"Building Scholarly Networks
in Southern Africa:
Solving Problems of Communication
through the Internet"
A Final Report
A Collaborative Project among Michigan State University’s MATRIX: The
Center for Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online, the MSU African
Studies Center, and H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences OnLine funded through
the Discretionary Grant Program office of Citizen Exchanges, Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs, United States Information Agency-- 1998-1999 (E/P-98-2)
PROJECT OVERVIEW
1. General Description
Michigan State University’s (MSU) African Studies Center, MATRIX: The Center for Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online at MSU, and H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences OnLine, received a Discretionary Grant from the United States Information Agency's Office of Citizen Exchanges, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to provide training in pedagogical and research uses of the Internet to Southern African scholars and librarians in South Africa and Zambia. Over 1998 and 1999, the project partners conducted a series of intensive summer workshops at Michigan State University and Howard University, as well as local training sessions and follow-up at the Southern African sites. In addition, as part of its cost-share agreement, Michigan State University purchased and installed a two computer laboratories for use by scholars, cultural and historical centers across Southern Africa. These servers are housed at the University of the Western Cape and the University of Durban-Westville, in South Africa. Our goal to establish a model program of training and exchange that could be replicated in other resource poor areas such as Latin America, Asia, or elsewhere in Africa has been met, and even exceeded.
The first part of the workshop, held in the summer of 1998 in conjunction with the second year of the USIA-supported “West African Humanities and Social Scientists: Solving Problems of Communication through the Internet” project, focused on computer and Internet training sessions, as well as seminars arranged by MATRIX, the MSU African Studies Center, and H-Net. Participants had ample opportunity for hands-on work, as well as seminars. Roundtable discussions on connectivity, civic education, property rights allowed participants to discuss their situation and challenges in their individual countries. Workshop participants were also able to discuss collective solutions to these challenges, and forge working relationships that would continue beyond the workshop.
Roundtable discussions on connectivity, civic education, property rights allowed participants to discuss their situation and challenges in their individual countries. Workshop participants were also able to discuss collective solutions to these challenges, and forge working relationships that would continue beyond the workshop. Participants spent the last week of the workshop in Washington, D.C. where they met with staff from the African Bureau, Citizens Exchange Office and other units of the U.S. Department of State. They also attended a seminar on democracy, public policy and capitalism at Howard University, and received training in information systems at the Library of Congress and visited the Smithsonian.
One of the most exciting aspects of this first summer workshop were the opportunities for exchange among the Southern and West African participants (who hailed from Ghana, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire). Many of the participants began correspondence after the workshop which has continued to this day, and found the opportunity to explore common problems and search for solutions to obstacles to scholarly networking across the Southern and West African regions of great value.
A second summer workshop was hosted at MSU, during July 1999. Unlike the 1998 session which drew participants from a range of disciplines and academic positions (including administration and government), the 1999 session focused specifically on the variety of ways that the Internet can be utilized by archives, museums, libraries, and other repositories of historical and heritage documents, images, tapes, and artifacts. Participants were taught about best practices in humanities computing, had many opportunities for hands-on training, and participated in a wide variety of policy discussions. The ultimate goal of this workshop was to assist key staff members in central cultural institutions to better utilize new communication and computing technology. As in the summer of 1998, the last week of the workshop was spent in Washington, D.C.
In November 1999, Project Director Mark Kornbluh, accompanied by MATRIX’s Systems Administrator, Dennis Boone, and project staff members visited the Southern African sites and installed two computer server systems in South Africa at the University of the Western Cape and the University of Durban-Westville. Provided as part of MSU’s cost-share, the computer servers are both currently in use for a range of cultural heritage and scholarly networking projects across the region.
This combination of specialized training and follow-up, both within the United States and Southern Africa, as well as the expertise of the project and workshop participants made this project very successful. There is every indication this endeavors will have a strong multiplier effect on the academic communities of both MSU, South Africa and Zambia.
