Odin Pub Africa The African eRepository http iodeweb
Odin. Pub. Africa The African e-Repository (http: //iodeweb 1. vliz. be/odin) Status and perspectives Cheikh Ibrahima SAKHO Regional Coordinator c. sakho@odinafrica. net 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 6 -11, 2006 October 8 -12 2006
Background n Odinafrica and IOC (UNESCO) project n Founded by the Flemish Government of Belgium n Started in 2005 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 2
I. STATUS Active participation of 15 African countries : Egypt ; Ghana ; Madagascar ; Mauritius ; Mauritania ; Morocco ; Mozambique ; Namibia; Nigeria ; Kenya ; Senegal; Seychelles ; Tanzania ; Togo ; Tunisia. 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 3
Composition of submitted documents 1110 documents submitted most of them are typed as : Journal Articles n Ph. D Theisis and Master Reports n Technical Reports n Conference Paper n Books n Other (PP documents, institutional newsletters, …) n 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 4
Human resources q 15 information managers are trained ; q 2 regional coordinators are appointed, and take now in hand the management of the repository (creating collections, helpdesk, granting access right, etc. ) ; 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 5
n Several posters are made, and a great awareness campaign through emails, conference communications in direction of the institute managers and others users ; n Articles about the African repository are published in several international journal n The collections in the repository are growing ; 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 6
Constraints n n By Lack of Internet connexion lot of countries can not participate as active member of the project ; For want of basic infrastructure (scanner) some institutes have difficulties to submit their collections ; The scepticism of scientists to submit their publication in the repository The repository is not yet integrated in the library activities (cataloguing, ASFA input, African Ocean Portal, …) ; 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 7
Defining standards n Lack of a standard for rich metadata for repositories in aquatic and marine science ; n E. g Metadata Fields: Odin. Pub. Africa already uses ASFA keywords. Are other taxonomy fields necessary? 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 8
n n n Lack of a more refined metadata exchange standard than Dublin Core; Possibilities are: MODS – AGRIS AP Can IAMSLIC help in defining standards for repositories in the aquatic and marine science? 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 9
II. Perspectives n The repository get a new name “Oceandocs” n Various scientific publications are available in paper or electronic format and can be prepared and submitted to the repository; n Initializing a regional centres for scanning and submission of documents in the repository ; 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 10
q Creation of the project « Aquatic Common Initiative » n By the cooperation with other organizations (systems), find more flexible data exchange system; q More and more African research institutions ask to be admitted in the repository project ; 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 11
Conclusion The African marine science repository is now a reality but Odin. Pub. Africa project need : Ø Ø Ø Intensive efforts for the enhancement of the metadata system ; Development of the collections More participation of African marine research institutes 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 12
Thank you for your attention 32 nd annual conference, Portland, October 8 -12 2006 13
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