Weekly highlights – 20 July 2015

1. Quotes

“Al terminar el curso, mi balance del mismo es altamente positivo. Ha sido una gran experiencia de aprendizaje, en muchos sentidos, no sólo en cuanto a la adquisición de conocimientos y habilidades para la escritura de textos científicos. Coincido con los compañeros en que hemos tenido un curso con contenidos valiosos, buenas estrategias de enseñanza-aprendizaje, unas excelentes facilitadoras y una amplia gama de aportaciones interesantísimas dadas por los compañeros de los dos grupos.

Por todo ello, ¡muchas gracias!”

“After finishing the course, my evaluation of it is highly positive. It was a great learning experience in many ways, not only in terms of acquiring knowledge and skills for writing scientific texts. I agree with colleagues that we have had a course with valuable content, good teaching and learning strategies, great facilitators and a wide range of very interesting contributions given by colleagues in the two groups.

Therefore, thank you very much!”

Participant on recent AuthorAID/Latindex online course in research writing skills

2. Updates

• INASP has announced that Jo Beall will be Chair of the Board of Trustees from November
• A recent article in The Guardian newspaper quotes INASP staff Ruth Bottomley and Jon Harle and INASP board members Paschal Mihyo and Jo Beall
• In the lead up to the annual VakaYiko consortium meeting, Clara Richards reflects on the past year

3. Upcoming events

• Jon Harle will be in Kenya this week talking to members of the Kenya Libraries and Information Services Consortium, reviewing progress of the consortium’s strategy plan for managing e-resource access.
• From 27^th to 31^st July representatives of library consortia from across Africa will meet together in Ethiopia for the African Regional Meeting. The objective of this meeting, which will include representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, will be to support our consortium partners as they develop further as organizations with the strength to secure, provide and manage access to e-resources.
• From 28^th to 30^th July the VakaYiko consortium will hold its annual meeting at GINKS’ headquarters in Accra, Ghana.
• From 29^th to 31^st July we will be organizing a pedagogical skills follow-up workshop for teaching staff at the University Dar es-Salaam Information Studies Programme.
• From 10^th to 11^th August managers of the Journals Online platforms and INASP staff will meet in Vancouver, Canada.

4. Recent publications

• Guest Post: From an Intensive-Course Participant from Vietnam – AuthorAID, July 19, 2015
  By Dr. Mai Anh Khoa
• INASP’s VakaYiko grant scheme aims to increase use of research evidence in policy making – INASP News, July 16, 2015
  The evidence-informed policy making (EIPM) team at INASP has announced the recipients of a second round of EIPM grants
• INASP announces new Chair of the Board of Trustees – INASP News, July 15, 2015
  INASP is delighted to announce Jo Beall will be the new Chair of its Board of Trustees from November
• Reflecting on a year of progress for the VakaYiko consortium – Practising Development blog, July 15, 2015
  As the second VakaYiko Annual Consortium Meeting approaches (it will take place in Ghana from 28-30 July 2015), Consortium Director, Clara Richards, looks back on a year full of change and progress
• Tip of the Week #242 – AuthorAID, July 14, 2015
  Different readers
• Some Pointers from a Panel – AuthorAID, July 12, 2015
  Advice on research writing

5. External coverage

• Academics concerned over ‘exploitative’ global research partnerships – The Guardian, July 14, 2015
• AuthorAID Small Grants for Conference Participation, Organizing Workshops and Conducting Online Trainings – Kubatana.net, July 14, 2015
• AUTHORAID SMALL GRANTS 2015 – Prospect Connections, July 9, 2015
• AuthorAID Small Grants for Conference Participation, Organizing Workshops and Conducting Online Trainings – Funds for NGOs.org, July 2, 2015