Copyright Issues in Africa is limiting Digitalization of Africa Libraries collection — Dr Nkem Osuigwe
The Director, Human Capacity Development &Training, of the African Library & Information Associations & Institutions (AfLIA), Dr Nkem Osuigwe has hinted that the copyright issues in some Africa countries have been a major hindrance to the digitalization process for Africa Libraries.
Dr Osuigwe who made this statement via Twitter while replying to a librarian from Nigeria, Adachukwu Onwudiwe, who is the founder, crater library & publishers — digital library and publishing platform that provides equitable access to research and literary resources, when she raised alarm for the need for African libraries to embrace digitization of their collection.
Ms Onwudiwe noted that no matter how much we love print collections, we must have an electronic backup plan for what she referred to as “act of God/man-made disasters” to prevent irrevocable loss of knowledge. This point was made in the aftermath of the fire disaster that took place on Sunday at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Jagger Library in South Africa.
In a chat with Dr Osuigwu, she further explained her stances saying: “I represented AfLIA at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Africa Workshop in Nairobi, 2019. The issue of having robust Copyright limitations and exceptions for digitisation of library, museum and archives materials was one of the points raised by Librarians at the workshop as most Copyright laws in Africa do not allow for ‘making copies of resources’ in these institutions. The time has come to open up that conversation again.
It was reported by local media in South Africa that a wildfire raging on the slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain spread to the University of Cape Town, burning the historic campus library and forcing the evacuation of 4,000 students on Sunday.
According to the UCT website, the Special Collections library consists of printed and audiovisual materials on African studies and a wide array of other specialized subjects, as well as more than 1,300 sub-collections of unique manuscripts and personal papers. The collection of books and pamphlets exceeds 85,000 items on African studies alone.
The mayor of the City of Cape Town, Dan Plato told reporters that most of the valuable work in the library was saved from the fire Disaster:
“It is tragic that literary treasures have been lost at the UCT library, but I have been informed that some of the most valuable works were saved by the quick activation of roller doors. Our attention and support remain with firefighters and all role-players working to protect further loss of property.”
More than 100 firefighters and emergency personnel were deployed to the university campus and Table Mountain national park. Four helicopters were being used to drop water on threatened areas, officials said.
One firefighter was injured and being treated at a hospital, according to the Cape Town fire and rescue department.
