Open Access

Abstract

The modern age has come along with varied dimensions of ‘openness', ranging from open content, open data, open courses (massive open online courses (MOOCs) to open source and pedagogy, open and distance learning, and open access, among others. In order to meet with the educational needs of people, hardly is there any country where open and distance learning (ODL) does not hold. With scattered adherents and students across different geographical boundaries, ODL is known to leave the doors of institutions of higher learning wide open for the benefit of the marginalized, isolated, underprivileged, and the unreachable for education and training, while they remain in their homes, places of work, and other locations pursuing their studies. But a sizeable number of students suffer from failure, low pass rate, and indeed withdrawal from or discontinuance of participation. Nonetheless, ODL seems to work in tandem with the core business of Sustainable Development Agenda, which is out to make the world better for its people, with no one left behind. The Agenda carries along a strong desire for access to information towards achieving the set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In pursuit of the attainment of the goals and mending the debilitating crack of excessive failure rate and not being able to adequately meet the library and information needs of the ODL students, the virtual and ubiquitous role of Open Access (OA) is considered vital. This chapter attempts to provide the nexus between the ODL, OA, and the SDGs even as each of the subjects in the discourse is dissected; a panoramic survey of the related terms is carried out, and socio-political and economic implications of the OA in relation to other subjects are perused.