Organizations which have been planning to write proposals or build up new ideas for projects to establish libraries in developing countries, there is a useful list of such projects listed at this link.
The Elsevier Foundation’s Innovative Libraries Program, which issues a call for proposals annually to fund such projects in developing countries, provides support to “capacity-building projects in the fields of science, technology and medicine – through training, education; infrastructure digitization and preservation of information.” The 2009 call for proposals requested applications for projects such as digitization of the library information, knowledge preservation, training and education for librarians and researchers and long-term partnerships between developed and developing countries for technical assistance and training.
Below is the list of projects approved for funding by the Foundation in the year 2009:
“Developing a Service-Oriented Database of Cases of Emergency Management
JINAN University Library, China
This Elsevier Foundation grant will create the first of its kind large scale online “Service-Oriented Database of Cases of Emergency Management” (SODCEM) for use by Chinese researchers, students, policymakers and the public to raise the level of national expertise and reduce the losses caused by disasters. In 2008 alone, natural disasters caused a direct economic loss of 1.1752 trillion Yuan, while manmade disasters resulted in 1.01 billion Yuan and over 91,000 deaths in China. Partnering with the Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) Library of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, SODCEM will be a multimedia subject database which contains 400 cases constituted by more than 2000 records of images and multimedia documents, using a web 2.0 environment to improve accessibility and analysis.
“Librarians Without Borders®” E-Library Training Initiative Grant
Medical Library Association
This Elsevier Foundation grant will enable hundreds of information professionals and researchers in developing countries to gain the necessary skills to exploit the wealth of information within the Research4Life programs locally through HINARI training workshops and the online distance learning course. Building on 2007 Elsevier Foundation grant, this renewal award ensures that the momentum established in research skills outreach over the last few years is sustained an continues to boost scientific scholarship in the developing world.
Transformation of ICIMOD’s Traditional Library into a Mountain Learning and Information Centre
Library of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal
Dedicated to sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and environmental conservation, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, ICIMOD, is supported by the eight countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas (HKH): Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan as well as other sponsor countries. This Elsevier Foundation grant will enable the ICIMOD Library to transform a highly specialized regional traditional print library into a mountain development research portal on climate change, watershed, biodiversity, conservation, gender, medical plants, and the market serving researchers, NGOs, policymakers and rural mountain communities…”
More information available at the Elsevier Foundation link given above.
