Updates of GSC-sponsored activities as reported in Newsletter # 11

Ghana Studies Council's first contribution toward the "Handlist-Capturing Project" at Ghana National Archives was approved at the African Studies Association annual conference in 1996. Progress report of project activities for which funding was received from GSC was recorded in our 1998 Newsletter # 11. Also in mid-1998, the Coordinator of the project, Mr. Anim-Asante, requested and received from GSC a second contribution for the continuance of the project. As condition of our support, it was requested that a report of progress was to be made available to GSC. With respect to our condition, Mr. Joseph Anin-Asante (Project Coordinator) of the Ghana National Archives submits the following with copies to Dr. Jean M. Allman (in charge of GSC Finances), Director of Ghana Public Records and Archives (Accra), Chief of Records (Archives Division, Accra), and Accountant PRAAD (Accra):


A) COLONIAL SECRETARY’S OFFICE (C.S.0): PAPERS LISTING PROJECT PROGRESS REPORT AS OF SEPTEMBER, 1998

1.0 CAPTURING/HANDLISTS DATA

The Project resumed data capturing of the C.S.O. papers handlists at the beginning of September, 1998 when power supply to the Secretariat was restored. For several months up to May, 1998 the exercise slowed down due to power rationing program of Electricity Company of Ghana. Couple of months after May, 1998 the exercise came to a halt as the Secretariat was denied power supply due to a cable problem until later August, 1998. The Project is therefore unable once again to meet its target date of September, 1998

2.0 PHASE II OF THE PROJECT

Work on the remaining collection of the C.S.O. Papers, which were not covered under phase I of the project, began when the check [of $636.00] from Ghana Studies Council was received in May 1998. The records concerned in the Phase II of the project have been sorted into groups under the various subject headings identified under phase I. Prominent under the various subject headings included Native Affairs, Education and Religion, Municipalities and Townships, Medical and Sanitary, Forestry, Agriculture and Animal Health.

Handlists are being prepared to cover headings, which would be keyed into the data management system as part of the lists being captured. (De-classified confidential records popularly known as "Book Files" are being boxed as the lists prepare to cover them.

2.1 ACCESSIONING

Once the preparation of the handlists is completed, these records will be accessioned and a Location Register prepared to cover the whole of the C.S.O. Papers Collection. Details of the Location Register would be automated.

2.2 GUIDE TO THE C.S.O. COLLECTION

A guide to the C.S.O. Collection, which is being prepared alongside this list, would be keyed into the system when then automation of the list is completed

3.0 DISBURSEMENT C.S.O. PAPERS PROJECT FUND

A balance of $163.00 of the total of $636.00 transferred to the project in May 1998 was reported to remain as of October 1998. In the detail report sent to GSC, itemized expenditure covered reams of computer printouts, packets computer disks, cost relating to monitoring project activities, sorting and listing for phase II, and data capturing. The remaining amount (163.00) was estimated to cover the cost of the "on-going data capturing and binding of the List and Guide."

 


B) IAS/MANHYIA: ARCHIVES (KUMASI) ACCESS PROJECT, PHASE I

In Newsletter #11, we announced the re-opening of the National Archives of Ghana-Asante Regional Branch in Kumase. Mr. Thomas K. Aning, formerly the Regional Archivist, now runs the [Royal] Manhyia Archives in Kumase for the Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the University of Ghana. In a letter to GSC, the IAS/Manhyia Office reported on Phase I of an "accessing project" that is being carried out at the archives. The Administrative Secretary at IAS, Dr. Kwadwo Kwabia, asked for Ghana Studies Council financial support for the project. I have reproduced the full text of the IAS/Manhyia proposal for members' review. In the meantime, however, I have submitted the proposal to the West African Office of the Ford Foundation for funding consideration. I do this with the full understanding of GSC's inability to aid the project at the level requested. Hopefully, some good news will come out of my effort before the next annual meeting in November 1999.

INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
LEGON
Email: Ias@aug.gn.apc.org

21st October, 1998

Dear Sir,

I am submitting the attached proposal to you to be considered for financial support. The fund is needed to carry out an access project at the Manhyia Archives in Kumasi. The access work will involve sorting, arranging, appraising, classifying and listing the entire records at the Archives. (Detailed proposal and budget statement attached.)

The Institute of African Studies has had the administrative oversight of the Manhyia Archives since 1964. However, the Institute has not been able to organize the records in such a way as to make access to them easy. Our inability to recruit a professional Archivist to supervise the records until recently has been a major factor. The sheer size of the records dating back to the early 1920’s is another factor.

An Archivist was recruited by the Institute a year ago, and posted to Kumasi to start the organization, maintenance, and supervision of the records. The German Embassy in Accra also has within the past two years supplied the following materials to further the work at the Archives:

Unfortunately, the institute has not been able to recruit enough staff to do the work due to government restrictions placed on employment. The German cultural grant, which has supported the work at the Archives, also cannot be used to recruit personnel. We are therefore appealing to the Ghana Study Council for financial support to recruit temporary staff to do the work.

