The emergence of the Internet and the digital world has changed the way people access, produce and share information and knowledge. Yet people in Africa face challenges in accessing scholarly publica-tions, journals and learning materials in general. At the heart of these challenges, and solutions to them, is copyright, the branch of intellectual property rights that covers written and related works. This book gives the reader an understanding of the legal and practical issues posed by copyright for access to learning materials in Africa, and identifies the relevant lessons, best policies and best practices that would broaden and deepen this access in eight African countries: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. 353pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN PRESS.

Essays that aim of placing Africanist librarianship in the context of a post-colonial information gap (the book and journal famine) in Africa, which has become almost unbridgeable in the last few decades. 242pp, USA. SCARECROW.

Argues that civic cynicism in African countries is a major obstacle to the consolidation of democracy, and that the African press should address the problem not just among leaders, but also among the general populace. Index, bib, 276pp, UK. PALGRAVE.

Published in both a print version and in electronic format. Collates wide range of up-to-date information and facilitates access to an even wider array of information relating to African publishing and the book trade. Ring bound A4 format, UK. ZELL.

2001 0954102908 Rring-bound

This work was conceived as a sequel to the African Writers Handbook (African Books Collective, 1999). It is built on the debates emanating from a seminar on scholarly publishing in Africa held in Arusha, Tanzania in 2002, organised by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, the African Books Collective and the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). The seminar brought together scholars and publishers against a background of evidence of a revival of interest in higher education and scholarship in Africa after a long period of decline, and the new departures in scholarly publishing afforded by technology. This resulting collection of essays takes stock of the status of scholarly and academic publishing on the continent in the early years of the twenty-first century. 288pp, UK. AFRICAN BOOKS COLLECTIVE.

Contextualizes Africa within the rapidly changing global media, shows how patterns of media ownership and state control have evolved and the huge difficulties facing most African media workers. Drawing on the example of Cameroon, Nyamnjoh explores the question of media ethics and professionalism in Africa, and the important roles that rumour and political satire have played as sources of information and opinion formation. Argues that African governments have done very little to encourage independent media, but that the media must also share some of the blame. He concludes by laying out some ideas for the reform of public policy and journalistic behaviour. Index, bib, 308pp, UK. ZED BOOKS.

Originally announced in June 2006, but just published. Documents from historical and contemporary perspectives, the situations, trends and issues of cartooning in a number of African countries, and profiles the individuals, forms and phenomena that stand out. All types of cartooning are covered, including comic books, comic strips, gag and political cartoons, and humour magazines. 383pp, USA. HAMPTON PRESS.

This study intends to update the earlier publication, The Economics of Publishing Educational Materials in Africa (Bgoya et al., 1997), and to incorporate new research and perspectives on public-private sector relations and the increasing importance of the local private sector in textbook provision. tracks the trend towards liberalisation and decentralisation in the book sector in many African countries in the 1990s, giving examples of different partnerships and practices underway in Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It shows how these liberalisation policies have resulted in tangible development gains in many countries: more and better quality local publish-ers and books; but that the shift towards decentralisation of provision has created new problems in terms of administration and accountability. 278pp, UK . ASSOCIATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION.

Addresses the negative impact of social cleavages on the development of many African countries. It proposes new ideas on how the development crisis in Africa may be addressed by conceptualizing the underlying problem as a communication issue. Discusses how communication strategies can help to promote national integration and social, economic and political development. Index, bib, tables, UK. ASHGATE PUBLISHERS.

Ten African women relate their personal experiences of how and why they got into publishing, their successes and failures. Also includes an overview of women publishing in South Africa. 124pp, UK. AFRICAN BOOKS COLLECTIVE LTD.

Examines the relationship between educational policy-makers and educational publishers, aiming to improve it by providing an understanding of the publishing process and the roles of the institutions and people within the publishing market. 147pp, UK. ASSOCIATION FOR THE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION.

Using media case studies from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Turkey, Korea, India, the Caribbean Canada and Britain, the authors discuss expanding corporate hegemony and the impact of media globalisation. Index, refs, vii, 307pp, USA. STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK.

