transparency: library watchwords in Ghana

“Advocacy, accountability and transparency helped to put our library consortium on its feet, and continue to allow us to flourish”, says Helena Asamoah-Hassan, University Librarian at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a founding member of the Consortium of Academic Libraries in Ghana, known as CARLIGH.

The consortium is certainly flourishing. After only five years, CARLIGH has an impressive membership of eighteen leading libraries dotted all over the country from Accra to Winneba and to Tamale including all six public universities, eight private universities, two polytechnics and research institutes.

Advocacy began in 2003 with the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals (CVCP), the executive heads of the universities, whose role is to promote the development of universities in Ghana. The CVCP was appraised of the rapidly changing information environment and the increasing amount of material available to libraries, students and researchers in electronic formats. The library response to the electronic switchover was clearly set out; the benefits of pooling the limited resources of individual libraries, sharing subscription and training costs, negotiating with international vendors as a single entity to get a better deal for Ghana. Once sensitised to the issues, funding proposals set out the aims and objectives of the fledgling consortium, usage statistics for electronic resources and detailed costings. Convinced of the value of CARLIGH to improve the provision and delivery of information for education, the CVCP gave authorisation to seek financial assistance from the National Council for Tertiary Education and its Teaching and Learning Innovation Fund (TALIF), and so the story began. CARLIGH continues to reach out to faculty board members, lecturers and students through letter-writing campaigns, presentations and training sessions, especially popular with students.

Accountability and transparency have carried CARLIGH on to success. A strong governance structure was put in place to ensure that the consortium is accountable to its members, who sign a formal membership agreement. A member-approved Constitution came into force in 2004, an application for formal registration was lodged with the office of the Registrar-General and the Governing Board meets twice a year. There are two categories of membership. As single subject specialists, research libraries are affiliate members paying an annual membership fee of $250 and a flat rate of $1,000 for e-resources, whilst educational institutions are full members.

Financial accountability is paramount; the consortium’s two bank accounts (foreign and local) are with reputable banks and have three signatories, two of which are required for any transaction. A Strategic Plan, available on the consortium website, sets out the goals and objectives, sustainability and future plans.

Transparency is achieved through equality. The cooperative approach means that members have access to much more material than any single library could obtain on its own. Because resources are shared equally, it was agreed that costs are equally shared. The size of the institution does not count, because this does not necessarily reflect volumes of usage. This makes the payment calculation simple and clear; the annual invoice for e-resources is divided by the number of members in that year and the membership fee is a flat rate of $500 per annum for full members. In return, each member is an equal partner in the consortium with one vote.

What impact has CARLIGH had on access to electronic resources in Ghana? “Database usage is increasing”, according to Helena Asamoah-Hassan. “At my own university, over 18,000 full text articles from twenty different databases were accessed every month during the first nine months of 2007. At the end of the day, this is the reason why CARLIGH exists: to improve the quality of teaching, learning and research in Ghana”.

Through its advocacy targeted at strategic partners and the fostering of a strong culture of openness and equality, CARLIGH is ready to celebrate its fifth anniversary with a healthy future ahead.

March 2008

Moldova: focus on faculty, lessons for libraries

eIFL Direct Moldova is a consortium of sixteen major libraries spanning the Republic of Moldova. Independent since 1991, Moldova is one of fifteen countries of the former Soviet Union, and is now part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). With positive economic growth rates in the early 1990s, Moldova was hit hard by the regional financial crisis of 1998 and now struggles as one of the poorest countries in Europe.

The library community recognises its role in contributing to the social and economic development of the new state, assisted by the proud achievement of 99% literacy rates amongst its adult population. “Libraries have a part to play in improving education, teaching and research in Moldova”, says Silvia Ghinculov, Coordinator for eIFL Direct Moldova. “The new electronic resources, in particular, can dramatically improve inputs for our students and faculty staff, raising the quality and standard of outputs”.

There have been challenges along the way. Not unlike other countries, it took time for libraries to embrace the idea of pooling resources and sharing databases. Today, as even vendors insist on working with library cooperatives, the consortium model has taken off. eIFL Direct Moldova provides access to thousands of full-text journals in hundreds of subjects, satisfying the research needs of even the most prolific scientist.

Statistics showed that despite the increase in available resources, database usage in some university libraries was decreasing. Closer examination revealed one of the prime factors: the great influence of academic staff on the choice of resources used by students, for example, through subject reading lists. It was decided to address the “generation gap” and to encourage greater use of e-resources amongst a group whose tradition in searching lay largely in print materials and for whom English is a barrier.