Counting on your kind cooperation.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Kwadwo Kwabia

ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY

IAS/MANHYIA ARCHIVES RECORDS ACCESS PROJECT PHASE 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION:

Manhyia Archives was established in 1964 when the late Asantehene, Otumfuo Agyeman Prempeh II gave the administrative responsibility of the Manhyia Records Office to the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, to use as a Research Archives. The Manhyia Archives is responsible for the preservation of records of the Kumasi Traditional Council and its predecessors. It also preserves the records of the former Asante Confederacy Council (Later Asanteman Council). The holdings of the archives include administrative and traditional court records. The records are made available to chiefs, students, scholars and the public under certain safeguards.

Although the office was established in 1964, the records have never been processed and this has hindered the proper utilization of the valuable historical documents. A professional Archivist was employed by the University of Ghana in October of 1997 to man the archives. The Archivist, since his appointment, has began sorting the records but due to the large size of the records, it will take a longer period to have the records processed to archival standards. It is in view of this that it has become necessary to undertake this project for which grants are being sought.

1.1 PHASES OF THE PROJECT

The project will consist of two phases. The first phase is to sort, arrange, appraise, classify and list the records. The second phase will convert the list into the word processed form bearing in mind the development of a future archives network which will provide electronic access to lists and catalogues worldwide. This proposal includes only the first phase of our undertaking. A second phase cannot be estimated until this first phase has been completed.

2.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

The following are the objectives of the project:

3.0 IMPORTANCE OF THE PROJECT

The project when completed will make these valuable historical records accessible to the chiefs, students, scholars, and the public. The accessibility of these records to the chiefs and the people will solve some of the numerous land and chieftaincy disputes in Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions in support of Ghana Government’s Program on Conflict Resolution to promote unity and peace for the development of this country.

4.0 NEED FOR FUNDING

The University of Ghana is responsible for the funding of the Manhyia Archives through the Government subvention. This funding of the University covers mainly the remuneration of the archivist and a supporting staff of two. University funding is inadequate to cover other aspects of the archival work as a result of limited budgetary allocation to the institution.

Although the archive has been in operation since its establishment in 1964, its records have never been processed to make them readily accessible to searchers. The archivist, since his appointment in October 1997, has began to sort these records and properly classify them. However, due to the large size records (if the processing of the records is to be done by the archivist alone), it will take a longer period to make these records accessible to users.

To combat this delay there is need to recruit temporary assistants to aid the archivist in sorting, arranging, appraising, boxing, and listing these records. To recruit temporary archival assistants and provide logistics for the processing of these records, there is need to seek funding outside. It is for this reason that we are seeking financial assistance from the Ghana Study Council to carry this very important project.

5.0 DESCRIPTION OF RECORDS

The holdings of Manhyia Archives to be dealt with by the project consist of the following record classifications:

5.1 EXTENT OF THE RECORDS

The records are in 622 record center boxes. A box contains an average of 20 files while a box of Court dockets contains an average of 50 dockets

6.0 PROJECT PERSONNEL

The project personnel shall comprise three archivists and two sub-archivists. The archivist of the Institute of African Studies Manhyia Archives shall be the Project Director. All the project personnel would be qualified by training and experience and undertake the activities described in the proposal.

7.0 WORK PROGRAMME

________
ITEM
ACTIVITIES
RESPONSIBILITY
CASUAL
ASSISTANTS
NO. OF DAYS
MAN DAYS
7.1 Sorting of records
Separating of records from non-record materials
Archivist/Temporary 4 10 40
7.2 Sorting and identification Archival Assistants 4 08 32
7.3 Identification of the inclusive dates ffor each record series Archival Assistants 4 03 08
7.4 Review and Appraisal Archivist/Temporary
Archival Assistants
2 10 20
7.5 Arranging records into records grouping and classes Archival Assistants 2 05 20
7.6 Listing of records Archival Assistants 4 20 80
7.7 Boxing and labeling of records Archival Assistants 4 03 12
7.8 Shelving the records Archival Assistants 4 02 08
____________________________________________________________________________________

8.0 BUDGET DETAILS FOR 60 WORKING DAYS: SALARIES FOR TEMPORARY ASSISTANTS

ITEM ACTIVITIES NO. OF TEMPORARY ASSISTANTS NO. OF DAYS MAN DAYS MAN DAY FEES (cedis) TOTAL FEES (cedis)
8.1 Sorting of records
separating the records materials
4 10 40 30,000 1,200,000
8.2 Sorting and identification of record groups and series 4 08 32 30,000 960,000
8.3 Identification of the inclusive data for each record 4 02 08 30,000 240,000
8.4 Review and appraisal of the records 2 10 20 30,000 500,000
8.5 Arranging the records into the record groups and series 2 05 10 30,000 300,000
8.6 Listing the records 4 20 80 30,000 2,400,000
8.7 Boxing and labeling of the records 4 03 12 30,000 360,000
8.8 Shelving of the records 4 02 08 30,000 240,000
SUB-TOTAL 6,300,000

