WASHINGTON – It’s easy for scholars in the United States and many European nations to take for granted all of the rich academic resources at their disposal. Often, with a few simple keystrokes on a computer, they can access wellsprings of information to enhance their body of work. Not so on the African continent, where ethical and government lapses, as well as technological disadvantages, prevent scholars and others from accessing and building equitable research materials.
During one session hosted at the African Studies Association’s 54th annual meeting, which was held in Washington, D.C., this past weekend, experts discussed the challenges and promises related to creating useful archives of work and models of research and publishing in African studies.
The ASA theme this year was “50 Years of African Liberation.” The research/publishing forum provided an opportunity for historians and scholars to reassess work they have done as well as new models as many African nations examine the progress they’ve achieved and have yet to make as they prepare to celebrate 50 years of independence, explained ASA president Judith Byfield.
Dr. Derek Peterson, associate professor and director of the University of Michigan’s African Studies Center, has been working in western Uganda with the Mountains of the Moon University to organize, catalog and digitize local government archives. He offered a cautionary tale about the risks and rewards of such projects. On one hand, they produce valuable information but also offer potential opportunities for censorship.
“Digitization is not everywhere to be celebrated as a forward advance in the preservation work because it opens up archives that are complicated and politically sensitive to the supervision and editorial control of government officials and others who would like to limit the free flow of knowledge,” he told Diverse. “Digitization, in other words, makes it obvious what the secrets of the archive might be and in so doing undermines the search of ecologies of knowledge within the archive, the limits that contain government officials’ editorial power and makes it possible for those in power to seek to control what’s there, basically.”
Despite pitfalls, Peterson says, he remains hopeful and optimistic about the project.
Peter Limb, an Africana bibliographer and librarian at the University of Michigan, made a presentation about putting African historical newspapers online. So far, the content from 70 newspapers ranging between 1800 and 1922 has been put online. In addition, the World Newspaper Archive (WNA), a collaborative effort of the Center for Research Libraries and its partner libraries and Readex, are trying to expand the number of publications and years.
