In alignment with its historical track record of promoting access to knowledge and the values of openness and scholarship, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina added another landmark to the scene of Access to Knowledge that places special emphasis on the Arab region.

The Access to Knowledge electronic platform that came to life on 31 March 2008 is the result of significant effort and consultations, led by Hala Essalmawi, following the first seminar on New Tools for the Dissemination of Knowledge organised by Bibliotheca Alexandrina in September 2007. The new platform will act as the meeting point for researchers, librarians, students and practitioners interested in the Open Access movement. The resources section of the platform contains several articles about Creative Commons, Free and Open Source Software, Electronic Content and Access to Knowledge in Arabic and English.

Additionally, the platform offers visitors the chance to interact with each other and discuss issues and topics of relevance through its electronic forum. Discussions in the forum will be consolidated and summarised to provide readable materials for future reference. Future and past events relevant to access to knowledge are also listed with supporting materials where possible. The news bulletin of the website also provides stories in Arabic for visitors in the region.

This new platform is a great contribution from Bibliotheca Alexandrina to the promotion of open access in the Arab region, and yet another step towards an equitable knowledge society based on openness, sharing and collaboration.

tags: Egypt science-research a2k creative commons

extracted from: