The problems of tertiary publishing in Africa and implications for the training and education of library and information professionals (original) (raw)
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The International Information & Library Review, 1999
Trainees in the library and information profession in Africa depend on textbooks that are written for an environment other than Africa because of the dearth of textbooks suited to the local environment. There are very few books that attempt to focus on Africa and none of these books can really be used as a basic text for teaching. This has greatly a¡ected the training of library and information professionals in Africa as the trainees are exposed to the situations in Europe, America and Asia which are generally not relevant to the African environment. Several factors have been identi¢ed as responsible for the lack of African library and information science textbooks, including the relatively young age of the profession resulting in a low number of professionals in Africa that have the required expertise to write textbooks. The attitude of publishers to tertiary textbooks is another limiting factor, as they are not likely to make a pro¢t given the small number of trainees in the continent. In short, publishers regard such a venture as non-pro¢table because of the limited market. Another problem is the lack of interest on the part of professional associations in the continent to promote the writing of textbooks. In order to ameliorate these problems, it is recommended that professionals in the continent should participate in team authorship, by drawing from a pool of expertise, with a view to writing relevant textbooks. Also, there is a need for professional associations and the relevant international agencies to promote the publishing of textbooks. Finally, there is a need for retired
Publishing in Africa: Where Are We Now? An Update for 2019
Logos. Journal of the World Publishing Community, 2019
This article is a sequel, and update, to a two-part article published in Logos. Journal of the World Publishing Community in 2008/09, which analysed the state of the book industries in sub-Saharan Africa thirty-five years after the major conference on ‘Publishing & Book Development in Africa’ that was held at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, in 1973. This update seeks to provide a broad round-up of the current situation of the book industry in Africa today (primarily that in English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa), together with a brief review of the work and activities of the various organizations and associations that have been supportive of African publishing over the years. Part One examines the persistent failure of African governments to support their book industries in a tangible and positive fashion, and their lack of support of public libraries. I review the current status of book development councils in Africa, and the unsatisfactory progress that has been made in establishing national book policies; examine the challenges of generating book industry data; and look at the opportunities now available to African publishers by the new digital environment. In Part Two I offer a number of reflections and recommendations on the way forward, particularly as it relates to capacity and skills building, training for book industry personnel, strengthening book professional associations, South-South linkages and knowledge sharing, encouraging international collaboration, the need for ongoing research and documentation, as well as issues as they relate to African books in the global market place, and the important but neglected area of publishing in African indigenous languages.
Publishing and the Book Sector in Africa Today: A Synopsis
The African Book Publishing Record, 2023
This synopsis seeks to provide a round-up of the current situation of the publishing industry and the book sector in Africa today (primarily that in English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa). It reports on current trends and topics, together with a brief review of the work and activities of the various organizations and agencies that have been supportive of the African book industries in recent years, the high-level conferences and meetings devoted to African publishing that have been held over the past five years, and the success – or otherwise – of their subsequent follow-up action plans and activities. A measure of progress has been achieved, but numerous challenges remain, some of which have persisted for decades despite several assistance programmes, and various attempts at getting book industry players to work together. Publishers’ associations in Africa are still weak for the most part and are in need of a higher profile. They will want to become more proactive, more visible in shaping policies and identifying needs. Publishers and book trade associations should be driving research, get involved in data gathering, and developing a comprehensive range of training programmes for the African book professions. Meantime tangible government support for the book industries and libraries is still largely absent. Many national book development councils, where they existed in Africa a few years ago, are now dormant or, starved of funds over a long period, have been compelled to cease activities and close down.