9.0 HONORARIUM FOR PROJECT DIRECTOR

Six hundred thousand cedis (600,000) will be required to meet the honorarium of the Project Director for the 60 days on the project

9.1 SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS

210 Nose Masks at 2,000 each = 420,000 cedis

9.2 TOTAL COST OF PROJECT

Salaries of Casual Assistants 6,300,000 cedis
Honararium for the project Director 600,000 cedis
Supplies and Materials 420,000 cedis
TOTAL 7,320,000 cedis
Exchange rate: $1 (US)=2,250 cedis $3,254


C) THE AFRICAN BOOK COLLECTION TRUST

Concept paper
June 1998

NAME : African Book Collection Trust (ABC)

PURPOSE: We propose to establish the ABC Trust as a registered non-profit to provide advisory services and up-to-date academic literature (books, journals, occasional papers, etc.) for selected departments in African Universities in order to improve the quality of research and teaching. Specifically, the ABC Trust’s goal is to improve access to international literature thus enabling African scholars to participate in and contribute towards contemporary academic debates on equal terms.

The ABC Trust believes that enhancing African participation in academic research -- particularly in politics, economics, and development studies -- is important because, for both moral and practical reasons, Africans need to play a more central role in debates that affect the continent.

The underlying philosophy of the ABC Trust is that higher education is a basic building block of the future and Africa’s future depends upon the quality of its universities. The ABC Trust seeks to invest in Africa’s future by providing quality research materials for the teachers and students of today.

ORIGIN: During recent visits to the University of Ghana at Legon, it emerged that one of the greatest barriers facing academics is a lack of access to current literature. Reading lists are out-of-date and library resources are scarce despite the high demand from departmental staff. Further inquiries established that this pattern is repeated across the continent -- dedicated students and scholars simply lack adequate research and teaching materials.

STRUCTURE: The structure of the ABC Trust is the source of its innovation, setting it apart from other book-sharing schemes

The ABC Trust will cooperate with specific academic departments to meet their particular research and teaching needs. Individual departments are best placed to know their literature needs and to protect and manage their specialized collections. In this way, the ABC Trust complements other programs which provide more general university-wide library materials, such as Book Aid International or the African Studies Association.

An advisory board of academic experts from UK, the United States, and African universities will advise and help select titles. The advisory board will identify and suggest the most relevant literature. This is consistent with the idea that quality research and teaching require quality materials. In consultation with the advisory board, staff in the recipient departments will retain final title selections.

The ABC Trust will provide the resources to acquire the materials selected through both the:

Thus, contributors will have the option of funding either component depending upon their own goals or institutional requirements. A single administrator will coordinate communication between the advisory board, participating departments, contributors, publishers, booksellers, and shipping agents.

INITIAL STAGES: The ABC Trust has identified the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana at Legon as the first participant. There is a long history of cooperation between the department and its counterpart at the University of London. Appropriate advisory board members have already been chosen and have agreed to participate.

Discussions are also underway with politics, economics, and development studies departments at other universities in Ghana, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.

FUNDING: Funds are being solicited from U.S. and UK-based foundations, corporations, charities, and individuals interested in advancing the quality of higher education in Africa.

Contributions to the Annual Fund will be fully spent within the designated fiscal year. Contributors to the Long Term Trust will go into a fund managed to produce annual income while maintaining the original investment. Funds raised for the latter option will managed by the US investment firm Legg Mason Wood Walker.

With these two funding components, contributors will have the option of providing materials either immediately or over the long-term. For example, a $1000 donation will provide about 140 books in the Annual Fund for about 14 books each year in the Long Term Trust (assuming $7 per book and 7% income).

In addition, every effort is being made to gain concessionary rates for book and journal purchases and shipping. Administrative and operating costs will be minimal (projected under 5%) through the utilization of electronic communication and donated time and supplies.

SENIOR PATRON: Sir Timothy Lankester, Director of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and former Permanent Secretary of the British Overseas Development Agency (ODA).

BOARD MEMBERS: Advisory board members have been chosen for their expertise and knowledge of current issues and literature. As the ABC Trust grows, the advisory board will add members to cover appropriate areas of regional and topical expertise. The initial advisory board members are:

FOUNDER: Todd J. Moss is a research fellow and doctoral candidate at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Previously, he was a researcher at the Washington DC-based Overseas Development Council.

BUDGET TARGETS: The ABC Trust aims to raise US$15,000 per year for the Annual Fund (AF) and build a total endowment for the Long Term Trust (LTT) of US$100,000 over the next three years. Achievement of this goal will allow the purchase of about $22,000 ($15,000 from AF plus $7000 from LTT) of books and research materials every year for generations of African scholars and students to come. By 2015, the Long Term Trust alone will have purchased more than $100,000 of literature while retaining the original investment. Flexibility to adjust outlays based on fundraising, demand, and inflation will be retained.


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