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From: K S Albright <K.Albright@sheffield.ac.uk> Date: September 12, 2006 12:02:06 PM EDT To: asis-l@asis.org Subject: [Asis-l] Call for Participation in ASIS&T 2006 Workshop on North American Information Initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa (NAIISA)

Call for Participation in ASIS&T 2006 Workshop on North American Information Initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa (NAIISA)

Monday, 6 November 2006 5:30-7:00 pm Submit 250-word project description by September 30 (see details below)

Facilitators: Kendra Albright, Johannes Britz, Wallace Koehler

Purpose The purpose of this proposed workshop is to bring those interested and involved in African information initiatives together for a formal exchange of ideas and coordination of information about projects and funding.

Abstract Ad hoc, informal meetings, coined the “Africa Forum,” have been held at several previous ASIS&T and ALISE meetings for persons interested and involved in information-related activities in Africa. Participants have exchanged information on partnerships, grant-funded research, and information needs in the Sub-Saharan region. Existing partnerships between Emporia State University and Nigeria, the University of Tennessee and Makerere University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Pretoria (South Africa) have raised awareness of the increasing need for LIS research in Africa and the exchange of information between LIS programs on both continents. Recently, there has been increasing interest in information initiatives in Africa, as evidenced by the increasing interest in the Africa Forum and the expanding social network of participants. Additional LIS programs and researchers have stated their interest in establishing academic partnerships and developing research collaborations. Yet, no formal mechanism exists by which to explore potential connections and further the development of ideas and exchange of knowledge, and coordinate efforts for both future projects and funding. Several US led African initiatives have happened in ad hoc fashion at the risk of resource duplication. The purpose of this proposed workshop is to bring those interested and involved in African information initiatives together for a formal exchange of ideas and coordination of information about projects and funding.

Objectives The workshop will address the following objectives: (1) To identify persons and projects currently involved in information-related research and activities in Sub-Saharan Africa; (2) To facilitate the interest of persons not currently involved in this work who are interested in learning about opportunities; (3) To increase opportunities for coordination of efforts and potential collaboration; (4) To identify and prioritize specific information projects that are culturally appropriate for the African peoples; (5) To identify appropriate grants and the development of applications for initial and continued funding; (6) To establish a formal mechanism by which to ensure continuous networking between scholars.

At this workshop, participants will present their projects/research or interests in information related activities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Formal papers are not expected; the focus will be on the identification and coordination of people and projects. Those who wish to participate should submit a 250 word abstract to Kendra Albright (albright@utk.edu) or Johannes Britz (britz@sois.uwm.edu) by September 30, 2006 with a description of their research/project (i.e., research/project title, time span of research/project, research question, country of study, user population, theory, and methodology) or area (s) of interest.

Speaker Biographies:

Kendra Albright (University of Sheffield) Kendra Albright is Lecturer the University of Sheffield. Her areas of teaching and research interest include the role of information in the reduction of HIV/AIDS in Africa, the effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on development, information policy, and business intelligence. She holds a Ph.D. in Communications with concentrations in Information Science and Information Economics, a M.S. in Library Science, and a B.S. in Human Development. She has over seventeen years of professional experience in science and business research libraries and private information research and consulting.

Johannes Britz (University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee) Johannes Britz is a native South African and moved to the United States first and a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and then as Dean of the School of Information Studies (2005) at the same institution. Prior to this Johannes has been 16 years at the University of Pretoria South Africa. He specializes in the information ethics and has a special interest in information poverty and social justice - in particular to the African continent. He has done consultation work for amongst others the Namibian as well as South African governments and act also as a consultant for the European Union on a South African project.

Wallace Koehler (Valdosta State University) Wallace Koehler is a professor and director of the Master of Library and Information Program at Valdosta State University. He holds the Ph.D. in international relations and the MS in information science. He has served as External Examiner to the East African School of Library and Information Science at Makerere University in Uganda. His research interests include information ethics, professional associations, and web- and bibliometrics.

QUESTIONS: All questions should be sent to Kendra Albright (k.albright@sheffield.ac.uk).

-- Dr Kendra Albright Department of Information Studies University of Sheffield Email: k.albright@sheffield.ac.uk

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