Public Libraries and Access to Knowledge (A2K): A History of Open Access (OA) and the Internet in India in the 19th and 20th Century
Prashant Iyengar · SSRN Electronic Journal · 2009
This paper examines the role that public libraries in India have played in the expansion of access to knowledge. Beginning with an account of the development of the library movement in India over the past two centuries, the paper discusses new initiatives including Digital Libraries and electronic repositories of theses and dissterations (ETDs) are being experimented with in order to increase the range of materials available to the public. The paper also looks at the impact of changing readership patterns and the availability of cheap printed materials, including pirated materials and the impact the latter have on Access to Knowledge.