Bridge Builders African Experiences With Information and Communication Technology (1996) / Chapter Skim
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CASE STUDIES ON DESKTOP PUBLISHING
CASE STUDIES ON DESKTOP PUBLISHING
Pages 63-120
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From page 63... ...
The page can then be sent to a laser printer for inexpensive page proofs or to a typesetting device for final printing. DTP can help to invigorate Africa's struggling publishing houses.
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From page 64... ...
The authors have used DTP to publish newsletters and journals, scholarly books and proceedings, and such materials as flyers, invitations, and announcements. Thus have they increased publishing opportunities for African scientists and created new and innovative means of disseminating scientific and technological information to a broader audience.
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From page 65... ...
He is a graduate of Fort Hare, South Africa, and has a special interest in the development of science and technology education in Africa. He has written two books that address problems relating to the construction and improvisation of science equipment in secondary schools in developing countries.
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From page 66... ...
An appreciable number of books are being written and published for schools and are usually directed at the local primary and lower secondary school syllabi and curricula, that is, up to the 11-year-old age group. A shortage of locally produced books continues to exist at the upper secondary level with a pupil population of only about 20,000.
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From page 67... ...
N Dune, Chairman of the Department of Computer Science, who happened to be on sabbatical leave in the United States at that time, was asked to make a suggestion for a suitable basic system for our DTP facility.
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From page 68... ...
Over the last five years, a number of lecturers have used this facility for either one or the other purpose. The present Dean of Science, a mathematician, was one of tile first to produce a textbook using the Faculty of Science DTP Facility.
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From page 69... ...
It has four disk drives, as follows: Drive A is a 1.2 megabyte 5-inch floppy drive; Drive B is a 360 kilobyte 5-inch floppy drive; Drive C is a 1.4 megabyte 3-inch floppy drive; and Drive D is an 80 megabyte hard drive. We felt that two floppy drives, one high density and one double density, were needed to allow for the fact that many university departments do not have computers with high-density drives and an occasional incompatibility occurred.
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From page 70... ...
The desktop publishing equipment includes a variety of quite sophisticated software accessories specifically directed to the needs of the academic staff of the Faculty of Science. A brief description of the facilities is enough to engage the interest and respect of a serious scientific author.
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From page 71... ...
It produces TIFF files that can be imported into Word. DERIVE, Version 2 Described as a Mathematical Assistant, DERIVE is used for simplifying, solving, and plotting mathematical expressions.
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From page 72... ...
It was therefore appropriate that we should use this as a starting point from which to decide the nature of the articles that we would request in each regular or special feature. The editorial board agreed that the following regular features would be requested from each department in sequence: · Meet the ....
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From page 73... ...
is, in our opinion, highly recommended for a small DTP facility. In addition to Word-for-Windows, most typists in Zimbabwe are familiar with WordPerfect 5 0 or 5.1.
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From page 74... ...
The fact that the printer was made easily accessible to all users may have been a mistake because it has led to considerable abuse and overuse and the expense of excessive replacement oftoner cartridges. Many would have preferred that its use was strictly monitored and a nominal charge levied for use, but in retrospect there is evidence that the "free use" policy played a principal role in the instant acceptance of the DTP Facility.
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From page 75... ...
The very first issue contained an article on the DTP project and the equipment that was available for prospective authors. Without the Integrator, it is unlikely that There can be no doubt that the original purpose of the DTP facility, namely, the production of compiled lecture notes and textbooks, has been realized.
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From page 76... ...
One of the first products was derived from lecture notes on Atmospheric Physics. The present Dean of Science, a mathematician, was one of the first to produce a textbook using the Faculty of Science DTP Facility.
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From page 77... ...
Training of Academic Users The DTP Facility proved to be quite popular with the academics who wished to produce books or compile lecture notes, and with research students who were preparing their theses or dissertations. The enhanced presentation of graphical material was particularly favored.
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From page 78... ...
The DTP Facility then becomes one of the other services available on the network and using it becomes less dependent on special trips to the Faculty of Science DTP room where you may find that someone has already beaten you to the computer.
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From page 79... ...
Although laser printers are more reliable and still produce the best quality output, we now have inkjet printers which, simply by changing the ink cartridges, produce hard copy in color. As they generally cost about half the price of laser printers, it may be advantageous to keep an inkjet printer as a stand-by for special purposes such as the production of covers and brochures which are best done in color.
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From page 80... ...
software with various degrees of reliability and usefulness. The scanned image is converted by the software to a binary file which can be imported into a text editor or a word processor.
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From page 81... ...
