Resumen de Bridging the North�South Divide in Scholarly Communication in Africa: a library and information systems perspective

Peter Johan Lor

• This article takes a broad, general perspective of scholarly communication in Africa, using a simple systems model based on the Lasswell formula.

  The model identifi es and analyses the following components: Creators, Contents, Mediation, Users and Infrastructure. It recognizes that these are to be studied in their cultural, political, economic, legal and ethical contexts. Taking each component in turn, a number of critical issues and problems relevant to the North-South/South-North divide are identifi ed and some observations are made on the position and roles of libraries.

  The article presents a list of desiderata and emphasizes that scholarly communication has both digital and analogue dimensions. It is a complex phenomenon that needs to be addressed holistically.