Why index African literature?
The need for improved access to what has been published on health issues in African countries has long been felt by researchers, development agencies, health administrators and planners both inside and outside the continent. Very few African health and biomedical information sources are included in the world’s leading bibliographic databases and there is a wealth of untapped information in books, reports and studies from international development agencies, nongovernmental organizations and local institutions. Only by awareness of what work has already been done, can further advances be made; giving visibility to locally published material avoids overlapping, conflicting or redundant research work or the unnecessary duplication of health learning materials. New studies would then build on earlier reports of projects or research already undertaken. This would reduce costs of duplicated efforts, improve on methodology earlier used and make research more cost-beneficial and original. Print
