Every post in this series focuses on OA books in a different country, and is written in a language the contributor uses at work. This post is written in the Shona language, with an English translation from the author published beneath.
Kuwanikwa kwezvinyorwa pasina mubhadharo muZimbabwe
Blessing Chiparausha, University Librarian, Bindura University of Science Education
Kushandiswa kwemabhuku anowanika pachena muZimbabwe kwagamuchirwa nenzira dzakasiyana. Kune rimwe divi, vaverengi vagamuchira zvinyorwa zvinowanika pasina mubhadharo nenzira yakakwirira. Nekune rimwe divi, vanyori munyika havasiati vanyatsogamuchira kurudziro yekuti zvinyorwa zvavo zviwanikwe pasina mubhadharo. Pane zvikonzero zvakawanda zvinoita kuti pave nemusiyano uyu. Nekudaro, zvakakosha kuongorora basa rinoitwa neumwe neumwe ane chekuita nekunyorwa, kuwanikwa uye kuverengwa kwemabhuku nezvimwe zvinyorwa pasina mubhadharo. Mapoka aya anosanganisira vagadziri vemitemo nevatungamiriri, nyanzvi muongororo kana vanyori, vaverengi, uye varaibhurari.
Vagadziri vezvirongwa nemitemo pamwe nevatungamiriri vehurumende nemasangano vanotarisirwa kuronga mafambiro angaitwa pane zvine chekuita nekuwanikwa kweruzivo rwesainzi pachena. Chinofadza ndechekuti mayunivhesiti mazhinji muZimbabwe ave nemitemo ine chekuita nezvesainzi pasina mibhadharo uye mikana yakasununguka ine chekuita nekuwanikwa kwezvinyorwa zvedzidzo. Kunyangwe zvakadaro, zvinonzwisisika kuti matanho atorwa aya anogona kunge asati asvika padanho rekuti kuwanikwa kwezvesainzi pasina mibhadharo uye mukana yakasununguka yekuwanikwa wezvinyorwa zvedzidzo unge wasvika padanho rinotarisirwa. Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium (ZULC) unova mubatanidzwa wemaraibhurari emayunivhesiti watora danho rekukokera bazi rehurumende rinoona nezvedzidzo yepamusoro, umhizha nesainzi kuti pave nemitemo ine zvine chekuita nekuwanikwa kwezvesainzi pasina mibhadharo. Zvinotarisirwa kuti kana mitemo yakakodzera iyi yavepo, zvine chekuita nezvesainzi pachena zvichafambira mberi zvakanyanya.
Vanyori vane basa guru muindasitiri yemabhuku. Panyaya yemamiriro akaita zvinhu muZimbabwe, vadzidzisi mumayunivhesiti vari kunyora zvinyorwa zvinobva mutsvakurudzo dzavanenge vaita nekuti nekuti vanotarisirwa kudaro sebasa ravo zvisinei nesarudzo yavo. Kazhinji, vanoita zvetsvakurudzo vanonzwisisa kukosha kwekuburitsa ongororo dzvavo muzvinyorwa. Sezvineyi, nyanzvi dzetsvakurudzo idzi dzinoratidza kushushikana pamusoro pekutsikiswa nekuwanikwa kwezvinyorwa zvavo pasina mubhadharo nekuda kwekuti vamwe vanoita zvekutsikisa zvinyorwa havatevedzeri gwara kwaro. Izvi zvinonyanya kuitika nekuti vamwe vanoita zvekutsikiswa kwezvinyorwa vanotora mukana wekuwaniswa kwezvinyorwa pachena uye kutya kwevadzidzisi kuti vakasava nezvinyorwa vanorasikirwa nemabasa. Naizvozvo, vamwe vanyori vanopedzisira vanotsikisa zvinyorwa zvavo nemasangano asingaiti basa iri namazvo kunze kwekubira vanyori. Nekuda kwezviitiko zvinosuruvarisa zvinoitwa nevamwe vanovatsikisa zvinyorwa vachishandiswa upambwa, dzimwe nyanzvi dzetsvakurudzo pamwe nevanyori vanozeza kutsikisa zvinyorwa zvavo kubudikidza nenzira dzisingade mubhadharo kuvaverengi. Zvakadaro, zvirongwa zvekuzivisa uye kuchenjedza nyanzvi dzetsvakurudzo nevanyori dzinopihwa nevanochengeta maraibhurari dzakabatsira zvakanyanya kudzima pfungwa dzisiridzo dzinoita kuti vanoita zvetsvakurudzo nevanyori vasada kutsikisa zvinyorwa zvavo vachishandisa masangano anotsikisa pasina mubhadharo.
