Close to thirty institutions receive certificates at Berlin10 Open Access Conference | News

The Berlin10 Open Access Conference drew to a close on Thursday (8 November) when certificates were handed to 28 African institutions that had signed the Berlin Declaration... The Berlin Declaration was drawn up after a meeting in 2003 organised by the Max Planck Society an the European Cultural Heritage Online project. After this meeting a number of international research, scientific and cultural institutions issued and signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

Stellenbosch University (SU) in 2010 became the first African institution to sign the Declaration. Two years later close to thirty African institutions has followed the example set by SU. And this year SU became the first African institution to host the prestigious Berlin Open Access Conference.  'Academic libraries, especially those in Africa, have limited access to critical research information. This stifles the growth of African research and its capacity to find solutions to the problems facing the continent. Access barriers sometimes even result in critical, relevant knowledge and research outputs generated in Africa being published in journals overseas. And these journals are not affordable to African academic libraries. This means that Africa is deprived of its own knowledge production, relegating the continent to the status of silent and invisible contributor to research output. Open access can help to remove these financial barriers to access to information and it is one of the most progressive ways of growing and showcasing African research ...'  The following institutions received certificates in acknowledgement of their commitment to the principles of open ..."