{"id":6738,"date":"2021-03-11T09:44:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T09:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/access\/"},"modified":"2021-03-11T09:44:04","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T09:44:04","slug":"access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/access\/","title":{"rendered":"Is toegang \u0149 gegewe? | Is access a given?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Benito Trollip & Deon du Plessis<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Leestyd: 4 minute | 4 minute read<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

English follows Afrikaans. This is SADiLaR\u2019s first blog post available in its entirety in two languages \u2013 multilingualism!<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Niks is so lekker soos om \u0149 bron van byna 50 (of meer) jaar gelede te vind vir jou navorsing nie… Oftewel, byna niks nie. Die boek waarin hierdie paar bladsye verskyn sit egter net fisies op \u0149 rak in \u0149 biblioteek se kelder. En dit is nog nie iewers aanlyn beskikbaar nie.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is alles wat aanlyn beskikbaar is vanselfsprekend toegankliker omd\u00e1t dit aanlyn is? Ons vra onsself hierdie vraag af, aangesien die digitale omgewing deesdae die norm is, ons in die digitale omgewing gemaklik is, en ons al hoe meer soontoe migreer. Maar is die feit dat iets aanlyn is nie moontlik \u0149 hindernis wat daai bron juis ontoegankliker maak nie?<\/span><\/p>\n

Wat vir party mense \u0149 trap op die leer is kan vir ander \u0149 struikelblok wees en soms hou mense vas aan \u201cdis beter as niks\u201d, eerder as om aktief te praat oor wat toegang <\/em>in al sy vorme behels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ons sou s\u00ea dat \u0149 mens ook toegang as \u2019n veelfasettige konsep, wat dit is, moet oorweeg. As ons onlangse voorbeelde uit ons eie lewens moet vat:<\/span><\/p>\n

Benito het gesoek na iets wat \u0149 persoon in 1974 in \u0149 boek gepubliseer het. Volgens die titel handel dit oor dubbeldiminutiewe (soos byvoorbeeld pasteitjietjie<\/em> in Afrikaans). Die eerste stap was om te kyk of dit iewers aanlyn opspoorbaar is, hoofsaaklik op Google Scholar of net die algemene Google. Die hoop was dat i\u00e9mand i\u00e9wers dit al gedigitiseer[1]<\/a> het, en \u0149 goeie PDF-weergawe van die vyf bladsye daarom \u00earens beskikbaar is. Dit het nie gewerk nie.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hy is toe na \u0149 universiteitsbiblioteek se webtuiste en sien daar hulle het \u0149 paar kopie\u00eb van die boek in hulle kelder. Die boek is nog nie digitaal op hulle institusionele pakhuis beskikbaar nie. Die eerste gedagte: om die vakbibliotekaris te kontak en te vra of hulle iemand het wat dit kan skandeer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Uiteindelik h\u00e9t hy die bron, omdat hy \u0149 proses gevolg het van aanhou-soek. In di\u00e9 geval was dit nie besonders moeilik om toegang te kry nie, al moes dit stapsgewys gebeur.<\/span><\/p>\n

Op sy beurt soek Deon \u2019n slag na \u2019n bron wat sowat honderd jaar ouer is, uit die 1870\u2019s. Die eerste bron waarin Suid-Afrikaanse Engels akademies oorweeg word, eerder as die blote waarnemings of gewaarwordinge van leke. (Byges\u00ea, leke het dikwels \u2019n beter aanvoeling vir dinge as \u201cdie kenners\u201d.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Di\u00e9 bron sou sekerlik ook toeganklik wees? Hoewel dit meer as \u2019n goeie stootjie voor die digitale era uitgegee is, moet dit tog i\u00e9wers op \u2019n Suid-Afrikaanse rak staan en stof vergaar? Dis tog so seminaal. Engels beskik tog oor sulke goeie hulpbronne en almal en hulle ouma se biblioteek is mos daarmee toegerus? Moenie glo nie! N\u00e1 \u2019n lang soektog het dit geblyk dat die boek net in die buiteland beskikbaar is, en die goedkoopste opsie was om \u20ac17 (ongeveer R310 ten tyde dat hierdie geskryf is) te betaal sodat Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France (Frankryk se staatsbiblioteek) dit digitiseer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Drie bladsytjies, byna as \u2019n nagedagte ingevoeg, en hulle is st\u00e9\u00e9ds nie beskikbaar vir die algemene publiek in Suid-Afrika nie \u2013 digitaal of andersins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ons het waardering vir die hulp wat ons ontvang het en die flinke resultate wat ons gekry het. Maar die vraag wat \u0149 mens uiteindelik hier kan herhaal is of toegang \u0149 probleem is. Dit is dan totaal redelik om te vra hoe iemand net moet weet waar om betroubare inligting te kry? Is \u20ac17 vir iemand wat reeds binne die stelsel is werklik \u201cbeter as niks\u201d? Wat van die mense buite die stelsel? En as jy nie \u20ac17 het nie?<\/span><\/p>\n

