Qatar National Library has joined the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS), thus furthering its commitment to helping researchers in Qatar and beyond publish their findings on international publishing platforms.
The Library was named as a representative of the Middle East on the board of SCOSS as part of its continuing commitment to sharing knowledge and information across the world through open access.
The Library will join a network of influential organizations committed to helping secure open access and open science infrastructures worldwide. These infrastructures include scholarly communication resources, services and software that help researchers collect, store, organize, access, share and assess their research.
SCOSS identifies and analyses non-commercial services that are essential to open science and open access and provides recommendations for funding to entities interested in supporting these services. Since 2017, SCOSS has encouraged the community to invest in nearly US$3 million in open infrastructure projects. Dr. Alwaleed Alkhaja, Senior Intellectual Property Librarian, will sit on the board as the Library’s representative.
Dr. Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Minister of State, Qatar, and President of Qatar National Library said:
“Qatar National Library has the capability to achieve the principle of leadership that is confirmed in our country every day. By serving the community, as well as scientific institutions, researchers and scholars around the world, the Library is taking firm steps toward fulfilling its mission and achieving its vision with confidence at the national, regional and international levels. We have a role to play at the global level toward achieving sustainable development goals in the Gulf, the Arab region and the Middle East.
“The Library pursues these roles through its international conferences, whether in the traditional or virtual format. COVID-19 pandemic impeded our traditional work, yet we expanded our demographic and geographical circle by holding virtual conferences and forums with international participation, and we continue to provide support to researchers, scientists and creative thinkers. Our commitment to open access reflects our ongoing efforts to remove barriers to information for all.
“Joining the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS) and having a representative of the Middle East on the board of the SCOSS reflect the position the Library has reached. This will represent a new incentive for our endeavors to enhance the Library's position globally and expand its services for knowledge, science and development.
“The treasures contained in our Library, its content, its modernity, its advanced digitization technology and its human potential will allow us to fulfill our mission to the fullest. We promise our patrons that we will hold virtual discussion groups covering all topics related to national libraries and their cooperation to serve sustainable development and knowledge.
“We congratulate our wise leadership and our dear country on the position our national library has reached. We promise to make every effort to be worthy of their esteemed trust.”
Dr. Alwaleed Alkhaja said: “Open access is all about making research publications freely available so anyone can benefit from access to research. We are committed to doing everything we can to support the researchers of Qatar, the Middle East and worldwide to disseminate their findings as far and wide as possible.
“Open access is one of our core values, which can also be seen in our commitment to offering free, unrestricted access to our collections and services such as the Qatar Digital Library. Open access is vital for improving the reach of research and helping to provide evidence for its impact. It also results in an improved reputation for researchers and their institutions, and in the long term, higher-quality research through open, transparent and reproducible research practices.
“Wherever we can, we will support innovative scholars, creative thinkers and scientific pioneers to maximize the impact of their findings across the world. By joining the board at SCOSS, we will play a crucial role in ensuring the success of open access and open science initiatives in the future.”
The Library takes part in various international open access initiatives, such as INTACT’s OpenAPC project and Open Access 2020, and contributes to the development of international open access principles through the International Federation of Information and Library Associations.
Since 2017, Qatar National Library has assisted researchers in Qatar by creating the Open Access Author Fund, which covers all costs related to publishing their findings on open access platforms. The Library also offers open access vouchers, allowing the Library’s partner vendors to provide vouchers for eligible authors to publish their articles in one of these vendors’ Open Access journals.
