Learning Resources

Publishing African bibliographic references on the web

Alan HopkinsonHead of Systems and Bibliographic ServicesMiddlesex University, UK

Learning Resources

Publishing African bibliographic references on the web

a low cost solution for Albert Cook Medical Library, Makerere University

in Kampala, Uganda.

Learning Resources

Albert Cook Medical Library, Makerere University, Uganda.

Learning Resources

Software for Development

• Software costs are in development

• An extra copy hardly costs

• Commercial companies have problems thinking in this way with software though other commercial companies have licensed journals at low cost

Learning Resources

CDS/ISIS in the 1980s

•In 1980s computers were mainframes

•To run a library system, institutions had to be able to afford a computer (more expensive than today)

•UNESCO wanted to promote exchange of bibliographic references in science and technology and medicine

Learning Resources

CDS/ISIS

• Mainframe ISIS developed by International Labour Organization of the UN for IBM mainframes (1960)

• UNESCO in its role as UN agency for scientific dissemination took it over for wider distribution to developing countries and renamed CDS/ISIS (1975)

• UNESCO developed CDS/ISIS for Microcomputers and minicomputers (1985)

• UNESCO developed Windows version (1998)

Learning Resources

CDS/ISIS UNESCO involvement

• UNESCO is part of UN and its programme is developed by Member States

• Many Member States have felt it was not UNESCO’s role to develop or maintain software

• Therefore it relied on enthusiasts within UNESCO (Mr G Delbigio, Mr Davide Storti)

• Development continued in UNESCO until 2004 (CDS/ISIS for Windows 1.5)

Learning Resources

CDS/ISIS for Windows

Learning Resources

CDS/ISIS for the Health Sector

• BIREME in Brazil (PAHO/WHO) parallel development: C-ISIS (1990)

• BIREME developed from C-ISIS the web-based WWWISIS (1995) and continue…

• BIREME support Latin American and Caribbean Centre on Health Sciences Information• Virtual Library in Health

• WWWISIS is fully compatible with CDS/ISIS

Learning Resources

WWWISIS

• Developed by highly technical institution• Needs certain level of help to set it up

• Solution: GenISIS developed by Pierre Chabert of the French CDS/ISIS Association

• Manual translated into English by Deepali Talagala, General Secretary,Sri Lanka Library Association

Learning Resources

Albert Cook Library

• Website developed in Partnership with Kent, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Libraries but no access to catalogue

• Supported byPartnerships in Health Information

• Albert Cook Library used CDS/ISIS to contribute records to international database

Learning Resources

African Index Medicus

World Health Organization, in collaboration with the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA), has produced an international index to African health literature and information sources known as African Index Medicus (AIM).

Learning Resources

http://indexmedicus.afro.who.int/

Learning Resources

Records input from Uganda

Learning Resources

Record retrieved

Learning Resources

CDS/ISIS Training and Development

• December 2006 I invited staff from Albert Cook Library to come to London for training at Middlesex University

• Visas could not be obtained in time

• Instead planned that I visit the Albert Cook Library (4 days)

• This had the advantage I could set up WWWISIS on site

Learning Resources

Albert Cook Library

• Behind with cataloguing

• Key staff member had died

• Lack of systems support

• Needed encouragement

Learning Resources

My work in Uganda

• My role was simply to train• librarians to use CDS/ISIS for Windows for data entry into the

catalogue (of books and journal articles)

• systems librarians to set up WWWISIS to provide internet access to those Train library systems

• and to support the Systems Librarian in discussions with the university IT department to enable the database to be visible from outside

Learning Resources

Results

• Albert Cook Library is contributing better to the Index Medicus Africa

• They have access to the records in their catalogue from their website (unfortunately available only locally)

• University Library IT Librarian also trained

• Two librarians from Kenya attended

Learning Resources

Learning Resources

Learning Resources

Learning Resources

Other Benefits

• Greater understanding of situation in Africa

• Chance to experiment with GenISIS

• Chance to widen my experience

• Opportunity to see how other people think which can then be applied to visitors who come to see me

—For example traditional librarianship is quite strong but little training in library automation

• Middlesex University has an international mission and it is good for the library to be seen to be involved

Learning Resources

Greater understanding of situation in Africa

Learning Resources

Chance to widen my experience

Learning Resources

Opportunity to help visitors who come to see me

Learning Resources

Middlesex’s International Mission

Learning Resources

Thank you for your attention