Joseph E. Longshak, PhD, is the founder of FRELIP (The Free e-Library Foundation). A Library and Information Science specialist with over 24 years’ experience, he is dedicated to removing barriers to information through open access (OA), open educational resources (OER), open-source technology and capacity development — building a more equal and knowledgeable society.
He holds a PhD in Information Science (University of South Africa), an MBA in Information Technology (National Open University of Nigeria) and a B.Sc. in Library and Information Science (Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria). By day he is a Principal Manager for Electronic Library Systems & Information Services at the Central Bank of Nigeria, where he has led the bank’s digital-library transformation since 2007.
Expertise
- Digital library systems — Koha ILS, DSpace, VuFind discovery, BePress Digital Commons, OpenAthens SSO and institutional repositories
- Library automation, electronic resource management (ERM), metadata and digital preservation
- Emerging technologies — AI, prompt engineering, blockchain, Web3 and the metaverse for libraries
- Research-impact assessment, bibliometrics and scholarly communication
Selected work
- Founded and built the Free eLibrary Portal to democratise access to scholarly information and OER across Nigeria and Africa
- Led three phases of the CBN e-Library (Koha; DSpace + VuFind; OpenAthens SSO) across 30+ branches
- Author/contributor on Web3 & metaverse libraries, IPR in the blockchain era, and digital currencies (IGI Global; CBN)
Certified in Prompt Engineering, Scopus and Moodle; member of the Nigerian Library Association. ORCID · LinkedIn →