Towards Sustainable Open Access Book Publishing in the African Context: Workshop Programme, Slides & Resources
A three day workshop hosted by the University of Cape Town exploring how to build a more sustainable future for Open Access book publishing in the African continent
Towards Sustainable Open Access Book Publishing in the African Context: Workshop Programme, Slides & Resources
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University of Cape Town Library 7, 8, 9 February 2024
Partners: Open Book Collective, Association of African Universities, African Platform for Open Scholarship (formerly Continental Platform), Lancaster University, Thoth, OAPEN/DOAB
This 3-day workshop explored challenges that inhibit a sustainable open access book publishing ecosystem with the remit of developing interventions that contribute and/or accelerate the growth of African scholarship. The event was designed to respond to barriers and needs related to Open Access book publishers and initiatives across the African continent. It provided a space for skills development, sharing experiences, expertise, and for learning about new developments in the support and funding of Open Access book publishing. Participants shared ideas for next steps towards the realization of an equitable and sustainable OA landscape for books across in an African context.
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Day 1 (Wednesday, February 7)
9:00Welcome: University of Cape Town
Ms. Ujala Satgoor, Executive Director UCT Libraries
9:15 The Association of African Universities and Open Research
Prof. Olusola Bandele Oyewole, Association of African Universities
Raju, R. and Badrudeen, A. (2022) ‘Social justice driving open access publishing: an African perspective’, The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 25(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.1910
11:00 Open session: Capacity building in Open Access publishing
All delegates introduce themselves and their institutions and provide one concrete suggestion for how they can support capacity building in book publishing within their networks/contexts (2 minutes max)
12:30 Lunch
13:30 Introducing OA publishing initiatives
African Sun Media: Nirode Bramdaw University of Johannesburg Press: Wikus Van Zyl Directory of Open Access Books: Niels Stern Thoth: Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei punctum books: Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei
Introductions (10 mins per speaker) to a range of OA publishers and infrastructure providers, followed by questions
15:30Breakout session: Getting concrete in OA book publishing
Delegates divide into three groups, and choose to discuss one of three themes, then return to the group to report on the outcomes of discussions
Repositories, metadata & distribution Chairs: Niels Stern & Mary-Felix Maina (DOAB/OAPEN), Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei (punctum books/Thoth)
Publishing OA books: Funding, practicalities, strategies Chairs: Nirode Bramdaw (African Sun Media), Jill Claassen (UCT Library), Joe Deville (Lancaster University/Open Book Collective)
Network building and advocacy (including to researchers, managers & politicians) Chairs: Jordy Findanis (OAPEN/DOAB), Judith Fathallah (Lancaster University/Coventry University/Open Book Collective)
17:00 Close
Day 2 (Thursday, February 8)
9:30Building resources for OA publishing: Introducing the OAPEN OA Books Toolkit and the OBC Toolkit for Small and Scholar-led Publishers
Niels Stern, DOAB/OAPEN Joe Deville, Lancaster University/Open Book Collective
Presentations (15 mins per speaker) followed by collective discussion and ideas sharing on what further resources still need to be developed to better support African OA book publishing
Francois van Schalkwyk, African Minds Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei, punctum books
Two scholar-led OA publishers provide introductions (15 mins per speaker) to the production processes used by their OA presses, including exploring the challenges they experience as scholar-led OA presses, and what responses they have developed. Followed by questions and collective discussion.Chair:Judith Fathallah
Business Models for OA Books (a collection of case studies detailing the business models of a range of OA academic book presses, including African Minds and punctum books)
12:30 Lunch
13:30Breakout Session:Sharing and dispelling OA myths amongst scholars, librarians and senior management and understanding their concerns
Delegates divide into groups to share the concerns they have or have encountered from authors, fellow librarians and senior management within their institutions about publishing OA in an African context, what strategies colleagus have used to address these concerns, and what resources would help them address myths and scepticism about OA in future.Delegates then come back together and report back to the group what they discussed and what resources need to be developed. Chair: Joe Deville
15:00 Break
15:30 Lightning talks: Getting published in an OA context
Judith Fathallah (author), Lancaster University/Coventry University Joe Deville (author & publisher), Mattering Press Jill Claassen (publisher), UCT Press Paul Munej (author), University of Dar es Salaam
Rapid talks (5 mins per speaker) from authors and publishers on the challenges of proposing and/or assessing book publication projects in an OA context. Followed by questions and collective discussion. Chair:Mary-Felix Maina
PubPub (open-source, community-led publishing platform used by mediastudies.press)
17:00 Close.
Day 3 (Friday, February 9)
9:00Copyright practices and challenges
Lena Nyahodza, University of Cape Town Niels Stern, OAPEN/DOAB
Presentations (10 mins per speaker) on copyright challenges, including in an African context and for Open Access books as compared to other scholarly outputs, followed by collective discussion
10.10 Working towards a more open culture within universities: Working with libraries, building OA policies
Blessing Chiparausha, Bindura University of Science Education & Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium Josiline Chigwada, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Luyolo Matabeni, Harare Polytechnic
In three presentations (10 mins per speaker), delegates share their experiences of internal advocacy and/or establishing OA policies within their institutions, including reflecting on the challenges they’ve come up against and ideas for how these barriers may be overcome. Followed by collective discussion.
11:15 Closing reflections on the future of African OA Book Publishing
Josiline Chigwada, Chinhoyi University of Technology Jill Claassen, University of Cape Town Library Prof. Olusola Bandele Oyewole, Association of African Universities Reggie Raju, University of Cape Town Library Mweneni Shahungu, National Commission of Research Science and Technology, Namibia
The speakers offer brief reflections their main takeaways from the past three days
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