OPEN ACCESS INITIATIVES AND CHALLENGES IN KENYA: UNIVERSITIES

Jacinta Were

WHAT IS OPEN ACCESS

OPEN ACCESS

• FREE access to peer reviewed scholarly publications

• It is free of most copyright and licensing restrictions

• It is slightly different from FREE resources

WHY OPEN ACCESS

“New knowledge arises through the study of existing works, exchange of ideas, the linking of ideas and networking with other disciplines”

European commission handbook on Opportunities and challenges of Open Access

“Any restriction of access to academic information hinders the process of obtaining new insights and making new discoveries whose Access usefulness cannot be determined in advance”

Barriers

Rising costs of information resources poses serious restriction to the published peer reviewed scholarly material

Copyright Laws

BENEFITS

• Enhances visibility of our local research output

• Enhances visibility of the researchers nationally and globally

• Increases Impact Factor of journals

Forgotten University Research Output

University library data often encode some of the most important, unique and authoritative information in the world

– Theses/Dissertations– Research Projects– Student Projects– Unpublished conference papers

• Reports• Speeches• Talks• Presentations• Video recordings

HOW DOES THE FARMER BENEFIT

SUPPORT TO THE FARMER

• Many farmers are now educated and can package their own information given the opportunity

• Extension workers can repackage the information given the opportunity

• Librarians can repackage the information given the opportunity

EFFORTS IN KENYA14 Institutions

Digital Repositories in Africa(DOAR)

Algeria

Botswan

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Camero

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Cape Verd

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pt

Ethiopia

GhanaKenya

Leso

tho

Moro

cco

Mozam

bique

Namibia

Nigeria

Rwanda

Senega

l

South

AfricaSu

dan

Tanzan

ia

Turkana

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbab

we0

5

10

15

20

25

CHALLENGES OF OPEN ACCESS

• Concept not understood

• Negative Perception• Quality• Protecting the author•What happens to my royalties•Who pays for the publishing process• Reliable archiving policy• Predatory publishing

• Lack of enabling Open Access policies in universities

• Technical challenges– Technical know-how– Platform

ISSUES to focus on

• Government framework that will create an enabling environment to guide institutions

• Change current perception on Open Access

• Sensitization of researchers on Creative Commons Copyright Licenses

Cont…

• Universities should formulate enabling Open Access Policies

• Effective implementation of these policies

• Establish digital Institutional Repositories

Cont…

• Explore Free Open Access Publishing Platforms

– ASKIA (Access to Scientific and Socio-economic Knowledge in Africa) housed by ECA

– IMARK – (The Information Management Resource Kit) developed by FAO

– AJOL - African Journal Online

Cont…

• Enhance collaboration between libraries and agricultural knowledge management centers

• Universities should explore strategies of supporting information needs of the communities around them

THANK YOU