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From Paper to PDF? The Publications of Africa-Related International Organisations, Past, Present and Future

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2022

David Blake
David Blake*
Affiliation:
Commonwealth Secretariat
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Extract

This paper looks briefly at the pattern of hard copy publication of a number of ! international organisations and considers the extent of library holdings of items from these bodies, both in this country and, to a much more limited extent, in the United States. It then lookstat their websites and considers the extent to which the same information is available in both formats. Finally, questions are asked about the value of these websites both for users in Africa and elsewhere and there is also some discussion about the problems which they raise for librarians.

Any mention of the term ‘international organisation’ leads most people to think immediately of the United Nations. But this paper is not about the output of the central bodies of the UN, although there is plenty of material of interest to Africanists coming out of bodies such as the General Assembly, the Security Council and UNESCO, based as they are in New York, Geneva or Paris.

Type
Articles
Information
African Research and Documentation , Volume 89 , 2002 , pp. 57 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © African Research & Documentation 2002

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Footnotes

This paper was originally presented at the SCOLMA annual conference held at the British Library in June 2001. Changes take place very quickly, especially in the world of the Internet, and the paper has been substantially revised to take account of this. Any views expressed are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Commonwealth Secretariat.

References

1 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Report on ECA statistical activities during the period 1999 to 2001 and programme ofxvorkfor the biennium 2002-2003. New York: United Nations Economic and Social Council, 2001. (Document number: E/ECA/DISD/CODI.2/15)

2 Nurcombe, Valerie. Information sources in official publications. London: Bowker-Saur, 1997.Google Scholar

3 Irele, Dupe. ‘African regional organisations information: Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)’, in Anglophone Africa Seminar on Government Information and Official Publications: selected papers of the Anglophone Africa Seminar on Government Information and Official Publications held at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare,15018 December 1994, edited by Moshoeshoe-Chadzingwa, M.M.. Boston Spa: International Federation of Library Associations, 1998, p. 7-20.Google Scholar

4 Beyond boundaries: cyberspace in Africa edited by Robins, Melinda B. and Hilliard, Robert L.. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 2002.Google Scholar