Accessing digital knowledge

Open Access to Knowledge and Information: Scholarly Literature and Digital Library Initiatives – the South Asian Scenario Publisher: UNESCO, 2008 In the information society, free flow of information is a fundamental principle for bridging the knowledge gaps between privileged and under-privileged communities. Open access to information and knowledge is an innovative mode of scholarly communication within the digital environment. The book describes successful digital library and open access initiatives in the South Asia sub-region that are available in the forms of open courseware, open access journals, metadata harvesting services, national-level open access repositories and institutional repositories. Universal access to information and knowledge is a key principle in UNESCO's overall mandate to promote the free flow of information by word and by image and thus to place information and knowledge at the doorsteps of communities. The emerging economies amongst the developing countries are not far behind in building up necessary information infrastructure, essential for sustainable economic development. However, they have limitations in terms of bridging the digital divide within their societies, due to the co-existence of marginalised and privileged communities. The South Asia sub-region is now in the forefront of the open access movement within developing countries, with India being the most prominent partner in terms of its successful open access and digital library initiatives. For instance, the Open Archive Initiative launched by OneWorld South Asia (OWSA), a Delhi based international civil society organisation, disseminates resources on ICT-enabled development. This publication has its genesis in the recommendations and proceedings of UNESCO-supported international conferences and workshops including the 4th International Conference of Asian Digital Libraries (Bangalore); the International Conferences on Digital Libraries (New Delhi); and the International Workshop on Greenstone Digital Library Software (Kozhikode), where many information professionals of this sub-region demonstrated their Digital Library and Open Access initiatives. The book may be considered an authoritative source-book on open access development in this sub-region. Source: UNESCO

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