AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH ONLINE (AHERO)

AHERO is an open archive of research outputs on governance of higher education in Africa. (Cf. http://ahero.uwc.ac.za/) My aim is to link my relevant research outputs with this virtual archive because it subscribes to "Open Access". Anyone who wants to download my research can do so without unnecessary restrictions except acknowledgement to my blog. It is also compatible to a Google type search form. (Ibid.) It is a project of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, Faculty of Education, University of the Western Cape, South Africa with contact e-mail: chse@uwc.ac.za

Readers of of my blog are encouraged to submit their own research outputs as well to AHERO because it enhances capacity building within the African context without unnecessary duplication. I attended a presentation on AHERO at the South African Association for Research Development in Higher Education (SAARDHE) conference from 1-4 July 2007 at the University of Pretoria. Subsequently I suggested that SAARDHE should collaborate closer with this centre to merge relevant research themes. During their AGM meeting, I also encouraged representatives of the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association for southern Africa (HELTASA) to combine research efforts. AHERO seems to me a very logical joyce to preserve excellent research outputs of both SAARDHE and HELTASA which could otherwise not be published. The SA Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) as well as the National Association for Distance Education and Open Learning of South Africa (NADEOSA) should also give serious consideration to this possibility.

DEASA, the Distance Education Association for Southern Africa and the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) are as important to submit their reports and research development in AHERO. As such, it could form a virtual state of the art research centre.