Open Electronic Library - from initiative to reality at the community of Kyrgyz Libraries

Open Electronic Library - from initiative to reality at the community of Kyrgyz Libraries

Sania Battalova

American University of Central Asia initiated the project on Open Digital Libraries of Papers of Kyrgyzstan scientists. We have used Open Source software - Dspace. Experience of the University stimulated to implement the corporative project in 2007, and 12 libraries of the country participated in establishment of Corporative Repository (Open Electronic Library)of Dissertations Abstracts. The electronic archive is the first project on Open Electronic Library Establishment in Central Asia, which combines Academics full text abstracts of dissertation on social, humanities, medicine and technical sciences. Our corporative projects are called not only for achievement of their goals but also sustainable development of a project in future. Library community of our country has devised tactics for implementation of new ideas, technologies and projects, which includes phases of selection, evaluation, analyses, testing, integration levels determination and opportunities of corporative work, and building work team to implement new programs, software, corporate principles and develop normative basis for sustainability. Pilot group of 12 leading academic and special libraries working together created normative base on corporative resource formation and copyright observance in open electronic library. Author's Contract, interlibrary agreements, guidelines, instructions has been developed with the support and cooperation of state institutions that coordinate copyright issues. Web site of Corporative Repository is created: http://krad.bik.org.kg/ and Open Electronic Library (OEL) of Dissertations Abstracts of Kyrgyzstan scientists is accessible on http://oel.bik.org.kg/. More then 100 users all around the world visit the OEL web-site every day. At present, the library includes 159 documents and grows every month. Number of participant-libraries has increased up to 14 in 2008. On the basis of AUCA, we work for the information provision of documents in open electronic libraries in HTML format, which is easy to work, provide information more visually. We work on cross-reference links between resources of the repository and Electronic Catalogues of the Libraries. We consider that formation of Database of students' theses, research results and academic papers is an important informational base for e-learning development. Technological, normative and legal environment is created for future development of the project not only in our country but also in Central Asia. We intend to open electronic library of scientists' papers of Central Asia countries and Kazakhstan.

2008