A few days ago, the 10th iteration of the Baku International Book Fair was concluded at the Baku Expo Center in the capital of Azerbaijan. The Fair, organized annually by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan Republic is a major cultural event for the region, as for the past ten years it has provided a venue for libraries and publishing houses to come together from all over the country and across the world, in an effort to promote the exchange of cultures, history and provide an international “stage”, helping improve their global visibility.
Azerbaijan NOAD in the Spotlight:
The Republic of Azerbaijan is one of the most recent additions to our expanding network and our local NO was invited to participate in the Fair. As an academic library the Azerbaijan Technical University (AzTU) Library Information Center (LIC) traditionally always participates in the Fair, however this year, aside from presenting their own work as a repository of knowledge and research, they also utilised the event’s platform as an opportunity to promote open science and OpenAIRE.
Khayala Hajiyeva, along with Iltifat Ibrahimov, and LIC staff members Lamiya Miryagubova, Yegana Jafarova and Tural Guliyev from the Azerbaijan Technical University (AzTU) were present during the 7-day event, manning the AzTU Library Center booth; they were there representing the University and OpenAIRE, answering questions regarding both the library, as well as the goals and activities of OpenAIRE, the vision of open science and the importance of open access activities and initiatives in the promotion of scientific research and scholarly communication.
“As a recent addition to the OpenAIRE network, we thought this international venue would be an ideal occasion for us to introduce our audience to OpenAIRE in particular, but also to the more general principles and concepts of open science. The International Book Fair offered an opportunity to attract the attention of both academics and civilians, giving us the chance to introduce them either to open science as a concept and a new way forward for research, or to the work that OpenAIRE does, along with the services that researchers, research institutions and scholars may find useful. Overall, the interest was significant, and we received positive feedback from the event guests. This was a positive start to our efforts to promote open science not only in Azerbaijan, but to the entire region as well!” - Khayala Hajiyeva, Director of the Azerbaijan Technical University Library Information Center.
Global and Regional OS Visibility:
As one of the largest international cultural events in the region, the 10th Baku International Book Fair welcomed book enthusiasts, librarians, publishers and academics from various disciplines and multiple countries. This year’s Fair brought together more than 55 organisations and institutions, from 18 countries representing 4 continents, along with more than 100 local publishing houses and book/ art-related enterprises. The event also featured a wealthy activities schedule with more than 300 events, including master classes, book presentations, signing sessions, conferences, symposiums, competitions, reading and music evenings, as well as platforms for the promotion of cooperation between book industry entities.
With over 59.000 visitors this year alone, the Baku International Book Fair exhibition was an excellent venue and a unique opportunity for promoting Open Access and the principles of Open Science to a large-scale audience. We would like to thank our NOAD representatives for taking this opportunity and utilizing this event to introduce OpenAIRE both to the academic community, as well as the public of Azerbaijan.
