Making Knowledge Available

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Making Knowledge Available

• Professor Rune Nilsen
• Centre for International Health
• University of Bergen, Norway

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Public good

• Nature
• Research Knowledge
• Threatened by
• Competitive Capital and Market Forces
• Ignorance also among researchers
• Conservatism in the research communities

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Background

• Professor, Centre for International Health
  (1988-)
• Demand for publications and citations
• Partners in Africa and Asia
• Marginalized in the Global knowledge society
• Deputy Rector (VC)2000-2005)
• Evaluations--- Lack of citations and available
  publication
• Budget process revealed the dramatic situation
  of journals
• National initiative for Open Access, journals
  and archives (OAI)
• Parliament White paper
• Council for higher education
• The University Library- The Knowledge
  Management unit of UiB
• Director Nile Basin Research programme (2006-)
• for the 10 Nile state governments

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10/90 Dilemma in health science

• The dilemma is the central problem in health
  research.
• Every year the world spends 50-60 billion for
  health research and development.
• Only 10 of this is used for research on the
  health problems of 90 of the worlds people.
• The 10/90 Report on Health Research, 1999
• Global Forum for Health Research

10/90 dilemma --A dilemma for all fields Social
sciences, arts, law, environment,
technology............. and access to knowledge
and research literature
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Nile Basin Research Program, April 2006

• 10 Countries around the Nile
• --Politics, history, climate, health,
  technology--
• WB and all governments and regional universities
  Norway
• Dramatic situation level of water, droughts,
  floods, food diseases, conflicts and war.
• We found so many publications and theses piled
  in a room of our library. How can we make it
  available to the Nile challenges? And to the
  research community?
• Professor in the Nile region, 2006
• UiB will facilitate Open Archive Initiative

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Nile Basin Research programme, April 2006

• Difficult to get research knowledge Out
• The academic problems in developing countries
  are not considered interesting by many journals
• Theses not made available Rooms filled up
• The price of journals not affordable
• Conservatism towards the concepts of OA/OAI
  ---supported by Northern partners
• Enthusiasm for the OAI initiative in NBRP

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• ..the results of most studies conducted in the
  country lies in the bookshelves instead of being
  utilized in solving the problems that were
  addressed by those studies..
• ..the government.. has not given priority to the
  utilization of research findings in its
  development plans..
• Professor Kikula University of Dar Es Salaam1997

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• Research and higher learning are together the
  motors in the Knowledge Revolution for Equity
  and Development
• Research and higher learning in a global
  perspective will become the core of ordinary
  research and higher learning institutions

Peril and Promise Task force for higher
education (World Bank 2000)
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RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

• We are employed to research, and to make the
  knowledge available and used by the global
  research community, e.g for Research impact
• We shall publish in Peer Review, quality
  journals
• 24000 peer-reviewed
• 2500000 art pr. Year
• We do not have access to the journals
• Example Ethiopian Journal of Health Development
• We publish for Research impact and not for
  royalties.

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Knowledge management a core function of a
Research Universitysome observations

• The digital shift of paradigm for publications
• Often not fronted by Institutional academic
  leadership.
• Not pushed by the researchers and ..
• The libraries pushed, but had not mandate and
  power
• The Library system is the body for
• dynamic Knowledge management and
• keeping an institutional memory of knowledge
• Very few universities have a real and
  prioritized
• Knowledge management unit as an important part of
  the institutional academic leadership

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Institutional memory of knowledge

• To visualize the institutional knowledge
• To enable access to the publications when access
  to the databases of the journals no longer is
  paid
• To secure a culture among the researchers
  through self archiving through the Institutional
  Archive
• If not active self archiving we can loose
  access to our own institutions publications

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Open Access and Open Institutional
ArchivesStatus at University of Bergen

• Established and anchored in the University
  strategy (2005-)
• As a tool for better academic impact
• As a tool for Global Public Good
• The university library has the overall
  responsibility
• Has played the key role for Bergen Open Research
  Archive
• Manage the BORA and the parallel Thesis archive
• Some departments and Faculties implement the
  concept
• A few of the very best research groups are active
• Many researchers has not discovered BORA
• Many of the research leaders has not taken
  ownership
• Lack of Public Good perspective??
• Lack of understanding of the power of OA/OIA??
• ..

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Open Access and Open Institutional Archives

• Fundamental in reaching the RESEARCH GOALS
• Excellence
• Availability
• Academic impact
• Academic relevance
• Important to strengthen COMPETITIVENESS for the
  research groups and in higher learning
• A main tool to combat Scientific apartheid
• Ismail Serageldins,
• President Library in Alexandria
• World summit on sustainable development in
  Johannesburg

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Making Knowledge Available
This workshop is timely set and important