The African Studies World-Wide Web: U. of Penn

By Julie Sisskind
African Studies Program
University of Pennsylvania
325 University Museum
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6398
Tel.: (215) 898-6971
Fax.: (215) 898-697
E-mail: sisskind@mail.sas.upenn.edu

March 10, 1995

Ever wonder if the Information Superhighway reaches Africa? It does, to an extent - there are now at least 30 African countries with access to the Internet [1]. Regional networks that primarily provide e- mail to African users, such as FidoNet, enable approximately 83 percent of that connectivity [2]. Developing countries are quickly discovering how cost-effective the Internet can be, especially when e-mail is compared to more traditional forms of telecommunication. They are also beginning to discover an important roadside attraction - the University of Pennsylvania's African Studies WWW (World-Wide Web).

Weaving a Web
The Four-College African Studies Consortium includes Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore Colleges and the University of Pennsylvania. The Outreach Program of the African Studies Consortium implements the Consortium's mission as a Title VI National Resource Center (funded through the US Department of Education) for African Languages and Area Studies by serving as a resource to meet the needs of our local, regional, and national constituency.

The African Studies Web began in 1993 as one of some 70 information providers on the campus-wide information system at U. Penn, known as PennInfo. Within a year of operation this service became the most utilized and comprehensive international source of African Studies information on the Internet, with a growth rate of almost 200 percent.

PennInfo's gateway to and from the World-Wide Web encouraged experimentation with a new type of document, a document with multimedia capabilities and richer communication possibilities. The service moved to the World-Wide Web in August 1994, with the collaborative efforts of Data Communications and Computing Services (DCCS) and SAS Computing's Workstation Services. As a WWW provider, African Studies at Penn is now developing multimedia projects that incorporate a mixture of text, video, sound, graphics, and links to other African resources on the Internet. These interactive documents, or hypertexts, facilitate a whole new way of presenting information, and a new forum for Africans communicating around the world.

The Attractions
The African Studies WWW provides high quality information about Africa that can be used to enhance curriculum development, academic collaboration, and community awareness. Africans and African Studies scholars worldwide can now access the African Studies WWW - an indexed, searchable repository for files on the topics listed below.

- About African Studies: colloquia, courses, announcements at U. Penn and the Consortium.

- Country Specific: World Fact Book, Embassy info., State Dept. travel advisories, flags, etc.

- Current events: conferences, newsletters, urgent action items, etc.

- Direct Feeds from Africa- PADIS/CABECA, Hornet, Guardian & Weekly Mail (South Africa), etc.

- Documents: books, articles, bibliographies, constitutions, speeches, etc.

- Educational resources: audio-visual, K-12, languages and programs, etc.

- Electronic technology: computer networking, BBS, e-mail, discussion groups, software, etc.

- Employment opportunities: jobs, grants, fellowships, travel, etc.

- Multimedia archives: graphics, interactive maps, presentations, etc.

- Organizations: Products & Services, African Studies Association, Institutes, etc.

- WWW Links: Africana library catalogues, African databases, etc.

A student interested in South Africa can read Nelson Mandela's most recent speech on-line, learn how to send e-mail to Johannesburg, download the latest country map, search the job listings for South Africa, or connect to the Rhodes University library. A graduate student planning to do research in Senegal can identify sources of potential funding, find the current State Department travel advisory, locate other research being done in the region, contact the Senegalese Embassy in Washington, D.C., and even learn how to prepare Senegalese cuisine.

Who's using what, and how?
Graphics and audio-visual aids (e.g., maps, pictures, artwork) are by far the most popular items on the African Studies WWW. Practical information about Africa (e.g., grants, jobs, travel tips) is also in great demand, as illustrated in the file transfer statistics for February 1995 below.

Document Requests by Section:

Multimedia                      44100     53.4%
Country Specific                8932      10.9%
Home Page                       8253      10.0%
WWW Links                       4569       5.5%
Direct Feeds from Africa        3639       4.4%
Computing & Electronic Tech.    3279       4.0%
Articles & Publications         2873       3.5%
About African Studies           2124       2.6%
Jobs, Grants & Travel           1722       2.1%
K-12                            1302       1.6%
Events & News                   1056       1.3%
Organizations & Services        364        0.4%
Miscellaneous                   285        0.3%
                                -----
Total Document Requests         82482

Africa             0.6%
Asia               0.7%
Australia          0.6%
Europe            14.4%
Middle East        0.1%
N. America        58.1%
S. America         0.1%
Net/Org/Misc.      6.1%
Unresolved        19.3%

Under construction
The African Studies WWW promotes interdisciplinary instruction and research in African languages and area studies by undertaking projects that relate information technology with African Studies. Here is a sampling of current and future directions:

File Retrieval via E-mail.

African Studies is currently working with SAS Computing's Workstation Services and others in international networking to implement a file retrieval tool that will enable e-mail-only users within much of Africa to access on-line WWW resources and interactive services by request. Without such a tool, African participation in WWW development would be limited to the small percentage of African countries that have full Internet connectivity.

Hornet.

The African Studies WWW receives a direct file feed from a local FidoNet node in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, called Hornet. The in-country reports and regional information provided by Hornet are invaluable to both the African Diaspora and the academic communities. African Studies hopes to encourage similar information provision from Africans operating local bulletin boards and networks.

Country-specific archive.

The African Studies WWW is developing a virtual library of country- specific information that can be used by educators and the general public to access up-to-date files on topics such as geography, language, arts, education, economy, culture, politics, geography, demography, literature, literacy, and history. The African Studies Program at Penn envisions a collaborative project among Penn Africanists and other African Studies information networks that will serve as an ever-current, ever-growing, 'living' encyclopedia of African Studies information.

Videoconferencing to remote locations.

Rapidly improving information technology will soon allow the use of videoconferencing software for collaboration with African scholars around the globe in real time. Such distance learning projects would enable universities to offer lectures simultaneously transmitted to multiple classrooms around the world and then discussed by students in live Q&A sessions from their respective schools.

Africa in Cyberspace Demos

The Outreach program conducts a series of demonstrations on how to access on-line African resources for regional, national, and international organizations, such as the African Studies Consortium, the National Center for Adult Literacy (NCAL), the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), the Electronic Technology Group of the African Studies Association (ASA), and the Alliance for Education in Global and International Studies (AEGIS). Demonstrations on Africa-related Internet resources illustrate how to find on-line information about Africa, and provide hands-on training for scholars, teachers, librarians, students, and administrators who are interested in learning how to access Africa- related materials or how to communicate electronically.

The Internet can potentially bypass many of the regional conditions that have impeded communications in developing countries in the past, such as poor quality phone lines and mail service, as well as social factors like internal strife and lack of basic resources [3]. It provides a cost-effective means of disseminating data on a global scale. As Internet connectivity expands, more and more users in Africa will not only be able to send and receive e-mail through regional networks that link Africa to the rest of the online world; but they will also be able to use interactive services for the price of a local phone call. This will allow users in remote locations to access publications and other data for which they would otherwise pay a premium.

While African networking pioneers are steadily building on-ramps to the Information Superhighway, the African Studies WWW hopes to enhance such endeavors by making quality information about Africa and interactive services available in developing countries. It will be in collaboration with our African counterparts on the Internet that the "African route" on the Superhighway is ultimately paved.

End Notes

[1] Randy Bush . "Connectivity with Africa," version 94.10.06; (available at http://www.psg.com/).

[2] Larry Landweber . "International Connectivity," version 11, July 11, 1994; (available at ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/).

[3] Barbara Demick. "Internet Links World to Remote Areas," The Philadelphia Inquirer June 27, 1994, pp. 1, A4.