Liesbeth Kanis

Liesbeth Kanis is Head of the Library, Documentation and Information (LDI) Department at the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL). She is in charge of collection, strategy, policy and operations. In this capacity she serves on the Executive Board of the ASCL.

Her broad experience in scholarly information ranges across the globe, including in Africa and Asia, which has also been her research focus area: she specialises in Africa-China Relations and knowledge production for development. She holds two degrees from Leiden University, in Book and Digital Media Studies (MA 2002), and in China Studies with an LDE Minor in African Dynamics (BA 2022). In 2014, she completed a Leadership Development Programme (2014) at Nyenrode Business University.

Previously, she worked for Brill academic publishers in various roles, ranging from publisher Language and Linguistics to Business Development Manager Asia and Corporate Sustainability. In 2015, as Managing Director she established Brill Asia in Singapore (2015) and Beijing (2017). From 2010-2012, she worked in Tanzania as academic publishing and research advisor at St. John’s University in Dodoma, securing funding for projects addressing challenges faced by educators, researchers, librarians, publishers and government agencies. This led to her involvement in the UN public-private partnership Research4Life, serving as co-chair on the executive committee, furthering research equity and access to research knowledge in developing countries. With ILO, Yale and Cornell Libraries as founding partners, she realised the Global Access to Legal Information (GOALI) programme, which remains active today. Throughout her career she has always closely collaborated with libraries. Heading the ASCL's LDI Department combines her experience, expertise and strong interests in Africa and African Studies.

Keywords: African library, Africa-China Relations, knowledge production, research ecosystems, research equity, epistemology, digital innovation, sustainability.