Internet in Africa

Interesting class about internet filtering otherwise known as internet censorship.  It was quite interesting to note the types of censorship and how internet filtering is done.  In the library the time allowed on the internet is limited to 45min. per day to allow everyone an opportunity to use it.  We also do not allow access to social media websites after 2pm (physical police work involved) in the afternoon to allow the learners to do their assignments.  It was also interesting to learn which countries have greater censorship than others.  Sadly, most African countries do not feature as they simply do not have the infrastructure neccesary for internet access. Being proudly African, this prompted my interest to do some research and the results were hardly surprising. 

Africa has 15.3% of the world's population, yet only 7% of its internet usage.  Of the African countries Nigeria (48.4%) heads the pack when it comes to internet usage, followed by Egypt (29.8%), Morocco (16.5%), Kenya (12%) and South Africa fifth at 8.5%. One would've thought that we'd be higher in the ranks, but we are clearly not as progressive as we'd like to believe.    

Dare I ask - what happened to the much talked about African Renaissance during Mbeki's tenure? Has it all been forgotten?

Since we'll be doing our presentations in less than a week, I thought I'll add a useful link I've come across to help us along: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34274/7-Lessons-From-the-World-s-Most-Captivating-Presenters-SlideShare.aspx. 

One can certainly try!

Open access

   



Open access, I've learnt, is the practise of having unrestricted access to peer-reviewed scholarly journals via the internet.  Studies indicate that open access articles are more likely to be viewed (and cited) than those articles bound by subscriptions.   This is particularly useful to researchers in developing countries where many institutions simply cannot afford subscriptions to recent journals. Peter Suber,  an expert in the field, provides an overview on the subject: http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) / www.doaj.org is a well-known website used to list journals while African Journal online/ www.ajol.info hosts journal articles by African authors.  The Directory of Open Access Books - www.doab.org - strives to increase the discoverability of open access books.  Yes, open access books are also available.  It makes one wonder what type of services libraries would be offering 10-20 years from now - are they going to house books at all?  

'Libraries (and librarians) will survive'

Our challenge this week was to add a link to our blogs.  I took up the challenge and started surfing in earnest - for something quirky, but relevant to libraries.  So I came across this video put together by the staff of some regional libraries in Virginia (USA).  It deals with a worldwide phenomenon - dwindling budgets.  Sound familiar?
Staff at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library rewrote the lyrics to a popular 1978 disco hit 'I will survive' originally sang by Gloria Gaynor.  The rewritten one describes a typical day in the life of library staff - we can all relate!! Enjoy!

 

 

It's all in a day's work!

'Sandy says'

So 'Sandy says' that we should download the app for QR codes onto our smartphones as it was quite useful.  I thought that sounded quite doable.  I'll let you know that I'm no stranger to the 'Idiot's guides..' in our library's collection - so to download the app for the QR codes I consulted the online version in the form of 'Google'.  After deciphering some step-by-step instructions, I eventually managed to download the app onto 'that computer in one's pocket' - as 'Sandy says'. 

Since starting my studies in 2012 my colleagues have always been intrigued (and involved) with whatever I was doing at the library school - bearing in mind that they studied librarianship some 20 odd years ago.  It was no exception when I told them about the QR codes.  Soon we were scanning every QR code we could lay our hands on - as 'Sandy says' - from magazines to newspapers.  We were gleaming with excitement as we witnessed QR codes being translated into webpages - very much like kids in a candy store. So my QR code app proved to be quite a hit - thank you, Sandy!!

... and so I continue my  arduous yet fascinating journey in cyberspace.  I am yet to join the 'birds' (Bernie's words) in Twitter ... baby steps for me, thank you!

One step at a time