Digital library initiatives in Sub-Sahara Africa: overview of status

Abstract

Research plays an integral part in National Development. The Unesco Medium-Term Plan (1984-1989) observed that 'assimilation of Scientific and technological information is an essential precondition for progress in developing countries' (UNESCO 1982). Unfortunately, most of indigenous research results from developing countries never find their way into the global information outlets. Africa is the most affected of these regions. Libraries in Africa contain a lot of information that is not visible to researchers. Digitization of these content would make this information more visible and enhance research activities to support development project. This paper is a brief overview of the state of digitization of Library content in Sub-Sahara Africa. The author analyses the existing projects,identifies challenges and suggests the way forward.