Monthly Archives: January 2014
WiderNet delivers 700th eGranary library in developing world
From the WiderNet Project newsletter: The WiderNet Project recently sold its 700th eGranary Digital Library. The libraries, which contain over 32 million resources, have been delivered to communities and institutions in over 40 countries across the developing world. The lucky #700 was purchased by the non-profit organization TechAide in Ghana. The project addresses poor internet connectivity in […]
Why let people pay to kill endangered species?
A single Namibian Black Rhino hunting permit was sold by auction for $350,000 in Dallas, Texas (USA) this week. “Killing one older male rhino who’s no longer able to breed, the club says, will benefit the rest of the herd. That’s because older males often remain territorial and sometimes kill younger male rhinos.” A CNN report states that […]
25 sources for free public domain e-books
This will be a useful list for many readers: An updated list of sites that offer free public domain books in electronic and audio format. Every year new publications enter public domain. That means their intellectual property rights have expired or are not applicable any longer. Project Gutenberg tops the list, followed by Europeana, the […]
Six tons of elephant ivory crushed by China
In the news today, quoting from Dinny McMahon‘s article in the Wall Street Journal: Chinese government officials destroyed more than six tons of ivory that had been illegally smuggled into the country, signaling that Beijing is willing to play a greater role in protecting dwindling elephant populations. But the effort faces an uphill battle in […]
Sacred objects returned from US museum to Kenya
An article by Kevin J. Kelley in the Daily Nation (Nairobi) reports: The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is voluntarily presenting to the National Museums of Kenya the vigango donated to it in 1990 by Hollywood actor Gene Hackman and film producer Art Linson. “There is no legal instrument or international treaty that requires us to […]
Where in the world are our readers?
Ours is a very small blog (just me and my computer) aimed at readers with specialized interests (total views are under 7,000…which for the niche we represent is satisfying to me). I’m nevertheless proud to report that our readership literally spans the globe, with Africans very much present and indeed prominent among them! Here’s a breakdown of numbers over […]
African Studies library 