This book is an ambitious undertaking which represents a much needed addition to the information management literature mainly written from the perspective of Western developed countries. The three editors are all academics from the University of Botswana and between them bring perspectives from the library, information systems and recordkeeping domains. Most chapters focus on African countries, including Malawi, Zimbabwe and Kenya as well as Botswana. The editors explain their overall objective as being ‘to provide a platform for researchers, designers and practitioners to discuss and share experiences of best practices in information resources management’. The unique strength of the book lies in the claim that chapter authors are all from developing and emerging economies ‘who solidly understand the challenges and opportunities facing information and knowledge management mainstreaming into the socio-economic infrastructures of the developing world’. However, at the same time this was one of the least successful aspects. In many chapters those much-needed authorial voices are muted and difficult to hear – which leaves the reader wondering how much of the largely Western best practice plays out in these settings.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part is titled The Records Management Conundrum and consists of four chapters. The use of the word ‘conundrum’ signals a shift from a traditional focus on paper to the need for effective recordkeeping in the digital environment. I had hoped for a discussion of Frank Upward's continuum model from a developing country perspective, but it is only briefly mentioned. The second part of the book is titled The Emerging Information Management Landscape and includes chapters on academic libraries, information as a source of competitive advantage and indigenous knowledge management ICT systems. There are also two chapters which take a broader look at Botswana: one depicting the information environment in the country overall and the other considering information management in small businesses.
All in all this is a worthwhile resource. Although the issues and challenges of the practical realities of information management in developing countries are not fully articulated, many chapters have very impressive literature reviews which draw on publications that might otherwise be overlooked. This book is recommended to anyone interested in looking beyond our mainstream literature and will make a good starting point for research focusing on this region.