2002 0797423354 Paperback

Argues that indigenous modes of communication (oral tradition, drama, entertainment forms, cultural modes and local language radio) are essential to the societies within which they exist and which create them. Coupled with newer, or modern forms of communication technology such as the internet and digitised information, endogenous modes of communication are paramount to the processes of human development in Africa. 282pp, GHANA. GHANA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Volume three in the series on ICTs for development in Africa documents the processes used and institutions created to bring computers and connectivity into schools. These initiatives are designed as a means to improve the use and integration of ICTs into learning and teaching, and ultimately to empower African communities to apply new information and communication technologies to their own social and economic development. The study explores a range of project, administrative and cultural settings and a wide variety of technical solutions. 264pp, SENEGAL. CODESRIA.

The second in this series of studies on the state and status of ICTs in a development context in Africa examines the setting, operations and impacts of community telecentres. It describes the telecentres of a variety of local, and often rural communities, exploring the management structures and mechanisms that have been established to support them. The book profiles telecentre usage and discusses the potential and challenges of developing and maintaining community telecentres given poor information structures and limited human capacity. It further considers questions of universal and public access and progress thus far, towards achieving these goals. BNS, 226pp, SENEGAL. CODESRIA. 2869781156

Using an international political economy approach, the author focuses on how the internet is used by ethnic minorities to communicate and interact with each other. Franklin argues that from these online activities postcolonial politics of representation are emerging. BNS, 240pp, UK. ROUTLEDGE, 0415339405

Looks at the publishing business in Africa in the context of on-going liberalisation in every area of social and economic life. 95pp, UK. ADEA.

Includes the following chapters on Africa: 'To Enlighten South Africa': The Creation of a Free Press at the Cape in the Early Nineteenth Century - J.M.Mackenzie; 'The Thinking is Done in London': South Africa's English Language Press and Imperialism - J. Lambert; The Media and the Exile of Seretse Khama: The Bangwato vs. the British in Bechuanaland, 1848-56 - S. Williams. 288pp, UK. PALGRAVE.

Studies of the media in Africa, incorporating both African and international perspectives, are few. The thirty papers collected here were presented at a seminar organised and hosted by the Kenya-based Twaweza Communications and the International African Institute in Nairobi in 2004. They demonstrate how media outlets are used to perpetuate, question or modify the unequal power relations between the North and the South. Focusing on east Africa, the papers include discussions of the construction of old and new social entities, as defined by class, gender, ethnicity, political and economic differences, wealth, poverty, cultural behaviour, language and religion. The authors illustrate how there is increasing control by local people of traditional and modern forms of media. 320pp, UK. EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Assessment of the role of the media in sub-Saharan Africa. Though still relatively weak in comparison with their position in liberal democracies, the diverse media operations in Africa continue to play an important role in political change and are beginning to take their place in society. Index, refs, notes, tables, ix, 260pp, SWEDEN. NORDIC AFRICA INSTITUTE

2002 9171064950 Paperback

This in-depth investigation of the role that local news media play in Central African conflicts combines theoretical analysis with case studies from nine African countries: Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. Each case study is a comprehensive discussion of media influences during the conflict. Includes a chapter by Jean-Paul Marthoz (director of information at Human Rights Watch) focuses on the ways in which the media in the global North cover crises on the African continent. Index, bib, 286pp, USA. LYNNE RIENNER.

This textbook is a collection of essays that may be used as primary reading for courses on mass media technology, and information communication technology (ICT). It is also suitable as supplementary reading in media and politics, political science and courses that focus on political communication, and business communication. The book serves as a reference guide to mass media scholars, development communication experts, government leaders, and diplomats interested in media review, most importantly as it pertains to African democratic dispensations. 292pp, USA. UNIVERSITY PRESS OF AMERICA.

