The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) conducted an assessment of African newspapers online to determine the extent to which those news sources are available in electronic format to researchers at North American institutions. An earlier 2012 study undertaken by CRL on current acquisition of print newspapers showed a continuing gradual decline in the number of print newspaper subscriptions held by academic libraries. Many research institutions have moved to online database subscriptions to news aggregators and “e-print” collections; and direct scholars to current news content via the open Web. CRL’s survey findings suggest that these alternate solutions are in sufficient to provide the same degree of support for African studies as newspaper collections have historically afforded. Nor do publishers and electronic aggregators today provide comparable online access to content formerly acquired by libraries in physical form. The present survey highlights the challenges of electronic access to news sources, using Sub-Saharan African news as a case study. Specifically, CRL sought to determine:
•the extent of online availability of African newspaper sources;
•whether the majority of significant print newspapers were also available online, and extent of coverage;
•whether the paper’s format was replicated through “e-print” offerings; and
•whether African news content was being harvested, aggregated, or otherwise included in commercial and non-commercial news resources.
Key findings:
•Only a fraction of African newspaper titles are currently available online. Of an estimated 1,300 titles in circulation throughout Africa, CRL found only 484 titles with some form of active online presence.
•The number of active online titles varies from region to region, and from country to country. Daily newspapers tend to be more consistently represented online than weekly newspapers.
•Titles considered “significant” papers of record are reason ably well represented online, though the technical sophistication and range of content presented on such sites varies widely.
•Of the 484 identified sites, 74% had implemented search functionality. However, few had implemented
advanced search capabilities beyond a simple site search. The presence and ease of searching previously
published articles is, as a result, highly variable.
•Electronic facsimiles of the print versions of titles are not widely available for African titles, with only 30% of active sites offering some form of “E-Print” or PDF version of the paper.
•Coverage of African titles is relatively sparse within aggregated databases, especially compared to titles from other world regions. A large share of news produced in countries in the global South continues to be disseminated in print. Heavy reliance on electronic access and large news packages may not be adequately serving the needs of scholars. Aggregators, in particular, should improve coverage of sub-Saharan Africa to ensure that the range of content from this rich region is available to libraries and scholars worldwide.