Abstract

ABSTRACT-Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially the internet have increased the rate at which people exchange information. Billions of web pages created by individuals, government agencies, business enterprises and different organizations can be accessed anywhere in the world. It is possible to obtain information about anything and everything on the internet. However, most of this information originates from the North, that is, the developed countries; less than 0.05% of the information on the internet actually comes from Africa (Taylor, 2002). Although Africa claims to be a participant in the information society, her role seems to be more of a consumer than a provider of information. There is therefore an obvious imbalance in the contributions of the developed and developing countries to the global information infrastructure. Consequently, information flow between the developed and developing nations has, to a large extent, been unidirectional- from the North to the South. Very little information about Africa is available on the internet and even most researches carried out in Africa cannot be accessed from the global information facility. African researchers, students and professionals therefore depend almost entirely on information from the developed countries. The internet provides an excellent opportunity for North-South and South-North information exchange therefore, Africa has no excuse remaining invisible to the global community. This paper therefore examines the role of libraries and information centers in bridging the information gap between the developed and developing countries of Africa on the internet. The paper also emphasizes the need to mainstream African local content, both scholarly publications and indigenous knowledge in the global information infrastructure using the provisions of ICTs and the Open Access system. Communicate: Journal of Library and Information Science 12 (2) & 13 (1) 1-10.