Kana takatarisa zvinechekuita nekunyorwa, kutsikiswa uye kuwanikwa kwezvinyorwa, vaverengi vane basa rakosha nekuti ndivo vanoshandisa zvinyorwa izvi. Zvinofadza chose kuziva kuti vaverengi ndivo vakave vekutanga kugamuchira kushandisa zvinyorwa zvinowanika pasina mubhadharo. Mitengo yemabhuku nezvimwe zvekuverengera yakanyanya kukwirisa izvo zvinoita kuti vaverengi vafarire kuwanikwa kwezvinyorwa pasina mubhadharo. Huwandu wemaraibhurari munyika yeZimbabwe hwakaderera, uye maraibhurari ekuzvikoro zvedzidzo yepamusoro ndiwo ave padanho rinotarisirwa pamashandiro emaraibhurari. Sezvineyi, maraibhurari iwaya mashoma kuti akwanise kushandiswa neruzhinji rwevaverengi. Panyaya iyi, mapuratifomu ekuwanisa mabhuku pachena akadai seDirectory of Open Access Books (DOAB), Google Books, OAPEN, Open Textbook Library, OpenStax neOpen Book Publishers ari kushandiswa zvakanyanya muZimbabwe. Zvimwe zvikonzero zvaita kuti mabhuku anowanikwa pachena ashandiswe zvakanyanya anosanganisira kuti mabhuku aya anogona kuverengwa panzvimbo dzakasiyanasiyana, pachishandiswa midziyo yakasiyanasiyana zvakare. Mabhuku anowanikwa pachishandiswa midziyo yemagetsi ‘ari nyore kutakura’, ari nyore kugoverana nevamwe uye mazhinji acho anowanika pachena zvinova zvisiri nyore kumabhuku akadhindwa pabepa. Izvi zvaita kuti mabhuku anowanikwa pachishandiswa midziyo yemagetsi uye pasina mubhadharo ave nemukurumbira kunyanya pakati pevadzidzi vedzidzo yepamusoro.
Sezvineiwo, vashandi vemuraibhurari muZimbabwe nderimwe boka rinogona kuita basa guru mukusimudzira kushandiswa kwezvinyorwa zvinowanika pachena. Vatariri vemaraibhurari vanotenderana kuti kuwanisa vaverengi zvinyorwa kunodzoserwa shure nemitengo yakanyanya kukwirira. Panguva imwecheteyo, pane zvinyorwa zvakawanda zvinowanika pasina kuti vaverengi vabvise mubhadharo. Mumakore makumi maviri nemashanu adarika, vashandi vemumaraibhurari vanga vachitora chinzvimbo chepamusoro mukusimudzira kuwaniswa pachena kwezvinyorwa kuburikidza nezvirongwa zvakaita sekuumbwa kwemitemo yakafanira, kugadzira nzvimbo dzekuchengetera zvinyorwa padandemutande reInternet, kucherechedza nekupemberera Vhiki yeOpen Access, nezvimwewo. Budiriro yauya mushure mematanho atorwa nevashandi vemaraibhurari inosanganisira zvinotevera:
- Mayunivhesiti ese emunyika akakwanisa kushandisa makombiyuta nedandemutamde reInternet kugadzira nzvimbo dzekuchengetera zvinyorwa zvinobva muvadzidzisi, nyanzvi dzetsvakurudzo nevadzidzi vepamayunivhesiti. Hurongwa uhwu huri pamatanho akasiyanasiyana zvichienderana neyunivhesiti imwe neimwe.
- Mayunivhesiti mazvinji munyika ave nemitemo inorayira mafambisirwo angaitwa zvinyorwa zvinowanika pachena uye zvine chekuita nekuwanikwa kweruzivo rwesainzi pachena.
- Mhemberero dzeVhiki yeOpen Access yave tsika inotevedzerwa gore negore uye zviitiko zvekucherekedza chiitiko ichi zvinosanganisira kurudziro, chenjedzo nedzidziso inechekuita nekuwanikwa kwezvinyorwa pasina mubhadharo. Mhemberero idzi dzinoitwa nemasangano akasiyana siyana kusanganisira zvikoro zvedzidzo yepamusoro, mibatanidzwa yemaraibhurari pamwe nesangano reZimbabwe Library Association.
- Sangano reZimbabwe University Libraries Consortium rakaumba boka rinotungamira zvirongwa zvekuwanisa zvinyorwa mumaraibhurari emayunivhesiti pasina mubhadharo.
- Zvirongwa zvekudzidzisa vashandi vemaraibhurari kuti vave neruzivo uye hunyanzvi nezvekuwaniswa kwezvinyorwa pachena huri kuenderera mberi. Dzidziso iyi iri maringe nekuti vashandi vemumaraibhurari munyika yeZimbabwe vave nehunyanzvi hunoenderana nehwekune dzimwe nyika pasi rose. Zvirongwa izvi zviri kuitwa nerutsigiro kubva kumasangano anoti Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) neDataCite.
Kunyangwe paine zvipingamupinyi zvine chekuita nekushaikwa kweruzivo, tekinoroji (ICT) nemitemo yakaringana, kuwaniswa nekushandiswa kwezvinyorwa pasina mubhadharo kuri kupfuurira mberi. Semuenzaniso, EIFL inoti mugore ra2023 zvinyorwa zvinotsikiswa pasina mubhadharo zvakawedzera nezvikamu gumi nechimwechete kubva muzana (11%) kusvika kusvika pachuru, mazana manomwe nenhanhatu (1,746) munyika dzinoshandidzana neEIFL (Kupryte, R. Chivabvu 10, 2024).
