Objectives of MALICO:

• To encourage national, regional and international cooperation among information stakeholders,
• To influence information policy at the national level,
• To work for adequate ICT infrastructure for members, especially sufficient internet bandwidth
• To assist in the development of appropriate ICT skills at all levels,
• To facilitate access to electronic journal articles in international databases,
• To organise and digitise Malawian content,
• To provide information consultancy.

A Training Workshop held in June 2003 resulted in the development of the Mission, Vision, Constitution and Memorandum of Agreement. Founding members include the National Library Service, University of Malawi Libraries, Mzuzu University Library, Reserve Bank of Malawi, the National Research Council of Malawi and the Malawi Bureau of Standards. Malawi Institute of Management and the National Research Council of Malawi were the next members. Membership continues to expand with National AIDS Commission, African Bible College and Domasi College of Education. MALICO, in common with several other consortia in the region, was established with the assistance of a startup grant from OSISA (Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa) through the eIFL (Electronic Information for Libraries Network of the Open Society Institute). Current initiatives include:

Launching of MALICO at Victoria Hotel, Blantyre, Malawi on 7 May 2003

• Participation in eifl-IP, a group examining issues of intellectual property in a Digital Age: the MALICO representative is Mr F G Howse.
• A one-day Training Course : Internet Power Searching is also available on request
• MALICO Is also involved in initiatives linked with creating Digital Libraries or Knowledge Banks

MALICO is, in addition to being an eIFL member, a member of ICOLC : the International Coalition of Library Consortia.

Should your organisation join MALICO?

Organisations interested in applying for membership should contact the Chair, Professor J J Uta or the Secretary, Mrs M E Ngwira of MALICO. The annual membership fee is currently MK27,000. Thereafter, member organisations in the not-for-profit sector access the electronic resources that MALICO has sourced, either without payment for free resources, or by contributing, for paid (but heavily subsidized) e- resources. In addition, the Proceedings of the 2 Workshops are available for the sum of MK1500 (or US$25) from the Office of the Chair.

In that one of the major constraints to accessing electronic information is slow Internet speed, MALICO is beneficiary of an eIFL pilot project to upgrade speed through deployment of VSATs at 4 MALICO sites.
The Members of the MALICO Executive were elected at the First MALICO Council meeting held on 1st August 2003 at Malawi Bureau of Standards Board Room.