What is GlobethicsLib?

Identity

The Globethics.net library aligns itself within the Open Access movement. As such it wishes to address the problem of skewed access to information between the global South and the global North. The fact that some parts of the world are prevented from participating in the global discourse due to a lack of access to information and knowledge resources is a form of injustice that needs to be corrected.

The Globethics.net library has the ambition to profile itself as a global agent of the Open Access Initiative and as an open repository. As such it does not only take advantage of what has already been developed by others in the open access movement, but encourages it to continue, and wishes to participate in its further development.

At the same time, the Globethics.net library is more than an open access actor, because it also provides to its registered users access to commercial content. This is done, because the global South also needs to have access to content in the field of applied ethics that is only available from commercial publishers. In this respect, the library wants to give preferential access to commercial content to people of the global South who are currently denied such access.

Content

The originality of the library on the landscape of open access repositories and digital libraries stands in the uniqueness of its offer, in terms of open access content (like the electronic versions of until now paper-only journals from the global South; documents submitted through the submission process; open access journals; and the integration of ethics related content from open repositories) in combination with its commercial content. As explained in the Identity part, Globethics.net also provides licensed content to its registered users. All of this content is reassembled in one organized collection of core applied ethics content that is searchable as a whole.

The main priority of the Globethics.net library is to provide full text access to core content in applied ethics to people of the global South and to give the global South an opportunity to make their own research more visible on a global level.

As a second priority, the Globethics.net library also wants to provide auxiliary information and services that contributes towards achieving the main goal of the library. More about the content

Target Groups

The target groups of the Globethics.net library are individuals who are excluded from access to literature on applied ethics for financial reasons, especially in the global South, but also in other countries of the world. The profile of the target groups are people with academic background or involved in academic education who are actively engaged or interested in applied ethical issues in different sectors of society.

Since the main target public of the Globethics.net library is located in the global South, the library ensures that access to knowledge resources is fast, reliable and attuned to global South conditions.

Resources

The Globethics.net library strives to achieve the above objectives within the financial, technological and human resources constraints of a not-for-profit foundation that relies mainly on donor funding. More about financial and human resources...

Partners

The Globethics.net Library is an international project and has been created with the assistance of many partners.

Further Development

Globethics.net is committed to improve its functionalities in order to improve the satisfaction of its users. The Globethics.net library has the ambition of becoming a significant actor in the open access movement, and therefore contributes to the evolution of this movement. More about further development...