October 19-23 marks the first annual Open Access Week (http://www.openaccessweek.org/), which is designed to raise awareness of this growing international movement that uses the Internet to throw open the locked doors that once hid knowledge. Open access encourages the unrestricted sharing of research results with everyone, everywhere, for the advancement of science and society.
Open Access Week 2009
October 19-23 marks the first annual Open Access Week (http://www.openaccessweek.org/), which is designed to raise awareness of this growing international movement that uses the Internet to throw open the locked doors that once hid knowledge. Open access encourages the unrestricted sharing of research results with everyone, everywhere, for the advancement of science and society.
Campus libraries from across the UCs have all planned events to commemorate open access week. The list below is illustrative and far from exhaustive.
- eScholarship: During Open Access Week CDL’s new and improved eScholarship (http://www.escholarship.org/) service launches. eScholarship offers a suite of tools designed to let researchers keep their copyright while having greater control over how their work is distributed. All 10 campuses will promote eScholarship during Open Access Week, with numerous demos targeted to library staff and potential users of eScholarship services.
- Information tables and outreach: Several campuses are staffing information tables and/or promoting Open Access Week in campus newsletters.
- Special events: Several campuses have planned special events to mark Open Access Week, particularly at UCLA and UC Berkeley. Here is a sampling from around the state:
- UCLA: Graduate Student Association Publications panel discussion on the benefits of open access, with particular attention to the potential of eScholarship (Oct. 19). UCLA has also developed a useful compendium of resources in support of Open Access Week: http://guides.library.ucla.edu/openaccess
- UC Berkeley: Talk by Michael Eisen, one of the founders of the leading open access journals published by the Public Library of Science (Oct. 20)
- UC Riverside: Subject specialists discussion about best ways of interacting with faculty to discuss open access and author’s rights (Oct. 20)
- UC Irvine: Panel discussion about the status and potential of open access in different disciplines (Oct. 21)
- UC San Diego: Scholarly Communications Advisory Committee luncheon, focused on eScholarship (Oct. 26)
During difficult budget times, it is especially important to encourage UC’s scholars to consider alternative means of sharing their knowledge. But even in flush times, the Web has the potential to enable great discoveries… especially if it is unlocked. Open Access Week is likely to remain important to the UC Libraries for years to come.
Tags: Open Access, UC Libraries
