How can Africanists and information specialists in African research and documentation get the most out of Wikipedia, and how can they contribute to Wikipedia? This article argues that Wikipedia is... Show moreHow can Africanists and information specialists in African research and documentation get the most out of Wikipedia, and how can they contribute to Wikipedia? This article argues that Wikipedia is useful both as a universally accessible - albeit not specifically academic - free reference tool and as a channel for outreach to disseminate sourced academic and non-academic information. The 'African Studies' article on the English-language Wikipedia provides some slightly dubious definitions but also gives a useful hyperlinked list of notable Africanists, institutions and degree courses. But not all the socalled 'notable' Africanists and institutions mentioned are in truth very notable (or are they: John Frank Clarke and Antumi Toasije?). One of the pitfalls of Wikipedia, namely its self-promotion, may be a factor here. At the same time, an information specialist of researcher using Wikipedia can obtain an overview within minutes, navigate to more information on the subject and can correct and provide additional information useful to colleagues and a general readership worldwide. This article considers how Wikipedia works and how it can meet some of the needs of African experts but also be of benefit to the general public. Show less
This paper discusses the search for hidden post-colonial archives on Africanist research and ways of making these available to scholars and the general public. These are diverse sets of archives:... Show moreThis paper discusses the search for hidden post-colonial archives on Africanist research and ways of making these available to scholars and the general public. These are diverse sets of archives: the personal archives of the scholar that are often hidden in 'trunks' at home, and the institutional archives in libraries in Africa. Modern technologies have also increased the archiving problem by adding hidden digitalized archives, namely the electronic archives on African websites and other electronic storage systems. And finally there are the digital archives of scholars to add to the list too. How can these archives be saved and made accessible to the wider scholarly community? Archiving should be a concern of both librarians and researchers/scholars who are faced with increased data-gathering possibilities and the need to store them electronically. How can we ensure that data is and will remain available in an open way? The practice of archiving will be explored in this paper, using the African Studies Centre in Leiden as an example. It is calling for collaboration between librarians and researchers to create 'living' archives of scholarly research and also of digital material that are 'open access'. Show less
