Monthly Archives: May 2013
Timbuktu libraries in exile
Active for the next 21 days is this Indiegogo fundraiser aiming to preserve Timbuktu manuscripts: The manuscripts have been saved from immediate destruction, but the danger is not over. A massive archival effort is needed to protect this immense global heritage from loss. The site has a good deal of supporting information and a link to […]
Web-connected libraries for Africa
From James Bridle in The Observer series: Ebooks: the new reading on Saturday 18 May 2013, “Web-connected libraries for Africa: the dream of digital knowledge for all.” “New venture Librii is seeking to set up self-sustaining libraries with internet access in poor and isolated communities.” Now, with an initial funding of $50,000 from Kickstarter, library startup Librii is building […]
David Henige Festschrift available as open access
The Power of Doubt: Essays in Honor of David Henige. Landau, Paul S. (ed.). (Madison, WI: Parallel Press, 2011). This volume consists of the nine essays by leading Africanist historians and up-and-coming scholars, revolving around questions of methodology, fieldwork, oral history, textual and photographic archives, and proof in Africanist scholarship. It includes the covers, and is […]
Africa Writes
Africa Writes – the UK’s largest celebration of contemporary African and Diaspora literature – returns this summer, from Friday 5th to Sunday 7th July at the British Library. Organised by the Royal African Society in partnership with The British Library, Africa Writes 2013 will feature an exciting series of book launches, readings, panel discussions, poetry, performances, […]
Afrique en visu
A French language photography site, Afrique en visu, (visual Africa) describes itself as a “Plateforme d’échanges autour du métier de photographe en Afrique.” [“Interactive portal on professional photography in Africa.”] The site includes exhibit announcements, a broad variety of photo montages and essays (journalistic/documentary as well as artistic), contributor profiles, critical exchanges, and interviews with the photographers. Several […]
Soil atlas of Africa
From the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre: “At the African Union and European Union Commission College meeting in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia (April 25-26, 2013) the Atlas was introduced by EU Commissioner Hedegaard (Climate Action) on behalf of the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.” A pdf of the atlas is available to download from the […]
Wikipedia real time updates map
Wikipedia recent updates map. From the site: What is this map? Read more about this project. When an unregistered user edits Wikipedia, he or she is identified by his or her IP address. These IP addresses are translated to users’ approximate geographic location. Unregistered users only make a fraction of total edits — only 15% of […]
Another librarian faces lawsuit threat from publisher
A recent technology blog entry (New, Jake. 2013. “Publisher Threatens to Sue Blogger for $1-Billion” Chronicle of Higher Education) signals that librarian Jeff Beall has recently been threatened with a $1B lawsuit by the online publisher OMICS: “On his blog, Mr. Beall accuses OMICS of spamming scholars with invitations to publish, quickly accepting their papers, then […]
Libraries, humanities, and supercomputers
My institution brought a new supercomputer online this month (see: Hemsoth, Nicole. 2013. “University of Florida Opens HiPerGator Jaws.” HPC Wire, May 7.). As the article states, “supercomputing resources can be game-changers in fields that we don’t traditionally associate with super systems.” Several of my library colleagues participated in making a set of short videos for the research […]
Open Anthropology journal disappoints
A post at Savage Minds Backup on the new AAA Open Anthropology journal expresses real disappointment: Many of the problems were obvious from the beginning. The new ‘journal’ is not ‘open access’: all of the material on it is being released temporarily for a six month window, at which point it will be closed again. True, older material will […]
African Studies library 