2. Workshop I (Summer 1998)
The first Internet Connectivity Project workshop was held for four weeks in 1998, July 3 through July 24. Recruitment for the workshop was a two-step process. First, a pre-selection list of candidates was drawn for each targeted country. Involvement in networks of higher education and research, demonstrated competence in the existing means of electronic connectivity, and willingness to devote ongoing effort to communication among students, and scholars in the humanities, social sciences and journalism were all important selection criteria. Emphasis was also placed on involving librarians who were in positions to play key catalytic roles in their home countries. The local USIA representatives of South Africa and Zambia provided their invaluable assistance in this process. Then, the list of potential participants was reviewed by staff at MATRIX and MSU's African Studies Center. Fifteen total librarians, academics, archivists and scholars from South Africa (10) and Zambia (5) were chosen to participate in the workshop. (See http://www.matrix.msu.edu/connect/project98.html for a full listing of participants, brief bios and complete itinerary for the workshop.)
MSU and H-Net focused on training in the following areas:
1. Familiarity with discussion lists and their uses, including the various H-Africa lists;
2. Knowledge of the World Wide Web;
3. Sufficient ability with HTML to create a WWW home page;
4. Basic acquaintance with distance learning technology;
5. Basic proficiency in preparing web-based instructional materials, including linking to useful sites, placing sample syllabi and bibliography online and developing some interactive multimedia exercises and simulations;
6. Advanced knowledge of and experience in using online reference tools, bibliographies and resources, including databases on Africa;
7. Familiarity with processes and software used by American libraries in acquisitions, circulation, inter-library loan and other areas.
Training sessions at MSU were divided equally between computer training and special classes designed to demonstrate how Internet tools can be applied to library studies and teaching. Participants also attended sessions on electronic mail management and creating e-mail discussion lists. Training on building and designing websites was provided as well, providing participants with sufficient ability in HTML to create a WWW homepage.
Both individual meetings between workshop participants and MSU faculty and staff with common interests and roundtable discussions were also arranged. This allowed many opportunities for professional exchanges within specific fields and areas of expertise. Librarians and archivists were able to focus on preservation and archival management issues. Computer network specialists were able to take advantage of the expertise of MSU's computing center staff. Faculty and administrators affiliated with the African Studies Center, and throughout the MSU system were able to compare research and teaching needs as well as learning from each others' experiences. Such exchanges laid the fundamental groundwork for future collaborative endeavors on both individual and institutional levels. The workshop curriculum also included seminars on the political economy of the United States, emphasizing the themes of capitalism, democracy, the rule of law and issues of freedom of expression and intellectual property. Visits to the State of Michigan archives, as well as other museums and libraries were also arranged.
During the last segment of the workshop, participants traveled to Washington, D.C. where they were guests of WARA. Headquartered at the Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University, WARA provided a three-day seminar on "Democracy, Public Policy, and Capitalism," as well as arranging for a full day of demonstrations on the uses of computerization at the Library of Congress, National Archives II at College Park, and the Smithsonian. Workshop participants met representatives of the wide range of institutions and organizations involved in international connectivity projects including the Director of the Leland Initiative and the International Communications and Information Policy at the Department of State and a roundtable discussion with USIA staff.
An e-mail discussion list, AFR-LINK, was established at the end of the workshop as a way to ensure feedback on the first workshop and to facilitate ongoing communication among workshop participants, organizers, and presenters. AFR-LINK was also intended as a forum where former workshop participants could continue their discussions online and engage in dialogue with participants in the upcoming 1999 workshop, as well as West African alumni from the 1997 workshop.
3. Workshop II (Summer
1999)
The second Internet Connectivity Project workshop was held in July 1998, from July 6 to July 23. Nine participants came from Southern Africa, including four from Zambia and five from South Africa. (For a complete list of participant names and brief bios please see http://www.matrix.msu.edu/connect/bios.html.) The content and goals of Workshop II were similar to Workshop I, and proved to be the most successful summer workshop so far in terms of the work participants were able to accomplish over the course of the workshop itself. Training sessions focused on building and designing websites for public access, research, and educational purposes. Special classes were designed to explore ways e-mail discussion networks and web-based resources can be used to connect researchers, facilitate scholarly communication, and enhance classroom experiences. Websites created by the workshop participants during their term in residence at MSU can be viewed from http://www.matrix.msu.edu/connect/project99.html. At the close of the workshop at MSU, a special event was organized to allow each of the participants to showcase their work and discuss it with a broad audience from across MSU’s campus.
PROJECT EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
The Internet Connectivity Project workshops were evaluated on three different levels:
The project staff remained in close touch with the participants throughout the 1998-1999 academic year through e-mail and the Internet.
