Conceptions of digital libraries: an African perspective
Conceptions of digital libraries: an African perspective
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Date
2020
Authors
Owusu-Ansah Mfum, Christopher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Digital Library Perspectives
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to explore African conceptions of digital libraries from the
perspective of the historical literature. This paper argues that the concept of digital libraries is a western
creation and that there was a need for developing societies to develop their own conceptions to guide their
own digital library development agenda.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a literature review. The paper makes use of
publicly-available literature on the theme of digital libraries from both the Western and African perspectives.
The search terms used were “digital libraries”, “Africa digital libraries”, “electronic libraries”, “information
communication technologies/libraries” and “institutional repositories”. A total of 89 publications were
examined for this purpose.
Findings – The analysis revealed that most of the initial digital library initiatives in Africa emanated from
the west with African countries benefiting from international initiatives to expand access to information
resources to bridge the global digital divide. However, due to a number of contextual challenges such as lack
of sustainable funding and inadequate capacity and strategy, the development of digital libraries was
hampered. Thus, even though digital libraries enjoy considerable goodwill, there remain negative conceptions
of digital libraries in Africa.
Practical implications – Information institutions in African countries must evolve a unified conception
of digital libraries as this would largely drive the direction of digital library development towards achieving
the developmental goals of the continent.
Originality/value – The study applies the attributes of innovation to explain contextual factors shaping
African conceptions of digital libraries.
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Citation
Owusu-Ansah, C. M. (2020). Conceptions of digital libraries: an African perspective. Digital Library Perspectives, 36(3), 231-247.