Reprographics by Copy Printer The integrated system, consisting of the 30 MHz 386 with an 80 megabyte hard drive, Chinon scanner, HP laser printer, and Konica photocopier, worked very well till this year, 1995. The extent to which the facility is being used has increased to a level that was not foreseen five years ago when it was first conceived.
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From page 82... ...
We have already made much headway on the campus in this direction so we hope that this goal will be speedily achieved. The purchase of the following: a more powerful computer to host the DTP Facility; a high resolution flat-bed scanner possibly with the capability of .
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From page 83... ...
The secretary should be able to produce accurate drafts that have been subjected to thorough spelling checks. Planned and Regular Upgrading of Hardware and Software There should be built into the proposal for a DTP Facility, plans for regularly upgrading the hardware and software.
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84 BRIDGE BUILDERS Networking Many universities in developing countries are working towards the establishment of a campus computer network. If this is available, the DIP Facility should be made accessible to the network users.
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She is still actively involved in desktop publishing and in producing works that contribute to scientific literacy. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT Background Information on Tanzania Tanganyika (now Tanzania)
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acquire' store and disseminate scientific and technology information, and for that purpose hold or sponsor conferences' symposia' meetings' semi nars or workshops or publish any newspaper, periodical or do any other act or thing designed to promote interest in science and technology devel opment; advise the government on: priorities in scientific research; the allocation and utilization of research funds according to priorities referred to above; regional and international cooperation in scientific research and transfer of technology; matters relating to the training and recruitment of research personnel; instruction on scientific subjects in educational institutions within the United Republic; the initiation, formulation and implementation of research policies and programs; the establishment and maintenance of national scientific standards; and
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From page 87... ...
The Publications unit has the DTP facilities under its jurisdiction and produces documents for publication. The Popularization Unit produces radio programs in conjunction with the parent Ministry that are in Kiswahili and serves to popularize science and technology at the grassroots level.
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From page 88... ...
Over the years, the number of publications has increased with the expansion of the Commission and the activities it performs. Five years after its inception, the DTP Unit has produced camera-ready copy for public lectures; the Proceedings of the Annual Scientific Seminars; the Act of Parliament for COSTECH; three annual reports; books of abstracts for the Medical Association of Tanzania, the International Centre for Industrial Technology and Environmental Sciences, and the National Fund for the advancement of Science end technology (in both English and Swahili)
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From page 89... ...
His talk was entitled "The Seaweed Farming Story along the Western Indian Ocean Coast: Past, Present and Future." Using its DTP facilities, COSTECH has been able to produce the camera ready version of the lecture. In 1993, COSTECH also secured funds from I3NESCO's Intergovernmental Informatics Programme (IIP)
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From page 90... ...
These are prepared up to the camera-ready version using the DTP facilities available at COSTECH. We also compile articles of interest to the Tanzanian science and technology situation from the annual seminars, international newspapers, or other sources and send them to the top leadership and the scientific community.
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From page 91... ...
A secondary school teacher told us that he finds information that he can use to teach and stimulate his class. A number of local newspaper editors have printed some of our articles.
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From page 92... ...
I would also make sure that the DTP unit had the proper equipment available to it on a full-time basis. This includes a dedicated 386 or 486 computer with a laser printer and a scanner for more effective compilation of camera-ready copy and for importation of graphics.
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Also at COSTECH, I would like to thank Mr. Yonazi, Senior Scientific Officer and the Desk Officer in charge of TANISSAT, who has been very understanding when I use his equipment.
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She is also a volunteer lecturerfor women undergraduate students at the University of Nairobi, where she coordinates programs for gender-equity. Her main focus of research in book production is on market orientation within the scholarly publishing world and _ on the search for alternative human resource formulae to enhance cost efficiency.
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From page 96... ...
Also in 1992, I carried out a study for the Association of African Universities in which I investigated the merits and the demerits of the management and organization regarding the marketing of scholarly publishing activities in Western and Central Africa. I recommended the creation of a specialized sub-regional publishing network in order to meet local needs in a coherent fashion.
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From page 97... ...
The participating institutions are: IDRC International Development Research Centre, Nairobi ICIPE The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi ACSS African Crop Science Society, Kampala OSSREA Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern Africa, Addis Ababa ICRAF International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, Nairobi ELCI The Environmental Liaison Centre International, Nairobi ITFC The Institute for Tropical Forestry Conservation, Mbarara University, Uganda
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From page 98... ...
In the case of the African Crop Science Society, ISP published the first issues and coordinated a colorful launch of their journal in Kampala. These are assignments that are carefully budgeted and afford ISP substantial benefit.
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From page 99... ...
We used the information received from the SWOT analysis to evaluate project's impact on the users, the host organization, and the collaborating institutions. It also brought to light the aspects of the project that were not well done or that could have been done better.
