The abstract (cf. Balkan Studies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9) of Karl Kaser (Graz): Disciplinary Boundaries in Question: Balkan Studies in a Globalizing World

The disciplinary boundaries between Balkan Studies and Near East and/or Middle Eastern Studies were basically drawn in the course of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century within a certain political framework and as results of European political interests. Arabic and Islamic Studies were considered as the study of the culturally other. Balkan Studies in this period of time were conceived as the »orient within«. The dissolution of the Habsburg and the Ottoman Empires by the end of 1918 changed the political landscape. Near East and Middle East Studies received the flavour of British and French Colonial Studies, whereas the German Reich was interested to explore the designated food deliverer, the Balkans, within its concept of Großraumpolitik.

Ulrich Herb, Referent für elektronisches Publizieren, elektronische Archive und Open Access der Saarländischen Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek

Open Access revisited: Wissenschaftsaltruismus oder alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen?

Open Access
a) enhances fast and technologically easy exchange of research. Thus, scientific information is ubiquitously accessible.