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

Twenty Years After: Armenian Research Libraries Today

“…It should also be noted that as part of its outreach to developing and transition countries, EIFL seeks to encourage initiatives regarding open access (Donabedian and Carey, 2011). We have already noted that so far, open access publishing in Armenia tends to center around the sciences.…”

“…However, it is worth noting that demand for these services has not yet risen as high in Armenia as levels seen in the West. For instance, in 2008 the Open Net Initiative reported that only 5.8% of Armenia's population had Internet access (Donabedian and Carey, 2011). Therefore, expectations for technology funding and related services may be lower.…”

“…. This outbreak of hostilities and political instability has compounded the problem of decreased funding" (Donabedian and Carey, 2011). Today, wars or rumors of wars involving Armenia and its neighbors, along with global financial uncertainty, continue to exacerbate these challenges.…”

“…"Under Soviet rule, libraries in the South Caucasus enjoyed a steady level of support. According to Tatiana Usova, libraries were a priority for the Communist Party because they were 'assigned a mission of spreading socialist ideas to the masses' " (Donabedian and Carey, 2011). The Soviets also applied this centralizing approach to higher education.…”

The role of the national university in developing nations' digital cultural heritage projects

“…A large, autonomous institution like NU is situated to dramatically improve the country's access to information. According to Donabedian and Carey (2011), the "socioeconomic restructuring and [. .…”