Episode 2: How iAfrika is Helping Local Public Libraries Bridge the Digital Language Divide

In this episode, I discuss the role public libraries have in cities with Professor Lia Frederiksen. I also chat with Grant McNulty of McNulty Consulting a company that works on "creating and promoting access to digital cultural resources in Africa," and developed iAfrika.

iAfrika is a new mobile-friendly platform that provides libraries and their patrons a unique service, that allows them to create content in their own languages, and contribute to closing the digital divide all the while teaching valuable digital skills. And by making library materials accessible on a mobile phone, iAfrika just might be the future of library access on the continent because instead of bringing libraries and knowledge to the community or vice versa, the community is the library.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

the roles public libraries play in cities
the digital language divide
what the future of public libraries across Africa looks like
and much more!

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Guests

Lia Frederiksen, PhD, is a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo where she is conducting research on precarious employment in public libraries. She writes and teaches widely on labour, economic restructuring, and cities.

Grant McNulty runs McNulty Consulting and is an experienced researcher and project manager. He focuses on making cultural content in African languages available online. He has held various positions at University College London and the University of Cape Town (UCT) including a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Archive and Public Culture Research Initiative. He has an MA in Zulu (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and a PhD in Social Anthropology (UCT).

Connect with Lia

Website

Connect with iAfrika

Timestamps

00:43 | The role of public libraries in cities
07:46 | My experience working at the Toronto Public Library
13:45 | Introduction to iAfrika
17:00 | The surprises and challenges of implementing iAfrika
21:35 | About the digital language divide
23:33 | How iAfrika gets submissions to its platform
26:56 | The benefits of iAfrika for public libraries
30:52 | The benefits of iAfrika for the local communities
33:29 | The future of African libraries in the digital age
39:25 | What it takes to expand iAfrika
43:47 | How people can get involved with iAfrika

Show Notes

Want to learn more? Check out this episode's references!

Ethnologue. (2020). Africa. In D. M. Eberhard, S. F. Gary, & F. D. Charles (Eds), (2020). Ethnologue: Languages of the world. Twenty-third edition. SIL International. Retrieved from https://www.ethnologue.com/region/africa

Internet World Stats. (2020, March 31). Top 10 languages used in the web. Internet World Stats. Retrieved from https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm

Ocholla, Dennis. (2014). Are African libraries active participants in today's knowledge and information society?. South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science. 75. doi: 10.7553/75-1-1270.

Young, H. (n.d.). The digital language divide: How does the language you speak shape your experience of the internet? The Guardian. Retrieved from http://labs.theguardian.com/digital-language-divide/

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Episode 2: How iAfrika is Helping Local Public Libraries Bridge the Digital Language Divide | Urban Limitrophe Podcast #cities #libraries #podcast

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