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- Convenor:
-
Anne Schumann Douosson
(Goethe-Universität Frankfurt)
Send message to Convenor
- Format:
- Panel
- Stream:
- Linguistic and visual (de)colonialisms
- Location:
- Room 1098
- Sessions:
- Friday 10 June, -
Time zone: Europe/Berlin
Short Abstract:
This panel presents new initiatives in the publishing sector to promote reciprocal perspectives in African Studies, including the open scholarly repository AfricArXiv, the African Studies Library, the African Publishers Database for co-publishing (IAI, SOAS), and the African Books Collective.
Long Abstract:
The call to decolonise African Studies has at first concentrated on the decolonisation of curricula. However attention is now turning to the sector of scholarly communications, and to the renewed initiatives in the publishing sector to promote reciprocal perspectives in African Studies. Due to difficulties with distribution, publications by African publishers have often been inaccessible in European libraries. Simultaneously, publications on research pertaining to Africa in Europe has often been inaccessible in Africa due to high prices and poor distribution. This panel, organised by the research infrastructure committee (Infrastrukturausschuss) of the VAD will present several important initiatives aiming to change this: AfricArXiv is an open scholarly repository making manuscript versions of articles (preprint and post print) available through open access. The African Studies Library (FID Afrikastudien) at the Goethe-University Frankfurt has an acquisition policy of buying exclusively publications from publishers on the African continent and making them findable and accessible through its new portal. The African Books Collective (ABC) is owned by publishers on the African continent and has been formed to tackle the issue of distribution. The International African Institute (IAI) at SOAS, University of London has compiled the African Publishers Database in view of promoting co-publication between European and African publishers.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 10 June, 2022, -Paper short abstract:
African Books Collective is an African owned distribution outlet for over 3,000 titles from Africa. By considering issues of decolonisation in relation to their acquisitions libraries can provide an increased readership for books published in Africa and further balance academic exchanges.
Paper long abstract:
African Books Collective (ABC) is an African owned, worldwide marketing and distribution outlet for over 3,000 titles from Africa. Founded, owned and governed by a group of African publishers, its participants are independent African publishers who share a common ethos of publishing from within African cultures, asserting Africa’s voice within Africa and internationally. Through ABC African publishers have new and efficient methods which creates easier access to their books and they have globalised their offerings, which no longer need to be ‘hunted down’ and ordered ‘specially’. The ball is also in the court of scholars to use and cite content produced on the African continent more; additionally librarians can highlight the availability of such content to their communities, and prioritise its purpose in the same way as they do with knowledge produced in the North. It seems there is no shortage of content being produced by new and established publishers. ABC’s lack of practical and financial barriers to market has resulted in new title numbers double that of its funded era and has opened up bookselling markets to a more diverse range of publishers and book producing organisations.
Paper short abstract:
The digital African Open Access portal AfricArXiv utilises existing scholarly infrastructure to provide affordable and efficient publishing workflows for African scholars and scholarly institutions as well as non-African researchers with an African research focus.
Paper long abstract:
AfricArXiv is a digital Open Access archiving portal for African research results. We partner with established scholarly repository services to provide a platform for African scientists of any discipline, as well as non-African researchers with a regional focus on Africa, to present their research findings and connect with other researchers on the African continent and globally.
Besides serving as a fast-track publishing platform that is free for individual researchers and affordable for African institutions, we work on projects and initiatives to further increase discoverability of African research output and provide means to secure ownership of African intellectual property to African scholars and knowledge holders at large.
On of these projects, ‘Decolonize Science’, we collaborate with the three South African organisations, namely Masakhane, ScienceLink and ST Communications, to translate English research articles across various disciplines to isiZulu, Northern Sotho, Yoruba, Hausa, Luganda, and Amharic.
We advocate for use of African languages by African researchers, asking those who submit to AfricArXiv to add a translation of the abstract or lay summary in the African language that is relevant to the context of their work; in accordance with the Helsinki Initiative on Multilingualism in Scholarly Communication.
Making research results available in regional languages is essential for knowledge equity, ease of access and contribution to research in and about Africa, creating opportunities for science literacy and language learning, development of minority languages and increasing readership and mainstreaming of the respective languages. Using African languages is also important in the discussions around indigenous and traditional knowledge in its various forms.
Paper short abstract:
This study examines contemporary and historical African-based journals that publish(ed) in both indigenous and colonial languages by gaining insights into editorial consideration, as well as those of contributors, and explore what they perceive as the advantages and disadvantages of these vehicles.
Paper long abstract:
Knowledge production and dissemination in African Studies has predominantly been carried out with the use of European languages. This is no different where academic publishing is concerned. Today, there are however some journals that go against this grain by accepting articles written in African indigenous languages (occasionally next to contributions in colonial languages). This study examines contemporary and historical African-based journals that publish(ed) in both indigenous and colonial languages. It will take a qualitative approach and use some numerical data to gain insights into editorial consideration, as well as those of contributors, and explore what they perceive as the advantages and disadvantages of these vehicles. Some of the African studies journals that will be considered for this study include Lagos Notes and Records (English, French and African Languages), the Journal of Yoruba Studies Association (English and Yoruba) Langbaasa (Yoruba alone) Igede (Igbo alone), ACASA (English and African indigenous languages), Maarifa (English and Swahili) to name a few. The spread and readership of these journals will also be probed along intra and intercontinental lines. The impact of indigenous languages on knowledge dissemination in African studies journals from Africa is grossly understudied and, yet, a firmer understanding of such promises to help to reconfigure the field of African studies.
Paper short abstract:
The African Studies Library portal has innovative functionalities concerning the discoverability of publications. The portal aims to recreate the act of browsing along library shelves online, offering engaging and surprising suggestions related to the original search topic through knowledge graphs.
Paper long abstract:
One of the key aims of the African Studies Library (FID Afrikastudien) funded by the German Research Association (DFG) at the University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg Frankfurt am Main is to make research published on the African continent accessible in Germany and beyond. This goal is pursued through an acquisition policy of buying exclusively publications from publishers on the African continent as well as so-called “grey literature”, which are often difficult to access internationally. These publications are being made findable and accessible through its new portal by incorporation into its comprehensive African Studies online catalogue. This paper will present the African Studies Library portal and its key and innovative functionalities concerning the discoverability of publications. For example, the portal aims to recreate the act of browsing along library shelves online through the use of knowledge graphs, offering engaging and surprising suggestions to users related to the original search topic, hoping to broaden horizons of relevant literature.