The focus on faculty had a three pronged approach: to launch a promotion drive to support academic research and writing using e-resources, to add new resources in response to user needs and to convince the university administration of the importance of electronic resources for modern teaching and research.

Subject-based training sessions were attended by more than 800 academics from the Academy of Economic Studies, the Academy of Science and Moldova State University, across a wide range of disciplines from business administration to the physical sciences. Library staff provided journal lists for each subject area and taught basic search techniques, wrote about the databases in academic reviews and analysed citations used by professors and doctoral students. Lecturers soon realised that there was a wealth of current information to help with everyday teaching, such as case studies, statistics and company data, as well as quality research articles.

The close contact with faculty also revealed some lessons for libraries. Leaflets and other promotional material were improved in response to feedback. A dedicated computer room was established in most consortium libraries. “We listened to faculty and took some small, practical steps to improve the experience of staff and students working with e-resources. We will continue to monitor take-up and usage and will adapt to meet the needs as they change”, said Silvia Ghinculov.

Advocacy for e-resources to senior university administration is on-going. One of the first hurdles is to explain the difference between printed books and journals and the intangible resources contained in databases, where the “product” is not visible. This can have beneficial effects, however. A library, instructed to slash its print journal subscriptions due to cost, discovered that many of the titles were available electronically through the consortium. The result: one happy vice-chancellor and a new champion of e-resources!

The next step is to advocate to government for better support for e-resources and the development of library consortia, a proven model for success and sustainability, as an important component in building the information society, encouraging effective economic development and contributing to reform in the economy, education and in the field of science.

January 2008

Libraries supporting economic development: access to international journals aids Serbian research

Innovation and technological progress have replaced production and other traditional growth factors in modern day economies contributing as much as 50% to a country’s economic development, according to the European Commission. A 2005 UNESCO report on science, technology and economic development in south-eastern Europe reached a clear conclusion: investment in scientific and technical knowledge is critical to the region emerging from a decade of transition, disintegration and conflict. Decision-makers in this corner of Europe must take urgent steps to ensure that science, technology and research re-gain a leading role in national development strategies, integrating the new nations of the western Balkans into the international knowledge-based society.

Serbia is making great progress towards achieving this goal. Two simple indicators can be used to measure the presence of a country in world science. The first is to calculate the number of scientists who have had their research findings published in international peer-reviewed journals. Between 2001 and 2006, Serbian authors included in ISI Web of Science, which contains over 8,000 high impact journals, doubled. The second is the number of national journals selected for indexing by international journal aggregators. Between 2002 and 2007, the number of indexed Serbian journals rose from four to six titles spanning biology, chemistry, materials engineering and veterinary science.

The driving force behind this remarkable development is the Serbian Library Consortium for Coordinated Acquisition, known as KoBSON. As a result, the world benefits from unique research undertaken by Serbian scientists, while at the same time national standards improve with the application of qualitative and quantitative norms, such as better citation data and high quality editorial content.

The work of KoBSON supports a key finding of a UNESCO study (2006) on the use of scientific information in south eastern Europe: access to specialised international literature is essential to revitalise scientific infrastructure and to ensure that universities in the region can compete and attract academics from other countries to collaborate in joint research projects. With over 130 members in faculty, research and university libraries throughout Serbia, KoBSON provides access to approximately 30,000 full-text journals across all disciplines, including a sizable number of open access titles.

“We recognised that before scientists and researchers can publish in prestigious international journals, they must have access”, says Biljana Kosanovic, National Library of Serbia and country co-ordinator for eIFL.net. “So we concentrated our efforts on promoting our resources directly to the end-users. We have made presentations to scientists in every member institution in Serbia. We monitor Serbian-authored articles in international journals and link to the KoBSON website. This raises awareness of the resources in Serbia, and it creates a healthy and vibrant research community with national visibility for their work”. The statistics back this up, as article downloads increase by an average 100,000 year on year.

The role of KoBSON in promoting Serbian science, both nationally and internationally, is recognised by the Ministry of Science who commissioned the library consortium to undertake an independent impact assessment of local scientific publications to modernise Serbian research output. “There is a strong link between science and technology and economic development”, said Kosanovic. “Our figures show the correlation between the availability of current scientific journals and the international presence of Serbian research. This creates a new role for librarians as educators and facilitators, one which we in Serbia are embracing!"

