OPEN ACCESS UPTAKE BY ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS IN UGANDA: A SWOT ANALYSIS by Maria G. N. Musoke Prof of Inf Sc and University Librarian Makerere University. Presentation to the OA Conference, Held at Silver Springs Hotel 21st May, 2013 Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13 Outline Introduction – What is SWOT, purpose, limitations Key issues The future Conclusion. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Introduction: What is SWOT? SWOT means: Strengths (S) Weaknesses (W) Opportunities (O) Threats (T) S and W – internal factors – we may have control over; O and T – external factors – we essentially have no control Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Introduction: What is SWOT… cont? SWOT is a planning tool, that enables us to identify both the internal and external factors that influence what we do. The purpose is to identify the strategies that will enable us to align our institutions’ resources and capabilities to the environment in which they operate. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Introduction …SWOT analysis helps in strategic planning as follows: It is a source of info. Builds insitution’s strengths. Reverses or addresses institution’s weaknesses. Maximizes its response to opportunities. Overcomes or addresses institution’s threats. It identifies core competencies of the institution. It helps in setting objectives for strategic planning. It helps in knowing past, present & future as it uses past and current inf to set future plans. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

SWOT analysis limitations: examples As librarians, we have no control over: Changes caused by OA; Changing education, research & info environments; Price changes; Research output; Government legislation; Economic environment; etc. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13 SWOT cont… INTERNAL: Strength - : Weaknesses - EXTERNAL : Opportunities - :Threats - Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Ex of Strength of OA in Ug Universities Increasing demand for lib and info services; Subscription to print or electronic journals is costly; so OA provides free access to inf resources globally; The Consortium of Ug Univ Lib (CUUL), that is pooling resources to sustain the e-journal subscription, is training librarians, etc; Periodic training of end users to impart skills; Steadily improving ICT facilities in Univ. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Ex of Strength in Ug Universities Ongoing research and publication activities; Univ have successfully worked with INASP, Eifl and other Dev partners to manage e-resources; Available local training facilities for librarians in Univ

Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13 Ex of strength: IR Mak Univ Institutional repository (USDL) was launched in 2005 on DSpace - http://dspace.mak.ac.ug By Jan, there were over 2,700 records; this has contributed to the steadily improving Mak univ webometrics ranking + visibility. Maklib can share with other Univ the experiences gained since 2006. Needs: skilled and committed librarians, IT equipment support from Univ management, Graduate Sch, etc. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Ex of weaknesses in Ug Univ Limited IT infrastructure to access OA journals Lack of IR in most universities Few librarians in most univ Limited skills in some libraries Retention of skilled librarians Low budget in most libraries Low budget for research & publications OA not yet fully understood & OA policies not in place in most univ.. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Ex of Threat : Publication fees Payment of fees in high impact journals by authors: publishers & their business - only change of payment model from subscription to journals! Some waiver of publication fees for authors in poor countries – still the publication fees are going to reduce the no of publications from poor countries – become more and more invisible globally! Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Ex of Threat … cont Restrictions by some publishers – not to allow self archiving; Decreasing funding; Better remuneration outside Univ libraries Insecurity caused by ‘openness’ Quality issues e.g. IR not peer reviewed.

Ex of opportunities Changing IT environment Changes created by OA Support from Development partners International collaborations, linkages, networks and partnerships Decreasing cost of some ICTs Global connectivity

Key issues for OA uptake in Ug Universities Some questions: Are librarians ready and prepared for OA? Have publisher-librarian relationship been built? Are the tools to manage OA in place? Are Universities aware of the implications of OA and are they prepared to change?

Key issues for OA uptake in Ug Univ… cont Budget: Implement the 10% of IGF for lib to manage the IR – green; & gold for Ac librarians Upgrade staff skills & competences in ICTs through training, etc to manage IR, metadata, etc Role and mandate of libraries and librarians Enhance the visibility of institutional research and publications Strengthen ICT infrastructure & Raise awareness of administrators, researchers / authors, etc about OA Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Key issues for OA uptake in Ug Univ… cont - the ‘gold route’ (see Finch report) for Universities’ continued academic visibility by paying publication fees as this will measure the Univ’s research impact globally (as demonstrated by various impact assessment tools ); - Support Univ’s Institutional repository (green route) to increase the visibility of Univ’s res output & to improve the webometrics ranking of the Univ.

The future of OA in Ug Univ libraries Librarians should spearhead OA in Univ Need to automate Univ libraries to bring them to a level that can benefit from opportunities created by OA. Fully implement Univ’s IR to increase the visibility of Univ’s res output & to support the ‘green route’ for dissemination of research. Advocate for support of the ‘gold route’ for Univ’s continued academic visibility by paying publication fees as this will measure Univ’s research impact globally. Maintenance of IR and OA activities. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13 The future …cont Continue: end- user training to impart skills; Building capacity of Librarians to cope with the new advances in the profession and changes created by OA; Librarian to be involved in multidisciplinary research, & publications; Contributing to teaching & learning of Universities; Fully implement the sustainability strategies put in place. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13 Conclusion The changes created by OA, the rapid ICT developments & the web 2.0 + technologies, the increased expectations of library users & participation in the info chain, the increase in research and paradigm shift have all changed the routines of traditional academic librarianship; and have improved the image of librarians as professionals in the electronic info age. This has to be sustained by continuous professional development of librarians. Maria Musoke SWOT of OA, May ’13

Finally “Whether OA makes libraries more or less valuable to their institutions and users depends on whether libraries take action to make themselves more useful…the traditional role of the library as an institution is blurring. The focus will instead shift to the information professional… the information professional is the library of the future”. (Sian Harris (2012). Moving towards an Open Access future: the role of academic libraries’ p14.)