Language, Technology, and the Limits of Open Access: Indigenous ETD Infrastructure in India

Authors

  • Laila T. Abraham Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala

Keywords:

Key words, Open Access, Open Knowledge, ETD, Language Technology, Digital Archive

Abstract

Doctoral dissertations form a major share of publicly funded research in India, much of it written in Indian languages. Although national initiatives have promoted digitisation and open access, most Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) platforms and plagiarism-detection systems remain optimised for English, rendering Indian-language research largely invisible to full-text retrieval and quality control. This paper examines Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Kerala, as a pioneering institutional response through its early development of Nitya DArch, a Unicode-compliant ETD system enabling multilingual full-text processing across Indian scripts. By comparing the MGU Theses Archive with the national repository ShodhGanga, the study shows how the absence of indigenous language technologies at the national level results in only partial realisation of open access. Drawing on Open Knowledge and Knowledge Commons theory, and informed by Chattampi Swamikal’s critique of linguistic barriers to knowledge, the paper argues that openness without linguistic usability produces epistemic exclusion. It concludes that integrating Indian-language technologies into national ETD infrastructure is essential for a genuinely inclusive and equitable knowledge commons.

Author Biography

  • Laila T. Abraham, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala

    Laila T Abraham is former University Librarian of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, and a distinguished scholar in the field of Library and Information Science. She holds a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, and a PhD from Alagappa University, Karaikkudi, Tamil Nadu, where her doctoral work contributed to the understanding of information organization and scholarly communication among farmers and agriculturists. With a career marked by both academic leadership and intellectual creativity she has published around thirty research papers in reputed national and international journals and edited volumes and presented papers at numerous national and international conferences, reflecting her active engagement with the global information science community. In addition, she serves as a reviewer for several professional journals, contributing to the maintenance of scholarly standards in the discipline. Beyond her academic work, Dr. Abraham is a poet and author, with several poetry collections to her credit. Her literary writing reflects a deep sensitivity to language, culture, and human experience

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Image of Chattampi Swamikal (as in 1924)

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Published

2025-12-01

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 4 (2025): Chattampi Swamikal and Open Knowledge

Section

Articles

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