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. Opportunities We could train trainers and colleagues from collaborating institutions in the use of the DTP equipment.
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THE RESULTS, IMPACT,AND BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT The main activities at ICIPE Science Press include discovering new marketing angles for scholarly publishing, training publishing staff, and creating a network of collaborators to the benefit of effective scholarly material being produced. The ENVIRONET project is just over one-year old and I will discuss some of the results in this section.
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From page 102... ...
human resource development for both trainees and women university students on attachment; d) training manuals for successive courses to be hosted for the DTP of sci entific manuscripts; e)
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From page 103... ...
We are approaching donors to help equip a resource centre that will link women from countries in the region. Given that these students are already trained and are resourceful, such a center could help in the provision of support for this activity as its popularity spreads among collaborating institutions.
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From page 104... ...
Organization The restructuring of ICIPE has moved ICIPE Science Press and all of its various projects from the management to the research arm of the institution. This will ensure that the project's own research content, objectives, and goals are being
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From page 105... ...
Electronic Publishing Electronic publishing is now the focus of my efforts as well as those of the collaborating institutions. The links have now been set up.
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From page 106... ...
ENVIRONET Phase II ENVIRONET will have to compete for scarce funding for its successive stages and group financing of activities will be the foreseeable scenario. Despite the difficult launch period during the restructuring of the host institution, there is considerable interest within the region in the activities and the objectives ofthe project.
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From page 107... ...
We will properly quantify their role and the service they can market to collaborating institutions. The importance of reducing overhead is critical to the survival of a scholarly publishing press.
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From page 108... ...
One Tertio publication, entitled Africa Development ~ Last Frontier, by Sadig Rasheed, will have a considerable impact for the inter-disciplinary scholarly publishing system continent-wide. One main title is being published under the Tertio program every year.
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From page 109... ...
, which was a pioneer in using such technology for scholarly publishing in Africa. The AAS is a continent-wide, non-governmental organization of senior scientists, science managers, and policy experts dedicated to the promotion of science and technology for development in Africa.
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It decided to tackle the problems that transcend national and ideological boundaries: drought, desertification, and food deficit. Finally, its members rallied around the theme of"bridging the gap between the scientists, industrialists, and policy makers in Africa." The AAS chose a core program cover r ng tour areas: Mobilization and strengthening of the African scientific community; Publication and dissemination of scientific materials; Research, development, and public policy; and Capacity building in science and technology.
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From page 111... ...
All in all, the study came up with conflicting predictions that could only be tested in the field through praxis. It is a tribute to the resilience, persistence, vision, and managerial acumen of the leadership of the AAS that the journal not only started, but has survived and has become a regular, well recognized beacon of scholarly publishing in Africa.
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From page 112... ...
A database management program (Dbase III) was used for the project on Profiles and Databank of African Scientists arid Scientific Institutions.
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From page 113... ...
The AAS, through its project on Profiles and Databank ofAfrican Scientists and Scientif c Institutions, the Fellowship ofthe academy, and the Network of African Scientific Organizations (NASO) , was already in touch with much expertise Africa-wide and indeed world-wide.
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From page 114... ...
Departure of Professor Isoun The first major challenge to the DTP program at the African Academy of Science came in early 1990 when Professor Isoun returned to Nigeria. He retained his post as non-resident Editor and the office in Nairobi was reorganized.
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From page 115... ...
We looked for reviewers who were not from the same country as the authors. In order to continuously recalibrate our standards, we also chose reviewers from outside Africa.
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From page 116... ...
Other Publications As soon as ASP proved the viability of DTP for scholarly publishing in Africa with the release of D&Iin March 1989, the managers of AAS were emboldened to widen the DTP scope to include books, monographs, and reports. The editorial office already had four manuscripts on hand, coming out of other AAS programs or through outside collaboration.
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From page 117... ...
In the meantime, it appears that the impetus for dynamic use of DTP has been picked up by the ICIPE Science Press, which is covered by Ms. Agnes Katama's case study (included in this volume)
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From page 118... ...
She used DTP to publish Inventions of African Scientists, which was printed by ICIPE Science Press in 1992. These entrepreneurs were soon joined by others, including ICIPE secretaries and graduate students at the University of Nairobi.
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From page 119... ...
The famous "internationally recognized" journals that the African scientists were clamoring to publish in, e.g., Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) , are actually quite parochial in their core, because they have to be relevant to the needs and aspirations of American chemistry.
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From page 120... ...
In scholarly publishing, it pays to have a good, marketable product to work on. The AAS itself, its mission of excellence, its Fellows, and programs could be sold to a good extent, inside and, more particularly, outside Africa.
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