Workshop on Online Journal System Underway in UCC

A two-day workshop with the objective of making journals of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) visible, accessible, vibrant and recognized has opened at the Scholarly Communication Unit of the Sam Jonah Library.

The workshop, being attended by editors and administrators of university journals, will end on Thursday, April 28, 2022.

Organized by the Sam Jonah Library, it is being sponsored by the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH) and the Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), with participants drawn from other sister universities.

Participants are expected to share experiences and brainstorm on online journal services management.

The workshop is being facilitated by Prof. Anokye Mohammed Adam of the Department of Finance as well as Messrs. Theophilus Ocran, Isaac Nii Noi Nortey and Pius Gamette, who are staff members at the Library.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, opening the workshop, said scientific publishing was an integral part of research and university business.

However, he pointed out that, African universities had not paid rapt attention to scholarly communication, a situation that had affected visibility of research outputs of universities.

He expressed worry that faculty members overly focused on foreign journals at the detriment of local journals when seeking promotions.

Prof. Boampong indicated that African scholars were publishing in droves, but was quick to add that their research outputs remained invisible and inaccessible online, adding that "because we (African scholars) have not adopted enough technology in scientific publication."

The Vice-Chancellor announced the hosting of twenty (20) UCC journals online and remarked that about 80% of previously published journals had been digitally archived online.

He told participants at the workshop that "henceforth, all journals that will be published by our University will be online to increase the visibility of our research outputs."

The University Librarian, Dr. Mac-Anthony Cobblah, in a brief remark, expressed gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor for his relentless efforts to make  research outputs of the University visible and accessible online.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC