Conference Agenda

In this presentation, I will discuss the proactive steps taken by Elizabeth City State University's academic library to uphold our commitment to open access and amidst the phasing out of our current digital platform. While I will tell the journey of establishing the very first open access repository on our campus, the conversation will center on the exploration for robust alternative platforms and the pursuit of regional collaboration with other university libraries to ensure continuous access to diverse scholarly materials. A focused literature review will be conducted to pinpoint the gaps in existing research about open access dynamics within HBCU libraries. I will recount personal experiences from a five-year tenure managing an open access repository, with special attention to the inclusion and dissemination of non-traditional content such as music, videos, and multimedia. The discussion highlights the impact on scholarly communications and the advancement of research transparency within communities often left at the margins and underrepresented communities. The analysis accentuates the significant role that the open access repositories serve in broadening the scope of research visibility and its integration into the broader global academic discourse.

The proposal presents a background information about Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the Bureau’s Library. The Background information provides the legal framework and the mandate of the organization, including specific functions towards production, dissemination, use and publishing statistics. The proposal highlights the current situation of the library and the need for establishing an institutional repository for documentation, dissemination of data and statistical information resources. By establishing the IR, the Bureau will archive official statistics and other statistical intellectual products created by various communities. These materials will then be made accessible to end users both within and outside the organization. The repository's primary goal is to establish a national integrated one-stop data and statistics dissemination hub.

This proposal discusses the conceptualization and development of an open repository and a community for Mapuche women in southern Chile. The Mapuche people is 80.2 % of the native peoples in Chile. Indigenous women in Chile face various challenges, like income poverty, and difficulties for the preservation of their customs and traditions. This proposal aims to visibilize the different roles as leaders of Mapuche women. The work with the communities will adopt the Nütram methodology, which encourages sharing knowledge in a conversation where people get together and form a circle to talk to each other. The objective is to rescue the testimonies and the living memory of their ancestral practices. Moreover, we will speak about the development of an open repository that captures and preserves the heritage and scientific documentation on Mapuche women. The information sources to populate the repository come from scientific repositories, databases, and historical archives. The repository will generate an open virtual community of researchers that will contribute new digital content, making it a tool for the co-creation of knowledge for Mapuche women and researchers. This proposal will be part of the project funded by Invest in Open Infrastructure and will be carried out during 2024.

This paper investigates the profound consequences of the absence of open repositories on marginalised societies, focusing on Women Marketeers in Makululu Compound, Kabwe, Zambia, a region marked by limited digital access. As the second largest compound in Africa and extensively studied in Zambia, Makululu serves as a compelling case study. The paper adopts a qualitative approach to unveil the complex challenges faced by this community due to the lack of accessible digital platforms. The study exposes how this dearth negatively impacts education, economic opportunities, cultural preservation, and overall community empowerment. The findings underscore the intricate tapestry of challenges emanating from the unavailability of open repositories. Educational resources and skill development opportunities are compromised, contributing to economic disparities and hindering entrepreneurship. Moreover, the research highlights the broader implications for community empowerment, illustrating how the lack of open repositories impedes collaborative initiatives and knowledge-sharing within the community. The paper uncovers threats to cultural preservation, emphasizing how the absence of open repositories erodes traditional knowledge-sharing practices and stifles cultural expression. In response, the paper advocates for strategies that promote equitable access to information, emphasizing the importance of digital inclusivity and open access initiatives in fostering empowerment, inclusion, and the preservation of cultural diversity.