Connecting people and information: how an African special library is building bridges

Abstract

“Connecting People and Information” takes on a whole new meaning when there is a 6 000-10 000 km distance between the publishers of information and the users and where an even greater chasm exists between the currencies and economies of “distant” lands and those of Europe and North America. Although physical distance has become largely insignificant with the advent of online information resources, the cost gap still looms very large. This is indeed a sizable “bridge” to build. The CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), one of Africa’s leading scientific research organisations, experienced a gradual but significant decline in its collections over the last twenty years mainly due to spiralling costs. A major organisational reconfiguration exercise provided the perfect opportunity for the CSIR Information Services to turn this trend around and reconnect the CSIR researchers to global science and technology information. The turnaround process is described and the authors report on the current measurement of the value added and the impact this has had on the organisation. The authors also describe new projects such as the bridge being built to connect the world to the organisation’s own research output and an exciting initiative to connect scientists with scientists