Open Access and Liberal Education: A Look at Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia

1. Open Access and Liberal Education: A Look at Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia D. Aram Donabedian, MLS, MFA John Carey, MLS, MA Hunter College LibrariesHunter College City University of New York Introduction Under Soviet rule, libraries in the South Caucasus enjoyed a steady level of support. In the post-Soviet era, however, they face increasing budgetary challenges and must seek alternatives to commercial publishing and licensing models. In addition, hostilities and political instability have compounded the problem of decreased funding. We assessed the status of the open access movement and Internet use in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. We also examined how developing affordable models for scholarly communications is crucial to strengthening liberal education and civic participation in these developing democracies. Open Access in the South Caucasus Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are all actively engaged in open access activities and in developing modern scholarly communication resources. These three countries currently publish a number of open access journals, and all possess some form of either a digital library or institutional repository. Armenia: 5 OA Journals, most focusing on science: Mechanics, Physics, Mathematics, Biology . . . also “Historical-Philological” Digital Library Fundamental Scientific Library Seeks “mass digitization” of NAS journals Azerbaijan: Institutional Repository KUIR: Khazar University Institutional Repository Diverse subjects The region’s only IR 3 OA journals international affairs, general academic research, etc. Georgia: 5 OA journals, heavy on technical subjects (mathematics, computer science) Digital Library of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia Electronic theses, dissertations, e-resources ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, Standard 3: “The information-literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.” • RECOMMENDATIONS • Nurturing liberal education • Encouraging democratic participation • As they build democratic institutions, South Caucasus countries can strengthen and transform the educational models that help provide the foundation for civic participation in the following areas: • Open Access: • provides greater access to content for researchers in the South Caucasus • encourages national innovation • encourages transnational collaboration by providing global access to the scholarly output of South Caucasian researchers • breaks down the pay-walls that make scholarly literature inaccessible • Internet’s Role—Control vs. Community: • Powerful tool for networking • Offers counter-narrative to state-controlled media • Fuels economic development • Fosters free speech • Engages people in civic participation Internet Filtering Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are developing a reputation as leaders in the development of next-generation controls that block selected content. Three Generations of Controls 1st generation: Firewalls at key Internet choke points 2nd generation: Overt track—legalized content controls Covert track— ‘‘just in time’’ blocking, plausible deniability 3rd generation: Counter-information, surveillance and data mining Low transparency: filtering is unacknowledged or disguised as network errors • Critical Information Literacy and • the Librarian/Instructor’s Role • Soviet model: • knowledge as a "truth" transferred from professor "experts" to accepting students • VS. • Critical pedagogy: • studies the social, cultural, political, and economic dynamics of teaching/learning • The Critical information literacy process: • Teach students to question the social, political, and economic forces involved in the creation and use of information • Draw attention to the role of the individual in information-based power structures • Achieve critical agency to actively engage with the political and social conditions • Cultivate an informed and dynamic citizenry Reference Donabedian, D. A. & Carey, J. (2011). Open access and liberal education: A look at Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Slavic & East European Information Resources 12(4) . Image: Parajanov, S., Director. (1988). Ashik Kerib [Motion picture]. Armenia: KINO International..