Muchidimbu, tinoona kuti pane basa rakawanda richiri kuda kuitwa maererano nekuwanikwa kwezvinyorwa pachena muZimbabwe. Mushandirapamwe pakati pevose vane chekuita nedanho iri kuchaita kuti zvifambire mberi.
A Glance at the Zimbabwean Open Access Landscape
Uptake of open access books in Zimbabwe has been met with mixed feelings. On one hand, the consumption of open access books content is relatively high. On the other hand, the contribution of open access book content by authors remains low. Several factors contribute to this striking contrast. It is important to dissect the open access books ecosystem and analyse the positions and roles played by the key stakeholders of the ecosystem, including policy makers and administrators, researchers or authors, readers, and librarians.
Policy makers and administrators at both government and institutional levels have the mandate to put in place policies to promote the open science movement. It is encouraging to point out that nearly all universities in Zimbabwe now have policies governing open science in the form of open science policies and open access policies. Undeniably, the policies may have some shortcomings in addressing the ever-evolving issues surrounding open access and open science. [OP1] [hp2] For instance one university had adopted an institutional repository policy yet focus should be on the broader concept of open access. In addition, there is no national policy on open access, a situation that leaves universities efforts fragmented. Efforts towards establishing a national policy on open science are already underway as part of the Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium’s advocacy programmes. The consortium is taking a leading role in influencing the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development to implement an open science policy or framework. It is anticipated that once robust policies are in place, more developments in open science would be witnessed.[OP3] [hp4] It is anticipated that the new policy framework would be influential in the provision of human resources and information technology infrastructure required to drive open access at national level. The policy is also expected to outline clear mandate for researchers, funders, librarians, etc. regarding open access.
Authors are an important player in the book industry. In Zimbabwe, most academics become authors because they ‘publish lest they perish.’ In general, the researchers do not question the importance of publishing their research output. However, misgivings abound regarding open access publishing among some authors. Some researchers express concern regarding predatory publishing; this particularly the case because predatory publishers took advantage of open access publishing and academic’s fear of the ‘publish or perish’ phenomenon to hoodwink unsuspecting researchers. As a result of unfortunate incidents of falling prey to predatory publishers, some researchers hesitate to publish on open access platforms. Nevertheless, awareness and advocacy programmes offered by librarians have significantly helped to demystify the misconception held by some researchers that open access publishing is predatory.
Readers are at the end of the publishing cycle, yet they are very important because they are the consumers of research. It is reassuring to note that they have been the early adopters of open access. Considering the prohibitive cost of books and other reading materials, the availability of scholarly content via open access has been the most welcome development among readers. Zimbabwe’s library network has not matured; the number of libraries remains low, and the fairly established libraries are at academic institutions. These libraries are too few to serve the huge population of readers who may or may not be affiliated with these institutions of higher learning. In this regard, open access book platforms such as the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB), Google Books, OAPEN, Open Textbook Library, OpenStax and Open Book Publishers enjoy a great share of readership in Zimbabwe. One benefit of open access books often cited by library patrons is the ubiquitous nature of open books; the books can be read anywhere using any device of choice. Unlike books in print, electronic books are ‘easy to carry around’, easy to share and freely available. As such, they have gained dominance especially in the higher and tertiary education students.
Arguably, librarians in Zimbabwe are among the greatest champions of open access. The librarians agree that their ability to enable access to all the information required by their patrons is limited by cost. At the same time, open access resources address some of the information needs of the library patrons. The past two and half decades or so have seen librarians taking a leading role in promoting open access through programmes and events such as the development of open access policies, setting up institutional repositories, commemorating Open Access Week, etc. To date the following success stories have been achieved by librarians:
- All universities in the country have managed to set up institutional repositories, though these are at different stages of development.
- Almost all universities now have open access or open science policies.
- Open Access Week commemorations have become a tradition with events to mark the occasion including advocacy, awareness and training at institutional level, at consortium level and within the Zimbabwe Library Association.
- The Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium has set up a working group on open access and also established the position of Open Access Coordinator to spearhead open access programmes in university libraries.
- Training programmes to equip academic librarians with knowledge and skills on research data management and persistent identifiers are ongoing. The training is aimed at ensuring that scholarly communication in the country matches global standards. The programmes are being run with support from Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), the International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) and DataCite.
Despite the hurdles associated with misconceptions about open access, limited information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and imperfect policies, progress in the uptake of open access is being recorded. As an example, a recent report by EIFL shows that the year 2023 registered a 11% increase to 1,746 open access articles published when compared to the previous year (Kupryte, R. personal communication, May 10, 2024).
In summary, we can conclude that a lot of work is yet to be done regarding open access in Zimbabwe. Concerted efforts among all stakeholders in the scholarly community are called for so that more could be achieved.
Blessing Chiparausha, PhD, is University Librarian at Bindura University of Science Education in Zimbabwe. He is the Vice Chairperson of the Zimbabwe University Libraries Consortium. He is also serving as the Mashonaland Branch Vice Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Library Association and the EIFL Open Access Coordinator in Zimbabwe.