Establish a framework for sustainable OA repository and journal development in Africa using the needs assessment from the AfricaConnect2 LIBSENSE study
A key project in the Information Systems research group
This is the second phase of an ongoing capacity-building, awareness-raising and advocacy programme being undertaken by the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN), a research and education network (REN) organisation overseeing network connectivity and advanced network services in higher education institutions (HEIs) in West and Central Africa. WACREN is one of 3 such regional RENs tasked with this role across Africa.
The project, titled LIBSENSE (Library Support for Embedded NREN Services and E-infrastructure) is sponsored by AfricaConnect and has a research aspect, which this set of activities represent. In this phase the activities will involve action research around (1) skills profiles development (2) awareness-raising workshops with senior HEI management and (3) infrastructural demonstrator sites, all around the development of open science initiatives in HEI libraries across Africa.
The work builds on outcomes from phase 1, a large-scale 3-region survey and focus group study of librarians’ capacities around open access repository development and management.