Posted on by Marwa Gadallah

What is “Open Access,” Really? – A Comic

Art and Words by Marwa Gadallah

(Find the Arabic version of this comic here.)

“Open access” is any resource you don’t have to pay for, that is available online and that has less obstacles to copying and using material – in short, anything that is available for all.1 As a movement in information sciences, it has been praised, but in our particular contexts, in mine as someone who lives in the Arabic-speaking world, I wonder about its limitations. What does “available for all” truly mean? 

What open access is can be defined by cultural factors, like language, history and even the significance of computer literacy. I presented on this with N.A. Mansour at the Digital Orientalisms Twitter Conference in 2020 in both Arabic and English. But we thought a visual medium might help us provoke thought on this issue even more. 

Alternative text is also available for each comic panel.

A woman wearing hijab stands before a metropolis with large buildings and skyscrapers called "Archives of the Internet". Some are company buildings that belong to the online archives East View, Gale, HathiTrust and Bloomsbury.
She is now standing before a building where a security guard stands and the building’s door is closed. There are other buildings in the background. The security guard asks, "Archive ID?" She responds, "I don't have one." He says, "Then you'll have to pay $50 to get one." She says, "It's expensive and I need to get my research done urgently." He responds, "Well, after you get your ID, to use one of our resources in your research paper, you'll need permission from the author. That could take months."
She is alone now and has a look of disappointment on her face. Three thought bubbles come out of her head and each one expresses a thought: piles of money, a clock and a closed lock. There are buildings in the background. She sees something before her and asks, “Huh? What’s that?”
She is standing in another building and staring at shelves of material from open access archives. Each shelf is labelled an archive name: Das Bild des Orients, Gertrude Bell Archive, Historical Paper Collections and Library of Congress (US). With her fists raised in victory, she says excitedly, "Yes! I finally have access to resources I need and they're free!"
A close-up of her surprised and upset face is shown and her wide eyes reflect the English words “Arab” and “History.” She says, "HUH?! They're in English! But I can't read in English…"
The background is black and the top half of the woman’s face shows as she looks upwards towards the following words: "Is open access really open access if…" (Each of the following three statements is shown in a separate thought bubble:) "users don't know the language? the resources aren't accessible to the people whose history is being researched? users can't navigate the interface?”

Where are you from? What cultural barriers have influenced your ability to access open access resources?

1 We recommend the Wikipedia page on open access because Wikipedia is an open access resource, with its problems, just as there are problems with any academic source.

I would like to thank Jasmine Soliman for her feedback on the content and arrangement of this comic, which discusses a subject she has wonderfully dedicated so much of her own time on. I would also like to thank Shabbir Agha Abbas and Heather Hughes for their feedback and kind words. I would also like to thank my father for his feedback on the Arabic version of this comic, allowing me to improve it.

Most of all, I would like to thank N.A. Mansour for coming up with this wonderful idea, for being there every step of the way, for editing and for being so patient and understanding.

Marwa Gadallah graduated from the Graphic Design program at the American University in Cairo. She is interested in Arabic calligraphy and illustration and its ability to convey abstract ideas and has done comic and illustration work. She is also interested in the issues of knowledge and resource accessibility in the Arab world, particularly within the arts.