Contents

Introduction

What Is Feasibility?

Methodology

Summary of Results

A Closer Look at Each University:
Zambia
Makerere
Ghana
Cheikh Anta Diop

Recommendations

Conclusions and Next Steps

Acknowledgements

Recommendations

A few recommendations can be made based on our experiences during the feasibility study.

For journals providers:

• Make articles available in both HTML and PDF formats. Whereas PDF files are sometimes completely inaccessible, our experience shows that HTML articles can usually be accessed even under the most difficult of circumstances.
• Consider setting up mirror sites at strategic locations to enable easier access from low-bandwidth sites.

For universities:

• Explore to what extent LAN configuration, bandwidth resale, and limited access hours may be contributing to unsatisfactory Internet performance, and how these factors might be improved.
• Encourage expansion of Unix and network management training. There were excellent, highly trained people at each university we visited, but having more of them would help take the load off their overburdened shoulders.
• Engage the university community in the process of determining real information needs and priorities. Universities that have been active in this area are in a better position to set their own agendas and receive more effective assistance from donors.

For national telecommunications authorities:

• Lower the cost of bandwidth for universities. The long-term national development benefits of expanded incorporation into the global information network and production of highly skilled young people far outweigh the short-term benefits of monthly lease payments.

For donors:

• Support for the one-time costs of upgrading university Internet connections, such as terrestrial radio or VSAT equipment, would go a long way towards improving both the performance and the sustainability of those connections.
• More study is needed with regard to a variety of issues surrounding electronic information access in developing countries. Projects to enable the exploration of different access mechanisms (e.g., online journals, CD-ROM, individual electronic document search and delivery methods, and online conferences and mailing lists) would be helpful in terms of understanding cost-effective priority-setting among available alternatives. At the same time, the effects of expanding reliance on the Internet given current bandwidth limitations, even in places where journals are currently accessible, are unknown and will require some experimentation. Projects in this area will be key to fulfilling the promise of the information age in developing countries.