Special Lecture on Open Access Week 2025@DLIS, CUTN

Dear All, 

This is to inform you that Department of Library and Information Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu has organized a special online lecture as part of the International Open Access Week 2025 on 22nd October 2025 (Wednesday) through Google Meet. Mr. Mohamed Baessa, Interim Library Manager, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and Manager of Research Output & Preservation Services was invited as the speaker, and he delivered the talk on “Open Access: Institutional Pathways Toward Knowledge Ownership”.

The program commenced with a welcome address given by Prof. S. Thanuskodi, Head, Department of Library and Information Science, CUTN, Thiruvarur followed by a brief introduction of the resource person by Dr. Anila Sulochana, Assistant Professor at Department of Library and Information Science, CUTN. 

Mr. Mohamed Baessa, who serves as Interim Manager of the Library at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Manager of Research Output & Preservation Services, delivered a comprehensive talk. He began with an overview of KAUST and the global Open Access (OA) movement, offering a clear definition of “Open Access” and tracing its key institutionalization milestones. He then outlined the three main OA routes—Green OA (self-archiving in institutional repositories), Gold OA (publishing openly in journals), and Hybrid OA (subscription-based journals offering open-access options)—followed by an overview of the KAUST Library, established in 2009.

He elaborated on the library’s services and the university’s faculty-driven Open Access policy, highlighting the Institutional Research Tracking System (IRTS), a proactive mechanism that mandates the submission of manuscript versions of all university research outputs. He further noted that, from 2017 onward, KAUST implemented a Faculty Annual Review System and an Institutional Research Evaluation System, detailing how the library monitors and supports these internal processes.

Mr. Baessa also discussed the achievements and challenges encountered during policy implementation and concluded by sharing key takeaways from the KAUST experience. The program featured a lively Q&A session, with participants raising insightful questions on issues such as tracking institutional research outputs, ensuring faculty compliance with OA policies, and addressing incomplete metadata in repositories (e.g., missing titles or author names).

The lecture was coordinated by Dr. Anila Sulochana, Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, and attended by more than 50 participants from India and abroad. The session concluded with a formal vote of thanks proposed by Prof. Akhandanand Shukla. Ms. Anjali V., an MLIS second-year student, served as the rapporteur for the program.

The glimpses of the program are given below:

The Department extends its heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended the program and generously shared their valuable time with us.