September 2007

Thriving, not just surviving: how the library consortium transformed services in Azerbaijan

With access to up-to-date material, scholars and researchers in Azerbaijan can produce top quality results. Using resources licensed through the consortium, Fariz Ahmedov, Assistant to the Dean, Khazar University School of Economics and Management, was able to prepare a presentation for the high level international conference on Azerbaijan's WTO membership “International Trade, Standards and World Trade Organization (WTO): current situation, problems and prospects”, Baku, April 2007

In 2001, more than ten years after gaining its independence from the former Soviet Union, libraries in Azerbaijan still did not have access to the wealth of electronic information and databases that it knew was available to libraries in other countries.

A short experiment with an international hosting gateway for electronic journals served only to reveal the obstacles facing librarians wishing to introduce modern information services to Azerbaijan, a new republic nestled in the Caucasus, at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The vision of instant access to thousands of journals was soon tempered by the reality of technical, financial and legal issues, too complex to be resolved by the lone Library Information Centre of the fledgling Khazar University.

Yet within a few more years, students and staff at Khazar University (which means Caspian University), now have access to over 10,000 full-text journals, databases, online indexing, inter-library and digitised abstracting services which have revolutionised information provision at the University.

How was this achieved? In two simple ways. eIFL.net support for the creation of library consortia in member countries provided an impetus for forward thinkers in the library community in Azerbaijan, who decided that they would not let the opportunities provided by new technologies pass by.

In December 2003, Khazar University, together with Baku State University and Azerbaijan Medical University founded the Azerbaijan Library and Information Consortium, known as AzLIC. Today, the consortium has grown to thirteen members, including major libraries, academic institutions and international NGOs. In addition to electronic resources, AzLIC provides training and consultation, has become a national leader advocating for new information models, such as Open Access, and has built regional and international partnerships.

“Library services have been transformed in a very short time. Without working together as a consortium, none of this would have been possible”, said Lala Hajibayova, eIFL country coordinator. “Ten years ago, libraries in Azerbaijan relied on print material to meet the requirements of our researchers”, agreed Tatyana Zaytceva from Khazar University. “When we placed an order for a journal, it could take up to three months for the first issue to arrive. Nowadays, this would be unacceptable. This shows how much our expectations have been raised”.

Support from eIFL.net

Throughout this time, eIFL.net has been on hand to lend a hand. eIFL-negotiated licences with highly discounted prices and the fairest licence terms available on the market enable AzLIC to take charge of the business of selecting, managing and funding its own resources. eIFL.net training in consortium building has provided AzLIC with the knowledge and skills to make their consortium a success. “AzLIC is a support entity for librarians”, said Lala Hajibayova. “We can share concerns and solve problems together. We have gained a reputation as experts and are consulted on negotiations with vendors and legal contractual issues”.

In fact, the consortium meets nearly every second week to discuss its ongoing programme to members. Through the US funded American Centers and the Regional Library Development Program, AzLIC serves 15 regional public libraries in Ganja, Lankaran, Ali Bayramli and other cities. By the end of 2007, it will cover 20 regional libraries across the country.

eIFL.net encourages cooperation amongst its members for strength and sustainability. AzLIC has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Georgian Integrated Library Consortium and has visited the Lithuanian Research Library Consortium. There are international partnerships too, for example, with the American Library Association and the European funded CALIMERA project. Two AzLIC members have participated in Project Gutenberg to digitise Latin-script Azerbaijan public domain literature. Clearly, AzLIC is thriving in its role as a leader of electronic information services in Azerbaijan.

June 2007

Librarians spearhead the information superhighway

"As our library stocks diminish due to scarce financial resources it is good to know that, for two years now, our academic and research staff have had reliable Internet access through the MALICO VSATs. This has enabled electronic access to the best world literature, keeping our teaching materials and research current. The facility also enables students to explore information beyond the lecture room and helps university managers to follow international trends in higher education." Prof. Zimani D. Kadzamira Vice-Chancellor, University of Malawi

Library consortia are key stakeholders in national ICT infrastructure. Librarians are the link between users, technology and content with expertise managing distributed access to huge volumes of high-value electronic resources.

Bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun and surrounded by the picturesque plateau of Zomba in southern Malawi, a unique partnership led by librarians, which has transformed connectivity for the academic, research and development community in Malawi, came to fruition. High speed Internet access spanning the whole country became a reality as bandwidth doubled overnight, (then quadrupled on two sites), enabling a host of new services for libraries, students and researchers.

