Multiple award-winning librarian Mr. Amed Demirhan has illustrated how AUN's vast digital resources give Africa's Premier Development University an edge in research and scholarship. In his contribution at the recently concluded AUN International Conference (AUNIC), Mr. Amed Demirhan, currently the General Manager/Director of Barzani National Memorial, Barzan, Kurdistan Federal Region, Iraq, canvassed more use of open educational and archival resources, which he said provide great opportunity for institutional and national development.
"With the development of electronic resources, digital transformation, online teaching, and learning, we have to reconsider the use of physical space and the format of the space. One of the best examples is the AUN E-library transformation", said the former Director of the AUN e-library, whose topic was 'Research: A Tool for National Development and Innovation In The 21st Century Sciences'.
According to the influential library director: "The current technology gives us a great opportunity to recruit the best talents across the globe, which AUN is already doing, but we can consider a more cost-effective way to do this."
The three-day conference, which attracted local and international scholars, had the theme: "Research: A Tool for National Development and Innovation in the 21st Century."
According to Demirhan, institutions require innovative approaches to tap the benefits inherent in open educational and archival resources. "We know millions of open educational and archival resources are available online. Additional archival resources could be obtained in the physical locations because the older materials are not copyrighted.
"Millions of documents, maps, manuscripts, photos, and other archival learning resources are available in the major European and American libraries. Many of these resources are freely accessible".