Academic and professional literature publisher Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., UK, is collaborating with several academic institutions to send journal archives to universities in Africa. This initiative was launched to encourage the recycling and reuse of past publications that may still be of use to students and researchers in emerging economies.
Eric Broug, Regional Business Manager for Africa at Emerald first prompted a partnership with Leeds Metropolitan University with a letter which appeared in The Times Higher Education Supplement. In response to the letter, Leeds Metropolitan University Library School contacted Emerald to pursue this idea further. This led to an archive donation from Leeds Met to the LIS School of Makerere University in Ghana earlier this year.
Following on from the success of this partnership, Emerald is now working with other academic institutions from the UK and other parts of the world to send journal volumes to various African countries, with projects underway in Zambia and Nigeria. All the organisations involved are hopeful that these collaborative projects, where all parties contribute in one way or another, will create awareness and serve as an example and success story of academics from around the world working together in partnership.