Like other developing countries, Malawi benefits from initiatives to bring top quality electronic resources, such as those licensed through eIFL.net, to the region. It was estimated at the time that Malawi had access to over three million US dollars worth of online electronic content. However, poor connectivity, mostly through dial-up modems, greatly hampered its use. Downloading journal articles was painfully slow and important functionality, such as full-text search facilities, was impossible. Librarians and users expressed their frustration. “It was like looking through a window, but being unable to enjoy the view”, said Margaret Ngwira, College Librarian of Kamuzu College of Nursing.

The Malawi Library and Information Consortium (MALICO) decided to act, with support from eIFL.net. The result was a major national infrastructure project spearheaded by librarians. Multiple stakeholders were persuaded of the value; funding agencies, technology companies, government procurement bodies, university vice-chancellors, national communications regulators, policy makers and politicians. The decision of the Malawi Revenue Authority to waive the import duty on the VSATS and the agreement by the Malawi Communications and Regulatory Authority to slash the licence fees by 95%, in recognition of the significance of the project for academic and research work in Malawi, was an encouraging early start.

With coverage on national TV, the Deputy Minister of Information and Tourism launched the VSAT network comprising 3.7 metre satellite dishes installed at four sites of the two major universities, University of Malawi and Mzuzu University. The VSATs now deliver bandwidth to the majority of higher education sites in the country and access is being extended to the development sector.

“The benefits have been enormous”, said Professor JJ Uta, Chair of MALICO and Mzuzu University Librarian. “I can’t begin to say the number of areas for which it has been a catalyst”. Academics have better knowledge of digital resources because they have access from their desks, leading to improved research output. Statistics show that journal article downloads have more than doubled since the installation of the VSATs. MAREN, the Malawi Research and Education Network, part of the UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education Networking, has been established and is being “incubated” by MALICO. Through MAREN, a virtual campus for health education has been created linking the institutions in a fibre loop in Blantyre in the south. It is planned to link the capital, Lilongwe, providing crucial assistance in attaining health-related Millennium Development Goals including HIV/AIDS, gender and poverty alleviation. Discussion of new services has been enabled, such as the creation of open access institutional repositories, curriculum development and distance learning courses to reach rural areas and better institutional websites.

“I knew that the library had access to many electronic journals, but online access was so slow that in practice, I couldn’t make use of them. Now I can search quickly and easily for the latest articles. It is really helping me in my studies to become a medical doctor”, said Wanangwa Chisenga, a fourth year student at Malawi College of Medicine.

MALICO
The Malawi Library and Information Consortium (MALICO) provided the lead in this pioneering activity to introduce VSATs (Very Small Aperture Terminal, a satellite ground station with a dish antenna) to Malawi benefiting the higher education community throughout the country. MALICO licenses electronic resources, offers leadership for library cooperation, training and development, mechanisms for improved access to information and a capacity for members to respond to the information needs of Malawi.

April 2007

Open Source Software brings a new lease of life to libraries in Palestine

A few old computers, some freely available Open Source Software (OSS) and a little knowledge was all that it took to create a high-speed network that pleased staff and astonished students at Yusuf Ahmed Al-Ghanim Library, the Main Library at Birzeit University in Palestine’s West Bank.

On returning home from a workshop on Open Source Software for libraries during the eIFL.net General Assembly in Vilnius in October 2005, Library Director Diana Sayej-Naser was inspired to approach the university’s electrical engineering department who were running a project on OSS. Within a couple of months, the library had transformed their old computers into a new high-speed network with access to the Internet, online databases, the library catalogue and Ritaj, the university’s academic web portal.

“The library terminals are always in high demand, so the students were delighted to have ten more computers available. At first it was hard to convince them to work with Pentium 1 and 2 computers which date back to 1993, because they expected them to be slow and unworkable”, said Diana Sayej-Naser. However, the reaction of Nizar Khalil was typical, “I found no difference between this Pentium 2 and the Pentium 4 computer located in the main hall of the library. The speed is great! What have you done with them to become that fast?”, said the fourth year arts student.

The answer is simple according to Dr. Wasel Ghanem, head of the Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering department, “We switched to Open Source Software. All the computers run Linux and the memory was upgraded. One Pentium 4 acts as a server to the ten older computers which operate as thin clients. Now they perform just as well as the new computers running proprietary software”.

