International Journal of Digital Library Services (IJODLS)
April - June, 2012, Volume-2, Issue-2, ISSN:2250-1142
OPEN INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORIES IN SAUDI ARABIA: PRESENT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
Parvez Ahmad Mohammad Aqil and Mohammad Asad Siddique
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to assess the scope, development, and future of Institutional Repositories (IR) in Saudi Arabia. This paper is based on the authors’ working experience at King Saud University Dspace repository project. To ensure the number of repository projects in Saudi Arabia the directory of open access repositories, (Open DOAR), Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR), and the websites of the existing universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been browsed. There is a general lack of awareness with regard to Open Institutional Repositories in Saudi Universities and higher education institutions. Only four Universities i.e. King Saud University (KSU), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Umm Al-Qura University, and University of Dammam have taken some initiatives in this regard. Though these universities have made commendable efforts there still lots of improvements and developments required with regard to Institutional Repositories. It is expected that this paper will encourage Saudi Academic organizations to take the initiatives in the development of open institutional repositories. No such study (Research type, Essay, View point) has been conducted so far in the context of Saudi Arabia.
