Papua New Guinea publishing and bookselling

John Evans, manager of the recently merged University of Papua New Guinea Press and Bookshop, writes about the book trade in Papua New Guinea, and the role of the University of Papua New Guinea Press and Bookshop.

Publishing in Papua New Guinea

EF Schumacher, the founder of the Intermediate Technology Development Group once said:

'The gift of material goods makes people dependent. The gift of knowledge makes them free'.

However, knowledge needs to be disseminated and often resides in some tradable artifact or item - book, CD, electronic file etc. The supply of such documents is an industry in its own right, but the elements of this global knowledge industry are particularly weak in Papua New Guinea.

PNG has a lot to contribute to this trade - especially on the cultural industry side - and has everything to gain from strengthening its links with the book trade and publishing beyond its borders.

At present the book trade in Papua New Guinea is weak (except for christian book stores), and secular books and other information products are not available to most Papua New Guineans. Access is limited to those who can travel overseas or can shop electronically. This absence is impacting on all areas of endeavour where access to knowledge and ideas is a requirement for progress. It is also impacting more broadly on education and its intended effects. The lack of a reading culture through a general and prolonged book famine make reading a survival concern rather than an useful tool for individual and professional development - let alone recreation.

Equally, opportunities to read and find out about what has been done in the country, and about its diverse heritage are severely limited for most. This is due to lack of access to current and research results, poor book outlets and distribution mechanisms and limited local publishing opportunities. Much is published about PNG, but it is often done outside the country. While local institutions do publish, output is often limited in terms of distribution and irregular in appearance. For example, the creation of Divine Word University Press has been a notable move forward, although it is temporarily inactive. PNG's most famous publication Lik Lik Buk has now appeared in its latest version, published and printed locally in Wewak and Lae.

Role of the UPNG Press

UPNG Press's concern is to enhance the flow of knowledge, ideas and information to and from the University of Papua New Guinea, in support of its mission.

University publishing has seen various (but generally limited) levels of support. It is a centralised operation but there are also publications issued by most Schools of the university - and these are often even harder to find out about. In defence of this it may be pointed out that UPNG faces overwhelming distribution and marketing problems, exacerbated by low literacy levels and lack of money for books. These are reflections of a lack of development rather than an underlying lack of need and purpose.

However it must be acknowledged that staff capacity, lack of direction, minimal integration with university mission, and limited high level and policy support also played a part. UPNG Press and the university bookshop were separate entities and did not work together. Thus the university's decision to integrate them into one business unit is an innovative step towards re-engineering of this part of the university's work. In addition, technological change means that the environment now is far different from that which existed when the bookshop and press were set up.

The future

There are three themes which will be the framework of further work:

Capturing our own knowledge e.g. enhancing opportunities to publish ; increasing awareness of local publications and sources
Improving access to outside knowledge e.g. improving access to databases of publications and establishing sources of supply
Supporting the development of enabling tools to work with knowledge e.g. supporting reading development, information literacy

We will be attempting to create the convenient place (physical, intellectual and on the web) for viewing and buying relevant books and other media and for services related to their supply and creation. This will be seen as actively supporting university programmes and be well regarded in the community at large.

This is very much work in progress. Any comments and references would be much appreciated. Also try us with your PNG book orders!

John Evans
Manager
Box 320, University PO
Papua New Guinea 134
jevans@upng.ac.pg.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address)

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