Ons is in die bevoorregte posisie om te weet waar om na inligting te soek \u2013 en veral na n\u00fawe inligting. Ook dat ons, deur ons affiliasies, toegang kan verkry tot soms-obskure inligting. Die meeste mense in ons land het nie daai voorreg nie: Hulle is nie vertroud met die stelsel nie, het nie toegang tot internet nie, beskik nie oor die sleutels wat die deur tot kennis ontsluit nie.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hierdie inskrywing laat eindelik die leser moontlik met meer vrae as antwoorde, maar juis d\u00edt is die punt: Dat ons moet vra wat is toeganklik, geregtig, of selfs geldig. Want slegs deur te vra kry \u2019n mens antwoorde.<\/span><\/p>\n

Die vraag oor toegang is \u0149 komplekse een wat met omsigtigheid benader behoort te word. Daar is vlakke van toegang wat \u0149 mens in gedagte moet hou wanneer iets beplan of ge\u00efmplementeer word; dit is ongelukkig nie genoeg om net te berus by \u201cdis beter as niks\u201d nie. Helaas help daai bietjie slegs om toegang vir die enkeles wat voorheen klaar toegang gehad het makliker te maak. Toegang is moeilik en nie \u0149 gegewe nie, maar dit beteken juis dat al hoe meer mense nodig is om dit te laat werk.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

English<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For a researcher there\u2019s little that compares to finding an important source that\u2019s 50 (or more) years old… Or nothing at all. The book in which these few pages appear is only available physically, on a library shelf somewhere in the basement. Nowhere online.<\/span><\/p>\n

Does it go without saying that something that\u2019s available online will be more accessible because<\/em> it\u2019s online? We\u2019re asking because the digital is the norm nowadays: we\u2019re comfortable in the digital environment, and we\u2019re progressively migrating more toward it. But isn\u2019t the fact that something is available online possibly more of a hindrance that makes it less accessible still?<\/span><\/p>\n

Something that\u2019s a step on the ladder for some could be an impediment to others and many people hold on to the adage that \u201csomething is better than nothing\u201d rather than actively talking about what access<\/em> in all its forms means.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019d argue one has to consider access as a multifaceted concept, which it is. To take recent examples from our own lives:<\/span><\/p>\n

Benito was looking for something that someone published in a book in 1974. According to the title it\u2019s about double diminutives, like \u201cpasteitjietjie\u201d in Afrikaans (English seldom does diminutives morphologically). The first step was to see if it\u2019s available somewhere online, either on Google Scholar or just regular Google. Hopefully someone somewhere<\/em> had digitised it, and a good PDF version would be available. That approach failed.<\/span><\/p>\n

He then went to a university library\u2019s website which showed they have a few copies of the book in their basement. It\u2019s not digitally available in their institutional \u201cwarehouse\u201d as yet. The next step was to contact their subject librarian and ask if they have someone who could scan it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally he got the source, thanks to a process of keeping-on-searching. In this case it wasn\u2019t especially difficult to get access, even though it had to happen via a process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deon was looking for a source roughly a hundred years older, from the 1870s. The first source that mentions South African English in an academic context, instead of the comments or observations of laypeople. (It should be added that laypeople often have a better sense of things than \u201cexperts\u201d do.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Surely such a source would be accessible? Although it was published well before the digital age, it should be somewhere on a South African shelf collecting dust? It\u2019s so seminal. English has such good resources and everyone and their grandmother has access to them in the library? No such luck. After a long search, it became clear the book is only available overseas. The cheapest option was to pay \u20ac17 (roughly R310 at the time of writing) for Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France (the national library in France) to digitise it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three short pages, added almost as an afterthought, and they are still<\/em> not available to the general public in South Africa \u2013 digitally or otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

We appreciate the help we received, and the fast results. But the question worth repeating here is if access is a problem. After all, isn\u2019t it entirely reasonable to ask whether someone shouldn\u2019t just know<\/em> where to get reliable information? But is \u20ac17 for someone already in the system really \u201cbetter than nothing\u201d? What about people outside the system? What if you don\u2019t have \u20ac17?<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re in the privileged position that we know where to look for information, especially new information. We also have access, through our affiliations, to often-obscure information. Most people in our country are not so privileged. They do not know the system, do not have access to internet, they do not have the keys to unlock the doors to knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

This post ultimately leaves the reader with more questions than answers, but exactly that is the point. We need to ask what is accessible, or just, or even valid. It\u2019s only by asking that one gets answers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The question about access is complex; it needs to be approached carefully. There are levels of access that need to be borne in mind when planning or implementing something. Unfortunately it isn\u2019t enough to stick to \u201csomething is better than nothing\u201d. Alas, that small bit helps only to make access easier for the precious few who had it in the first place. Access is not a given, but for that very reason more people are needed to make it work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Daar is \u2019n onderskeid tussen \u201cdigitiseer\u201d en \u201cdigitaliseer\u201d. Meer is hier te lese: https:\/\/afrikaans-vandag.co.za\/WAV\/WAV_D.html<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Benito Trollip & Deon du Plessis Leestyd: 4 minute | 4 minute read English follows Afrikaans. This is SADiLaR\u2019s first blog post available in its entirety in two languages \u2013 multilingualism!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":246,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[741],"tags":[848,851,850,849],"class_list":["post-6738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs","tag-access","tag-internet","tag-knowledge","tag-resources"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/246"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sadilar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}