From 1982 to 1995 there existed a unique 'meeting of the continents' the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books. Held in the UK, at first in London and then also in other parts of the country, the Book Fair brought together people from across the globe to participate in debates, forums, readings, musical events, films, plays, and other cultural productions as well as to browse through stalls from a multiplicity of publishers. The twelve Book Fairs celebrated enormous achievements of black people. This book gives a snapshot of key years in the development of the black population of Britain, and chronicles a period of tremendous change across the world. 560 pages, illustrated, UK. NEW BEACON BOOKS LTD.

A study exploring and comparing why and to what extent national governments decide to control the internet and how this impacts on crucial socioeconomic activities and fundamental civil rights. The author provides detailed studies of US, Germany, Italy and further case studies of South Africa, Switzerland, Brazil, Canada, India and The Netherlands. BNS, 240pp, UK. ROUTLEDGE.

Grounded in empirical work by experienced scholars who are acknowledged experts in their fields, this contemporary and topical book provides an insight into some of the challenges faced throughout the African continent, such as HIV and Aids, poverty and inequality, and political participation. Examples are grounded in a critical engagement with theory, moving beyond descriptive studies and therefore contributing to the intellectual project of internationalizing media studies. 304pp, UK. ROUTLEDGE.

Revised and considerably expanded second edition (originally published as PUBLISHING AND BOOK DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, London: 1995). An annotated bibliography with some 3000 entries on many aspects of change in the African book industry between 1980 and 2007, With an introductory essay by Henry Chakava. Indexes, 672pp, UK. ZELL.

The African publishing industry continues to be dominated by educational publishing, although trade publishing is beginning to thrive, especially in the bigger markets such as South Africa and Egypt. Sadly, the same cannot be said about scholarly publishing which to all intents and purposes continues to remain the flotsam and jetsam of the African publishing landscape. This timely collection hopes that its concerns will go some way to influence policymakers and other relevant stakeholders in developing an enabling environment for scholarly publishing to thrive. 406pp, SOUTH AFRICA. AFRICA INSTITUTE OF SOUTH AFRICA.

This is the French translation of Information and Communication Technologies for Development in Africa. Volume 1. The Experience with Community Telecentres (CODESRIA, 2003). The second in this series of studies on the state and status of ICTs in a development context in Africa examines the setting, operations and impacts of community telecentres. It describes the telecentres of a variety of local, and often rural communities, exploring the management structures and mechanisms that have been established to support them. The book profiles telecentre usage and discusses the potential and challenges of developing and maintaining community telecentres given poor information structures and limited human capacity. It further considers questions of universal and public access and progress thus far, towards achieving these goals. TEXT IN FRENCH. BNS, 234pp, SENEGAL. CODESRIA. 2869781164

Peer review plays an important role in academic practice, regulating who gets published in academic journals, and who doesn’t. It implies a frank and equal intellectual exchange between scholars with similar capabilities. But does this happen in practice? And what are the consequences? In this provocative book, the author examines whether the peer review process meets these expectations in practice. Sithole publishes three essays here which she had submitted to academic journals, but which were rejected, together with comments by the (anonymous) reviewers. In an accompanying analysis, she argues that, far from maintaining equality between reviewer and reviewed, the peer review process is dominated by scholars allied to Western models of knowledge production, who use their gateway positions to marginalise and discourage African schools of thought. 106pp, SOUTH AFRICA. AFRICA INSTITUTE OF SOUTH AFRICA.

Comprehensive survey of text book distribution in sub-Saharan Africa. analyses the key policy issues affecting book distribution in Africa, drawing on major case studies done in several African countries. BNS, 272pp, KENYA. ASSOC.FOR DEVELOPMT OF EDUCATION.

The US model of media control and policy making corrupt and dominated by powerful special interests is being rapidly exported across the world. Some countries are attempting to preserve their own cultural production. Focuses on both local and international forces and critiques the bargains struck between local operators and transnationals. Extensive African examples include Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Malawi in essays on Nigerian media ownership and on the political economy of media in Southern Africa. Index, 330pp, UK. ZED BOOKS.

Examines the role gender plays in African Studies, and discusses the challenges and difficulties women scholars face in their efforts to produce and disseminate scholarly knowledge. notes, bib, index, ix, 170pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS.