MINUTES
Thursday, October 30, 2003, 10-10:30 a.m.
Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston MA
Present: Peter Limb (Michigan State U.), Chair; Miki Goral (UCLA); Ruby Bell-Gam
(UCLA); Phyllis Bischof (UC Berkeley); Al Kagan (U. Illinois); David Westley
(Boston U); Gretchen Walsh (Boston U); Edward Miner (U. Iowa); Miriam Conteh-Morgan
(Ohio State); Emilie Ngo-Nguidjol (U. Wisconsin-Madison); Lauris Olson
(U. Penn); Akilah Nosakhere (Atlanta U Center); Jill Young Coelho (Harvard);
Bassey Irele (Harvard); Karen Fung (Stanford); Ken Lohrentz (U of Kansas);
David Easterbrook (Northwestern); Chuck Riley (Yale); Joe Lauer (Michigan
State U); Deborah LaFond (SUNY, Albany), Marion Frank-Wilson (Indiana U);
David Hogarth (Hogarth Representation); Oluranti Olumoroti (Hogarth Representation,
Nigeria); Benedict Oladele (National Institute for Policy and Strategic
Studies, Kuru, Nigeria); Hans Zell (Hans Zell Publishing Consultants);
Marieta Harper (Library of Congress); Paul Steere (LC, Nairobi).
1. Chair Peter Limb called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Due to the compressed ALC meeting schedule, personal introductions were initially deferred to subsequent ALC meetings but these were later made during the meeting to clarify the identity of participants.
The minutes of the spring 2003 meeting at Yale University were approved in the version already posted to the ALC website: http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/afs/alc/bibm103.html
2. New bibliographies/reference works. Al Kagan reported that he had been contracted to write a revised edition of his book Reference Guide to Africa, published by Scarecrow Press, 1999. Works in progress include Limb’s bibliography of AIDS in South Africa, David Westley’s bibliography of Southern Bantu languages, and Miriam Conteh-Morgan’s book The Undergraduate’s Companion to African Writers and Their Web Sites, which will be published by Libraries Unlimited in its Undergraduate Companion series.
Oluranti Olumoroti announced the recent publication of new volumes of the National Bibliography of Nigeria for 2001 and 2002.
Emilie Ngo-Nguidjol commented on the poor quality of a recent bibliography of African literature published by Nova. Lauris Olson welcomed the comment and suggested that such information should be routinely shared among the group.
3. Conover-Porter Award. Limb issued a call for nominations for the 2004 Conover-Porter Award. He announced that the Committee had already received two nominations.
4. Databases/indexes/bibliographies
a. SABINET e-journals/ISAP Online, etc. Olson resumed the discussion previously started at the Yale meeting in spring 2003 about SABINET full-text. NERL (NorthEast Research Libraries consortium) had considered licensing SABINET, which is closely tied to Index to South African Periodicals, but SABINET full-text apparently goes back only as far as 2001. Another concern is frequent downtime. Phyllis Bischof suggested libraries could group together to purchase access to SABINET. Bell-Gam wondered how such arrangements would intersect with formal consortia. Bischof noted it would be worth exploring.
b. Hans Zell, noting that he is committed to both electronic and print formats for reference and bibliographical works, stated that he discusses this issue in his contribution to the forthcoming Dan Britz memorial volume edited by David Henige. He commented on the dearth of discussion in the ALC on the issue of electronic versus print formats. Gretchen Walsh expressed concern about print serial subscriptions being cancelled in favor of electronic versions, which can leave libraries with nothing to show for years of subscription if they are in turn cancelled.
5. Africana in the U.S.
a. ABC distribution. Olson observed that Michigan State University Press’s distribution of African publications to the U.S. market is successful and growing. MSU Press distributes African imprints in the US for ABC (African Books Collective). Jill Coelho noted that MSU Press needs to change its practice of invoicing and supplying books one at a time, a practice that is very expensive and inconveniencing. Limb noted that the Press was aware of the issue and that the situation may improve with the possible implementation of a distribution partnership between MSU Press and major U.S. book vendors.
b. African journals and corporations: affordability and access. Bell-Gam expressed concern over rising costs of periodicals, particularly after they are acquired by large conglomerates. Olson added that this has led to many libraries canceling subscriptions due to unaffordable costs. A discussion ensued, and it was noted that Hans Zell’s article on this issue in the ALN was very informative (see: Africana Libraries Newsletter, no. 111, June/Sept. 2003).
c. U.S. imprints of African newspapers. Karen Fung expressed satisfaction with the U.S.-based newspaper service Connect2Africa, which prints African newspapers locally for simultaneous distribution in the U.S. The product looks and feels authentic. Free samples of the U.S. print of the Daily Times from Nigeria were provided in the meeting room.
6. Publisher/vendor issues.
a. New publishing activities. Zell announced the publication of The African Publishing Companion: A Resource Guide and the new, third edition of The African Studies Companion: A Guide to Information Sources, both available online and in print. These and other Hans Zell publications provide free online access with purchase of the print edition. Sales of the African Publishing Companion are rather disappointing to date. Zell’s publishing operation is small and he handles everything personally, even the packing of books. He extended an open invitation to ALC members to visit him in the small village of Lochcarron in the Northwest Scottish Highlands.
b. Nigerian publishing today. David Hogarth introduced guest speaker Oluranti Olumoroti, Hogarth Representation’s partner/supplier of Nigerian imprints. Olumoroti has sixteen years experience in the book business and was formerly a librarian at the University of Ibadan. He gave an overview of the contemporary Nigerian publishing industry:
Publishers have minimal financial capital and often rely on authors to pay for publishing their own works. Many authors self-publish. Another negative factor is high inflation, especially due to the trend toward deregulation. Periodicals should be treated as if they were monographs because they may cease publishing after just a few issues. Even government serials are irregular or are sometimes published in combined volumes. These include Federal Government publications that are sparsely published.
c. Library of Congress Office, Nairobi. Field Director Paul Steere informed the Committee that the Nairobi office has moved into a new building. He had returned to Nairobi at the end of September. The Quarterly Index to Periodical Literature: Eastern and Southern Africa is up and running and is updated regularly. Due to its success, LC expects to produce a similar service with the Accessions List. Distribution of the print version of the Quarterly Index may be discontinued outside Africa; it will be reduced and may be eliminated altogether. Staffing at the Nairobi office declined when two staffers emigrated. Shipping is now up to date again after earlier glitches at LC and the Nairobi office when staff could not travel for acquisitions. The slow pace had affected monographic acquisitions (down by 87 from the previous year) and cataloging. Travel has now resumed at a normal pace and production is up again. Steere concluded by offering to answer questions during the break.
7. Proposal to rename Committee “Bibliography & Reference” or “Bibliography, Reference, & Collection Development”. This was deferred to a future forum due to the lack of time.
8. Reference Update/e-Reference trends (if and as required). Deferred.
9. Other business. It was announced that the Human Sciences Research Council was present in the ASA Exhibit Hall. Mandated to publish its own research, it has also launched the HSRC Press with publications in electronic or print formats and some in both formats.
The meeting was adjourned around 10:40 a.m.