African Scientific Information in International Databases

Abstract

The coverage of Africa’s information by international databases has been minimal and discouraging. This is due mainly to the nature of Africa’s information environment and only partly to external factors. Most African countries lack an information infrastructure with the resources for processing and disseminating scientific and technical information, and policy makers in government have rarely attached priority to information services. Perpetual dependence on donors has had a detrimental impact on the allocation of resources to the information sector by most African governments. Professional enthusiasm for the production of bibliographic and abstracting tools in Africa has been dwindling. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) environment in most African countries is far from satisfactory. Feasible strategies that can facilitate the coverage and dissemination of Africa’s scientific information, both locally and internationally, are likely to come from within Africa. Discusses the roles of Africa’s academic and research organizations, international organizations and African information professionals in developing such strategies.