Some weeks ago, members of the Evidence-Based Policy in Development Network (EBPDN) had an interesting debate on what universities could do to get their academic research “out there”. Many good ideas emerged from the discussion. EBPDN coordinator at the Overseas Development Institute Clara Richards summarised the discussion, giving some examples and resources. This is the gist of the discussion.

The University of Nairobi has adopted an open access policy to research articles and other academic material produced by its staff, and simultaneously launched an open access repository. The ACU and INASP collaborated to produce the article Enhancing the Visibility and Accessibility of Research: Demystifying and Promoting Open Access at the University of Nairobi in which Agatha Kabagu, Deputy University Librarian (Planning), University of Nairobi Library, details the reasoning behind the new policy and the steps taken to put it in place.

The Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) has announced a training workshop on Research Management for Research Librarians, to be hosted by the University of Cape Town (UCT) on 8 and 9 July 2013.

Do you know what your digital shadow looks like? Or the size and shape of your online footprint? If not, or if you’re not even sure what these two concepts mean, then a new publication by Sarah Goodier and Laura Czerniewicz at the OpenUCT Initiative at the University of Cape Town might be just what you need.