Both Workshops I and II included a wide range of participants from across Zambia and South Africa. Working with the local State Dept. posts, as well as various educational and research institutions across the countries, special attention was also paid to selecting a truly representative group of participants in terms of gender, race, and type and location of institution they represented. Project staff emphasized developing "country teams" of professionals who would play a key role in Internet connectivity decision-making and implementation in their home countries. The wealth of long-term collaborative projects that have developed from these workshops indicates success.
The experiences of the first workshop also allowed project coordinators to continue to hone training activities and seminar discussions in the second workshop. An increasingly greater 'hands-on' approach to Internet and computer instruction was emphasized. Additional computer laboratories, monitored by MATRIX/H-Net staff were made available to participants both during the day, and evening hours. This gave workshop participants the chance to review their morning lesson, and to apply their newly acquired skills to their own research projects. The second workshop also provided increased numbers of opportunities for each participant to make a presentation about the state of connectivity in their home country and within their own working environment. Combined with active feedback and time for discussion, these presentations facilitated exchanges among workshop participants, as well as between the participants and MSU/MATRIX/H-Net hosts. At the end of the second workshop, a public demonstration was hosted to allow all participants to “show off” their websites. Not only was this an excellent opportunity to draw in a individuals from across the University community and to make them aware of what was happening at the individual sites represented by the Southern African participants, but this also showcased the tremendous amount accomplished by these participants over the three weeks.
2. Visit to South Africa of MSU/
H-Net Delegation (October-November 1999)
A delegation of representatives from MSU and H-Net followed up with the workshop participants by visiting the South Africa sites between October 24 and November 20. The purpose of this trip was to:
· Evaluate the impact of the 1998-9 workshops in the home countries of the workshop participants;
· Assist the 1998-9 workshop participants in making the transition to teaching their colleagues at home;
· Assess the level of connectivity in these different countries;
· To network with officials and organizations interested in the academic use of the Internet and use of Information Technology (IT) for promoting civil society and democracy;
· Install server systems in two locations on both sides of South Africa, for use by a wide range of educational and cultural institutions.
By all accounts, the MSU delegation's 1999 trip to South Africa was extremely successful. The delegation's primary goals were met or exceeded. Project participants were also able to forge new ground for further cooperative endeavors with many of the key humanities and social science organizations in Southern Africa. In addition to specific partnerships and collaborative endeavors with NGOs, government offices and universities in South Africa and Zambia, several formal partnership agreements were signed as a result of this visit. These include the University of Durban-Westville, University of Natal, University of the Witswatersrand, University of the Western Cape, and Robben Island Museum and Mayibuye Centre. A number of joint grant proposals either have been, or are being submitted thanks to common interests and goals elaborated in the course of this trip, including an extensive Western Cape Oral History project.
3. Results
One of the most encouraging results of these Internet Connectivity
Workshops was the creation of these "country teams" in both Zambia
and South Africa. By bringing together participants working in a range of
fields within each country, and allowing them to exchange information and
interact with one another the possibilities for implementing these ideas and
following through on projects within southern Africa increased many fold.
Participant feedback indicated that interactions between professionals and
academics within their own countries was especially valuable.
Likewise, participants were able to meet with fellow academics, librarians, professionals, and government officials from other neighboring countries to compare challenges and devise cooperative solutions. Given the poor level of communication between African countries, this opportunity was very significant. Workshop participants had the opportunity to learn through their fellow African participants about the levels of connectivity in other African countries. Such interaction and information sharing among African participants was even more dynamic during Workshop I when the West African and Southern African groups were combined.
Several electronic mailing lists have been set-up as a result of these workshops to engage the workshop participants, workshop organizers and presenters in active exchange about the successes and limitations of the sessions. Called, AFR-LINK, this discussion network was also intended as a forum where participants from the preceding West and southern African workshops could continue their discussions online and engage in dialogue with new participants in the 1998-9 workshops. AFR-LINK has further provided an important follow-up component to the workshops and has played a major role in keeping workshop participants talking to each other, and laid ground for future collaborative projects.
