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"When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion" (Ethiopian folk adage). The Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Communications Network (MIMCom) facilitates a new way of doing research in Africa and African scientists’ participation in the international scientific community. The MIMCom supports full access to the Internet and the resources of the WorldWide Web at 19 research sites in 11 African countries. Furthermore, the MIMCom project comprises two websites: one includes links to resources, databases, and publications as well as a document delivery service for full text journal articles, and the other is a research agenda specific website with a server for a research network desiring to share raw data. Other important components of MIMCom are training and evaluation components. The MIMCom was conceived in 1997 by African researchers and has been designed, implemented, and overseen by the U.S. National Library of Medicine in collaboration with partners in Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom. This project demonstrates clearly that it can make a positive difference in the functioning of remote research sites in Africa, in terms of site growth and productivity and in the professional lives of individual researchers. This report reviews the project’s background, methods of operation with an emphasis on local needs and priorities, cost effectiveness, and local responsibility; results focusing on a technical network; documentation of the system and two-way exchange of information; the MIMCom website; a network approach to research; and financial sustainability. The report concludes with summaries of evaluations by an independent panel, the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Secretariat, and the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Received August 21, 2003. Accepted for publication October 15, 2003.
Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge the support of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, in particular, the Director, Dr. Donald A. B. Lindberg, MD, for providing the initial and ongoing funding for the operation and management of this project. The NLM staff has contributed generously of their time and talents to the maintenance and development of all aspects of MIMCom. At the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Office of the Director, and the Fogarty International Center played vital leadership roles. A number of other institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Africa have participated in assuming local costs. The project has received tremendous moral and advisory support from MR4 (the Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center), the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Secretariat (MIM/TDR), and from the scientists and researchers working in the field. A full and lengthy list of the names of the many people who have contributed to the success of this project can be found on the website www.nlm.nih.gov/mimcom.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the funding agency or partners mentioned here.
Authors’ addresses: Julia Royall, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 8600 Rockville Pike, Building 38, Room 2S-22, Bethesda, MD 20894, Telephone: 301-402-2808, Fax: 1-301-496-4450, E-mail: jroyall{at}nlm.nih.gov. Mark Bennett, AfriConnect Ltd., Unit 5, Bennell Court, West Street, Comberton, Cambridge CB3 7DS, United Kingdom, Telephone: 44-1223-265-685, Fax: 44-1223-265-692, E-mail: mbennett{at}africonnect.com. Ingeborg van Schayk, Moellplatz 15, A-1210 Vienna, Austria, Telephone: 43-1-294-8201, E-mail: inga{at}mimcom.net. Martin Alilio, Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, 31 Center Drive, MSC 2220, Building 31, Room B2C39, Bethesda, MD 20892, E-mail: Aliliom{at}mail.nih.gov.
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