Accessing information in developing countries

In 2003, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission at the Association of Commonwealth Universities invited INASP to develop a practical workshop for Commonwealth scholars studying in the UK. The aim was to highlight the resources that are available to them when they return to their home institutions, and to encourage them to be champions for the work their institutional libraries do to enable access to those e-resources.

This one-day workshop looked at the range of electronic information resources available to researchers, how they can be accessed, the role of the university library in enabling sustainable access to e-resources, and how researchers can support their institution’s library.

Achievements

• Three workshops with over 60 participants who built their knowledge and skills around accessing high-quality e-resources for their research.
• Complaint from one scholar that the access he had at his host institution in the UK was not as good as it was in his home university!
• Several scholars went on to actively support their libraries and become key partners in INASP’s network.
• Workshop materials available via a Creative Commons licence, with presentations, speaker’s notes and exercises.