ISSN Namibia
Member since 2009
The National Library of Namibia traces its origins back to 1926 when it was established as the Legislative Assembly Library. This library was closed in 1981 but reopened in 1984 under the name Estorff Reference Library. After Namibia gained independence, the Estorff Reference Library officially became the National Library of Namibia on April 1, 1994. It maintains the country’s largest collection of Namibian publications.
The National Library of Namibia acts as the national bibliographic agency and is mandated by law to fulfill legal deposit obligations outlined in the Namibia Library and Information Service Act No. 4 of 2000. In March 2009, a working agreement was established between the National Library of Namibia and the ISSN International Centre. This agreement enables the allocation of International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSN) to individuals and publishers. The staff members of the Namibia Agency report to the Head of the National Library. Previously, this position was held by Mr. Loubser, who retired in 2010, and Mr. Mlambo, whose contract ended in 2019. The current Head is Ms. Meyer.
As we transition into the digital age; the Namibian agency has evolved by moving from manual to electronic assignment of ISSNs. Among Namibia's successes is the cataloguing of resources on ISSN+ and ensuring that our scholarly publications are accessible through ROAD, the Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources.
The Namibian ISSN Agency extends its thanks to ISSN International for their ongoing training and updates on new developments.
Since 2009, various librarians have managed the Namibian agency, including Ms. Shoopala, Ms. Jacobi, and Ms. Isaacks.
