North American information initiatives in Sub‐Saharan Africa (NAIISA): Social computing environments and implications
Kendra Albright, Johannes Britz, Wallace Koehler · Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology · 2007
Ad hoc, informal meetings, originally coined the “Africa Forum,” have been held at several previous ASIS&T and ALISE meetings for persons interested and involved in information-related activities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Recently, there has been increasing interest in information initiatives in Africa, as evidenced by the increasing attendance at these meetings, resulting in the adoption of the name at ASIS&T 2006, North American Information Initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa (NAIISA). NAIISA participants have exchanged information on partnerships, grant-funded research, and information needs in the Sub-Saharan region. Existing partnerships between Emporia State University and several universities in Nigeria, the University of Tennessee and Makerere University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Pretoria (South Africa) have raised awareness of the increasing need for LIS research in Africa and the exchange of information between LIS programs on both continents. Additional LIS programs and researchers have stated their interest in establishing academic partnerships and developing research collaborations. Yet, no formal mechanism exists by which to explore potential connections and further the development of ideas and exchange of knowledge, and coordinate efforts for both future projects and funding. Several US led African initiatives have happened in ad hoc fashion at the risk of resource duplication. Similar efforts are underway in Europe to develop a network of European information initiatives in information science that will link with NAIISA. To identify persons and projects currently involved in information-related research and activities in Sub-Saharan Africa; To facilitate the interest of persons not currently involved in this work who are interested in learning about opportunities; To increase opportunities for coordination of efforts and potential collaboration; To identify and prioritize specific information projects that are culturally appropriate for the African peoples; To identify appropriate grants and the development of applications for initial and continued funding; To enhance formal mechanisms by which to ensure continuous networking between scholars. In what ways is social computing contributing to significant behavioral or attitudinal changes in Sub-Saharan Africa? How do we assess these changes? Is the information world getting flatter? What can we learn from Sub-Saharan perspectives? In what ways does web 2.0 influence the way information is created, represented, organized, stored, retrieved, and disseminated in Sub-Saharan Africa? In what ways are the new trends in social computing affecting information science education in Sub-Saharan Africa? At this session, participants will present their projects/research or interests in information related activities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Formal papers are not expected; the focus will be on the identification and coordination of people and projects. Those who wish to participate should submit a 100–150 word abstract to Kendra Albright ([email protected]) or Johannes Britz ([email protected]) by September 15, 2007 with a description of their research/project (i.e., research/project title, time span of research/project, research question, country of study, user population, theory, and methodology) or area(s) of interest.