Dr. Ghanem believes that OSS offers great potential especially for developing countries. “Up until now, ICT in Palestine has largely focused on proprietary solutions, mainly Microsoft. The typical lifetime of a PC computer network in a school is three years, after which new versions of operating systems and applications become necessary. This is expensive and has hampered large scale deployment of computer infrastructure in Palestine. OSS can provide significant cost savings, especially in the education sector. Hardware costs can be reduced by as much as 65% and licensing fees are eliminated”.

But for Dr. Ghanem it is not just about cost, it is also about quality. “OSS is flexible and sometimes superior to propriety solutions. Most importantly, it stimulates local innovation and transfer of knowledge by providing Palestinian software developers with the opportunity to contribute to the global OSS community, as well as OSS systems and applications”.

Birzeit University

Birzeit University, situated just outside the town of Bir Zeit near Ramallah, was the first Arab university to be established in Palestine and is widely considered the foremost third-level educational establishment in the Palestinian territories. The OSS project at Birzeit University focuses on the ICT infrastructure required to support large scale deployment and applications of technology in education. It uses Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP), an add-on package for Linux that allows lots of low-powered thin client terminals to connect to a Linux server. As well as the Main Library at the university, the system has been tested in Abu-Shkkaidem and Al-Saweyya schools and is now being implemented in Al-Bierheh, Al-Hashemeyya and Al-Ameer, the three biggest secondary schools in Ramallah.

eIFL.net and Open Source Software

eIFL.net supports alternative models for libraries in transition and developing countries. Proprietary library software applications are often purchased through one-time donor grants. This means that eIFL.net libraries sometimes cannot afford licence and maintenance fees and the systems become obsolete. eIFL.net provides advice on software solutions that are sustainable for libraries in transition and developing countries, that enable eIFL.net members to create their own digital libraries and that ensure that their resources are visible in a networked world.

August 2006

Not looking back: the experience of an advantaged user in Lesotho

Pulane Lefoka is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Education, National University of Lesotho which is a small, landlocked kingdom surrounded entirely by South Africa. Ranked by the UN amongst the poorest countries in the world and with one of the highest rates of HIV-Aids infection, academics in Lesotho know the value of education in alleviating poverty and improving life chances.

The mission of Lesotho’s Institute of Education is to promote educational development through research, in-service teacher training and curriculum guidance. Staff provide a range of high quality services to Lesotho’s Ministry of Education and collaborate in international research projects.

Pulane Lefoka’s expertise in areas such as tertiary and non-formal education, primary school teacher training and the impact of ICTs in African villages has earned her widespread respect over the last fifteen years. As an academic author and a keynote conference speaker, Ms Lefoka’s research has been cited by UNESCO, the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development.

Underpinning scholarly research everywhere is access to quality information resources such as reference tools, reliable data and up-to-date peer-reviewed literature. The research community is global and the ability to produce top results requires access to the latest global research. Nowadays most resources are electronic and can be delivered directly to the researcher’s desktop in Luxembourg, Latvia or Lesotho through their institution’s library.

“I was introduced to the ERIC database (Educational Resources Information Center) around 1994”, said Pulane Lefoka. “I found the exercise difficult and I felt more comfortable using hard copies which could be found in the library, borrowed and used at leisure in the comfort of one’s office. However, I soon came to realise that the comfort zone did not have the latest publications. In contrast, the database contained research published within the previous month. I had to try online resources”.

And so Pulane Lefoka began her journey into the online world and hasn’t looked back since. “The advantages of using eIFL.net licensed resources are numerous. The idea of having only hardcopy resources seems a world away, as I now have access to much more up-to-date information. Searching for material is more convenient, for example, I no longer have the problem that I go to the library shelf and find that the book is already out on loan”.

“Additionally, researchers can choose from a large pool of recent publications at their own convenience and in their own offices. Thus, the library has in fact moved to where the researchers are; to access information, it really does not matter whether one is working from one’s own desk or from the library”.

“The fact is”, continued Pulane Lefoka, “the sky is the limit with electronic formats for as long as one has access. I would like to commend the systems librarians who have trained and empowered us researchers. I now regard myself, not only as empowered, but also as an advantaged user!”.

Lesotho Library Consortium

The National University of Lesotho was a founding member of the Lesotho Library Consortium, known as LELICO. Member libraries are dedicated to sharing costs and resources especially for electronic information, interlibrary document delivery and collection development. With financial and technical assistance from eIFL.net, membership of LELICO has grown to twelve libraries in the government, business, education and NGO sectors. Users benefit from affordable access to approx. 8,000 journals and reference works through eIFL.net licences, therefore advancing the research, learning and development of civil society and communities in Lesotho.

August 2006