1. Regional Workshop on Benefits of Open Access
for Research Dissemination, Usage, Visibility &
Impact
22nd - 23rd November 2010, Pretoria, South Africa
National Perspective of Open
Access: Botswana
Mogodisheng B.M. Sekhwela
Research Quality Management
OFFICE OF RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
University of Botswana

2. Recognitions
Grateful to have been invited
Sponsors:
Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF)
Eifl
UNESCO
University of Botswana for the permission and
support
Hopefully more enlightenment on how best to
speed up open access by end of workshop

3. Open Access in Botswana: Historical
Context
Botswana gained independence in 1966
Anthropological Research Act enacted 1967
Govern the pursuit of research, but prompted by
the ‘over-researching’ of the San in Kalahari
Monitor research, in particular on the San
Obligation of researcher to deposit research results
& findings at designated repositories: National
Library, National Archives and University of
Botswana Library - Support Open Readership
Research Permit REQUIRED for research.

4. Historical Context Cont.:
Researchers mainly from outside Botswana
Research Participation Trends
200 Figure 1
180
Permits Approved
160
140
120
100
Locals
80
Expatriates
60
40
20
0
1966-76 1977-79 1983 1984-1987
Period

5. Dissemination: Whose Knowledge?
E.g. University of Botswana Research Outputs
Figure 2 1995-03 Books
1000
800
In_Prep 600 Chapters
400
200
0
Dissertation Journal Articles
Other_Publication Conf_Papers

6. Office of Research and Development
Institutional Control of Outputs
Peer reviews
Research Proposal
Revision/
Review Process No
Quality Improvement and Management
Quality Improvement and Management
Improvement
(suggestions)
Yes
Figure 3
Funding No
Yes (suggestions)
Ethics Reviews
ORD Funds Faculty
Office of Research (ORD)
Office of Research (ORD)
Outside
ORD Research Teaching &
Publishers Control
Progress Training Publishers
Administrative
Reports UB Control Peer Reviews
Research Output Research Report
Publication
Development/Client Outputs s
Database
Commercialization
Source: Sekhwela, 2006, SARIMA

7. Dissemination: Whose Content?
Quality in Research = High Quality Publication
UB: 2004-07 Figure 4
Book
1000
Other 800
Book Chapter
Publications 600
400
200
0
Refereed Paper Non Refereed
in Conference Journal
Non Refereed
Refereed Journal
Papers in…

8. Research to Inform Nationally & Globally
(Botswana)
National Developments:
Food and Energy Production Systems
Sustainable Development Paths
Etc.
Aspirations: VISION 2016
Informed and Innovative Nation
Wealthy and Healthy Nation – HIV/AIDS fight
Global Climatic & Environmental Changes -
DROUGHTS
Etc.
ALL EYES ON UNIVERSITY RESEARCH!!

9. Research in ‘Public Focus’
Knowledge is critical for sustainable
development in the competitive global
economy (Ramphele, 2004)
Application of knowledge to inform practice
and policy is growing, confidence in quality of
research and information generated (Boaz,
ud).
Knowledge is ‘public good’ that every research
is expected to contribute
Research is about knowledge generation, and
increasing mandatory dissemination of
publicly funded research
Sekhwela (SARIMA, 2006)

10. Initiatives for Research & Innovation
Draft Botswana Science and Technology Policy
1998
Public and private sector partnership initiatives
Botswana National Research Science &
Technology Plan (2005) – Competitive research
suppliers
New Botswana International University of Science
and Technology (BIUST) approved
Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) (2006)– UB
regarded as a partner
New Tertiary Education Policy (2008) – Knowledge
& Innovation for national development

11. Research Drive & Accountability
Need to access existing body of knowledge
High cost to access current knowledge.
Realisation that knowledge is generated by
researchers, but transferred to Publishers
Knowledge becomes ‘CONTENT’ controlled by
content creators
Quality of research is assured by researchers
through peer review processes ‘free’ to content
creators?
Further knowledge generation constrained by
content creators’ high pricing to access!
Knowledge generators push for cheaper access

12. Open Access: Whose Content?
Grey literature: Unpublished reports - Repositories
White literature: Published research – owned by
publishers.
Quality assured
Reputable knowledge
Highly valued
Various format/media
Cost involved
What does Open Access mean then?

13. Situation in Botswana
Open Access still just the obligatory reposition of
research reports
UB lead institution like other Universities worldwide
that are pushing for Open Access to its own research
publications
Recently held national awareness raising workshop on
Open Access
However, UB still to develop clear Open Access policy
Institutional Repository policy – Open Access
mentioned.
Policy implementation ongoing: University of
Botswana Research, Innovation & Scholarship Archive
(UBRISA)

14. UB: Research Publications
Availability
Institutional Repository
Archive
Access to information
International VISIBILTY and Impact
Marketing
Capabality
Capacity
Etc.
University of Botswna Research, Innovation &
Scholarship Archive (UBRISA)
(http://ubrisa.ub.bw)

15. UBRISA Impact
UB visibility
Access to UB research outputs
Statistics on use/access (hits) of UB
research outputs
Source of UB research for official purposes
Collections/communities to attract more
collaborations and partnerships
Outputs from ongoing research work
ETC

16. RMS & UBRISA Online Systems
Research Information
Funding data
Research Data Analysis
Research Information access
University research outputs stored and
accessible
Researcher outputs monitoring
University research visibility enhanced
Overall research output in pursuit of
institutional goals – eg. Excellence tracked!

17. Own UB Content: Journals, etc.
Figure 5

18. Other Strategic Links: PMS
UB Vision: Strategy
For Excellence
Figure 6
University Research
Strategy
Research Management UBRISA
System
PMS
Source: Sekhwela, 2009

19. End

20. THANK YOU