African Book Industry Data & the State of African National Bibliographies
The African Book Publishing Record, 2018
No less than three international meetings on publishing in Africa have taken place recently, which have been followed with detailed action plans. Among many other recommendations, calls for action to find solutions to perennial problems, as well as discussions focusing on sectorial innovation and revitalization of the African book industries, participants in all three meetings were strongly urged to start collecting and disseminating book industry data. It is true that reliable figures of book publishing output for the continent of Africa do not exist at the present time, with the exception of a very small number of countries, notably South Africa and Morocco. Meantime the state of African national bibliographies, which can form the groundwork of book industry data, presents a picture of neglect for the most part, with many national bibliographies seriously in arrears, currently dormant, or having ceased publication altogether. Only a small number are accessible in digital formats. Book publishing data and book production statistics are important elements in measuring the growth and vitality of indigenous publishing in any part of the world. In the absence of such data for most of the African continent, there is a need for research, analysis, documentation, and systematic gathering of current, reliable data and statistics on the whole book sector in Africa. However, there are huge challenges and complexities in the goal of collecting data for book industry surveys, which must not be underestimated. Many questions will need to be asked: for example, how is data going to be collected and analysed; what will be the parameters; and what are going to be the sources and the methods? Who should be responsible for undertaking the research and the compilation of such book industry data; and, crucially, who is going to fund the research and the data gathering process on a systematic and ongoing basis? Collecting book industry data is closely interrelated with the publication of national bibliographies and, in addition to examining the issues and challenges relating to the creation of book industry statistics, this paper also provides an analysis of the current state of national bibliographies in Africa, as well as linked matters such as legal deposit legislation, and compliance of legal deposit. Most national libraries and bibliographic agencies in Africa continue to operate under severe constraints, and have been chronically underfunded by their governments for the past four decades or more. An analysis of the current status of African national bibliographies sadly presents a dismal picture. It is unlikely that reliable data for the African book industries can be collected and published without the input and full cooperation of national libraries or bibliographic agencies. There is equally an urgent need for much more active collaboration and interaction between the agencies producing national bibliographies with publishers and book trade associations in each African country. Any attempts to revive the fortunes of African national libraries, and the resumption of publication of high quality and timely national bibliographies, will amount to a formidable task. This paper offers a range of suggestions and recommendations how the situation might be addressed and improved, but also points out that regular compilation of a national bibliography, and effective maintenance of legal deposit, necessitates adequate staff in terms of both numbers and expertise, which is not the case at this time.
Publishing & the Book in Africa - A Literature Review for 2015
2016
A review of select new literature in English that has appeared on the topic of publishing and book development in Africa published during the course of 2015. It covers books, papers in edited collections, journal articles, Internet documents and reports, interviews, as well as a number of blog postings. Records are grouped under a range of regional/country and topic-specific headings.
Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2017
The African Book Publishing Record, 2018
The third in a series of annual reviews of select new literature in English that has appeared on the topic of publishing and the book sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Extensively annotated and/or with abstracts, the present list brings together new literature published during the course of 2017, a total of 157 records. The literature review covers books, chapters in books and edited collections, journal articles, Internet documents and reports, theses and dissertations, interviews, audio/video recordings and podcasts, as well as a number of blog postings. Records are grouped under a range of regional/country and topic-specific headings.
Publishing & the Book in Africa: A Literature Review for 2016
2017
This is the second in a series of annual reviews of select new literature in English that has appeared on the topic of publishing and book development in sub-Saharan Africa. Extensively annotated and/or with abstracts, the present list brings together new literature published during the course of 2016, a total of 164 items. The literature review covers books, chapters in books and edited collections, journal articles, Internet documents and reports, theses and dissertations, interviews, audio/video recordings and podcasts, as well as a number of blog postings, Records are grouped under a range of regional/country and topic-specific headings.
Publishing & the Book in Africa - A Literature Review for 2018
The African Book Publishing Record, 2019
This is the fourth in a series of annual reviews of select new literature in English that has appeared on the topic of publishing and the book sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Extensively annotated and/or with abstracts, the present list brings together new literature published during the course of 2018, a total of 114 records. Records are grouped under a range of regional/country and topic-specific headings. The literature review covers books, chapters in books and edited collections, journal articles, Internet documents and reports, theses and dissertations, interviews, audio/video recordings, podcasts, as well as a number of blog postings. Starting with the 2018 edition it now also includes a ‘Guest essay’ feature preceding the literature survey. The first contribution is Richard Crabbe’s ‘Revitalizing the Book Chain for National and International Cooperation’, his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 16th Ghana International Book Fair on 30 August 2018, an eloquent and timely address, and which at the same time offers a succinct summing-up of the state of publishing and the book sector in Africa today.
How Many Books are Published in Africa? The Need for More Reliable Statistics
The African Book Publishing Record 39, no. 4 (2013):397-406., 2013
This article calls for more reliable statistical information about African book publishing output. In much of the literature on publishing in Africa numerous writers of articles and reports on the state of the book sector in Africa have raised the issue of Africa’s total book production, comparing it with that of the rest of the world. Almost always they have cited the figure to be between 2-3% of the world’s publishing output. This is the figure that has been cited perpetually for the last two decades at least, and is based on statistical analysis published the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) and those figures, in turn, came from the statistical data presented in the ‘Culture and Communication’ domains in the now discontinued UNESCO Statistical Yearbooks from 1963 to 1999, and which, as the author demonstrates in this article, have been chronically patchy, unreliable or suspect for a number of reasons.