Abstract

During its first decade of independence, Guinea-Bissau was politically, economically and technically handicapped by its lack of a national research policy. The establishment of the National Institute for Studies and Research (INEP) in 1984, met the government's need for an applied research structure able to define and execute the national research policy; to coordinate and energize research in the country; to centralize documents and disseminate research; and to collaborate in the preparation of school programs and manuals. This project enables the Institute to set up a library on socioeconomic, scientific and technical information; to put information services in place for national researchers, managers and technicians; and to institutionalize links with other information centres and networks in the region in the same area.

Post-Project Summary

The first phase of the project saw the creation of a publications service responsible for co-ordinating all the publishing projects of the Institut, including three newsletters, the review of Guinean studies, seven books (doctoral theses and other study projects) by INEP researchers, and four books produced with INEP participation and published jointly with foreign institutes. The project also saw the creation, in 1988, of a reprography service that microfilmed 3 200 documents of different types borrowed from various ministries; the creation of four socioeconomic databases totalling more than 9 500 records, as well as an experimental database on the microfiche collection, containing about 2 700 records; the training of researchers and INEP collaborators in data processing; the holding of the first national training seminar for documentalists and librarians; and the establishment of co-operative relations with African institutions such as the Institut du Sahel, the Centre national de documentation agricole de Tunisie, the Council for the Development of Economic and Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the African Regional Centre for Solar Energy (ARCSE), and others. Work continued in a second phase (91-0171).

Recipient Institution(s)