As stated in our original proposal, the benefits of this program can be best assessed by the multiplier effects of these workshops on academic communities and other members of the intelligentsia within Zambia and South Africa, Americans with professional interests in Africa, and on the structures of higher education and research in southern Africa. By all these measures, these Internet Connectivity Workshops have been a huge success. What began as a series of workshops, has grown into a large-scale African Internet Connectivity Endeavor and a range of collaborative projects between MSU/MATRIX/H-Net and various southern African NGOs, universities, and professional organizations. These include:
A. Creation of H-SAfrica
AFR-LINK was soon so successful and attracted so many active participants that it has grown into a much larger discussion network called H-Safrica, which was launched in November 1998. H-SAfrica is dedicated to enhancing research, service and teaching in the field of South and southern African studies and within southern Africa. Discussions cover a range of interests including history, culture, science and development. The network aims to bring scholars, students, professionals, intellectuals, and others throughout the world for purposes of discussion, exchange of information, dissemination of research, and sharing of data about teaching and learning. H-SAfrica also aims to play a significant role in disseminating information about establishing Internet connectivity systems in southern Africa which permit e-mail and Internet access to more and more participants, with higher quality and lower cost.
B. Partnerships with West African Workshop Participants
Another strong measure of the multiplier effect of this program is the large number of cooperative projects and grant proposals MSU/H-Net are currently undertaking with several workshop participants. Some key examples include:
· “Creating a Centre for Popular Memory,” is a collaborative oral history project to construct a research and training center for oral histories in South Africa’s Western Cape. Based at the University of Cape Town, the Center will serve as a nexus for communications, research and best practices across the Western Cape in partnership with the Robben Island Museum, Mayibuye Centre and District Six Museum – the premier research centers in the region. We also envision that this center will serve as a model for additional oral history initiatives across the country and beyond.
· “Bi-National Partnerships for South African Cultural Heritage Training and Technology,” is a large, three-year project supported by the Andrew W. Mellon and Ford Foundations. Beginning in July 2000, with a training Institute modeled on the successes of these U.S. State Department supported Internet Connectivity workshops, 25 South African academics, archivists, librarians and museum study experts and 6 faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities spent a month in residence at MSU and a week in Washington, D.C. receiving training in Internet and digital technologies for facilitating access to cultural history collections. Over the next two years, each of these HBCU faculty specialists will spend at least one month in residence working with targeted South African project sites on specific projects of mutual interest. A range of project-based learning activities will also serve to capacitate South African cultural heritage institutions while providing additional professional experience for participating HBCU faculty and their home institutions.
· A host of smaller projects and collaborations have also blossomed from these endeavors across South Africa. These include a growing Traditional Arts Exhibit with the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and a range of contacts and individual projects with participants from across the country.
· An additional large project is also pending funding from the National Science Foundation to construct an African Digital Library to address the full range of connectivity challenges across Africa. Project sites would include Addis Ababa University, Dar Es Salaam, WARC and the University of Dakar in Senegal, and the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa.
C. Information Technology Hardware
MSU is fulfilling its commitment to the development of connectivity in southern Africa. MSU purchased and installed two servers at the University of Durban-Westville (UDW) and University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town. This equipment and laboratory were installed by a delegation from MATRIX in November 1999.
Both the UDW and UWC serve as key research bases for both American as well as African researchers and students. Both are also previously “disadvantaged” institutions. By installing these server systems, we hope both to increase the capacity of South African research centers like the Mayibuye Centre (housed at UWC), and the UDW Documentation Centre, but to also benefit the Americans who come to study and work there.
These servers will also allow the universities and research centers to host virtual domains for scholarly societies and NGOs such as the Mayibuye Centre, UDW Documentation Center, ANC Archives and others, in addition to hosting websites, and allowing email and web access to American and African researchers, faculty and students working in southern Africa. This service will greatly increase both capacity and audience for these organizations. By hosting a virtual domain at these servers, websites and online databases, journals and archives can be seamlessly mirrored onto machines at MATRIX and elsewhere in the United States that are on the fastest part of the Internet backbone. Yet the sites will still maintain .za or ..zm domains. This will speed user access to these websites both within West Africa and around the globe, while maintaining domains that are distinct to the southern African organizations. This equipment will be available for future in-country training workshops. It is hoped that in the future, these South African sites will be able to organize training workshops similar to those organized by MATRIX/H-Net.