Aluka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Aluka | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| URL | http://www.aluka.org |
| Commercial? | not-for-profit |
| Type of site | Digital library |
| Owner | Aluka |
| Created by | Aluka |
Aluka is an online digital library focusing on materials about Africa. Aluka's mission is to connect scholars from around the world by building a common platform that allows online collaboration and knowledge sharing. Aluka's audience is higher education and research communities worldwide.
Founded in 2003, Aluka is an initiative of Ithaka Harbors, Inc., a non-profit organization based in New York City and Princeton, New Jersey. As an incubated entity of Ithaka, Aluka receives support from its parent organization in the areas of finance, human resource management, information technology, software development, research, and strategic guidance. The initial funding was provided by theMellon Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation.
The first release of Aluka took place in early February 2007. Beginning that month, preview access to Aluka has been provided to all JSTOR subscribers.
The name 'Aluka' is derived from a Zulu word meaning 'to weave'.
Contents |
[edit] Content
Initial focus of Aluka digital library is in three major areas:
- African Plants. Collection of African plants specimens and related materials contributed by the African Plants Initiative.
- Cultural Heritage. Collection of images, documents and 3D models documenting African heritage sites.
- Struggles for Freedom. Documents, images and other materials documenting the liberation struggles in Southern Africa, including those from Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Aluka seeks to attract other collections of scholarly interest from institutions and individuals worldwide. By bringing materials together, Aluka creates new opportunities for research and collaboration. Documents and materials that were previously hard or impossible to access are now available for researchers around the world.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Mellon Foundation
- J-STOR News
- Project briefing at the meeting of the Coalition for Networked Information
- Meeting of Africana Librarians Council at the Library of Congress
- Introduction to Aluka from the Association of Research Libraries
- Peter Limb - The Digitization of Africa in Africa Today v.52 no.2.
- Isaacman, A., Lalu, P., Nygren, T. 2005. Digitization, History, and the Making of a Postcolonial Archive of Southern African Liberation Struggles: The Aluka Project. in Africa Today v.52 no.2.
- Can Technology Save the Developing World: Supplying Content in the Chronicle of Higher Education July 21, 2006.
