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Category: open access

On “Torching the Modern-Day Library of Alexandria,” by James Somers

On “Torching the Modern-Day Library of Alexandria,” by James Somers

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In this article for The Atlantic, James Somers explores why the original dream behind Google Books — and perhaps even behind Google itself, Somers suggests — has been quashed. Somers traces the trajectory of Google Books, from the centuries-long pipe dream of creating the world’s largest library in “one place” to its current manifestation: alive, but with utopic vision unrealized. Somers provides a compelling account of the class action lawsuit between Google and a coalition of authors and publishers, as…

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On “Digital Scholarship Considered: How New Technologies Could Transform Academic Work” by Nick Pearce, Martin Weller, Eileen Scalon, and Melanie Ashleigh

On “Digital Scholarship Considered: How New Technologies Could Transform Academic Work” by Nick Pearce, Martin Weller, Eileen Scalon, and Melanie Ashleigh

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In the article “Digital Scholarship Considered: How New Technologies Could Transform Academic Work” Nick Pearce, Martin Weller, Eileen Scanlon, and Melanie Ashleigh contribute to the conversation around integrating digital technology and higher education. The authors take it as a given that new technology is capable of affecting how academics work, but they are steadfast in their belief that this is not an inevitable outcome of our increasingly networked world. Although I suspect this is a bit of a strawman argument,…

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On “Interoperability and Retrieval” (UNESCO Curriculum)

On “Interoperability and Retrieval” (UNESCO Curriculum)

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The Open Access for Library Schools curriculum was developed under UNESCO’s Open Access Program. On their website UNESCO writes, “The carefully designed and developed sets of OA curricula for researchers and library and information professionals are based on two needs assessment surveys, and several rounds of face-to-face and online consultations with relevant stakeholders” (n.p.). Here, I’ve scanned through the “Interoperability and Retrieval” module. This module is a rather specialized look at interoperability and retrieval needs and standards for open access…

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On “Open Access Mandates and the ‘Fair Dealing’ Button,” by Arthur Sale, Marc Couture, Eloy Rodrigues, Les Carr, and Stevan Harnad

On “Open Access Mandates and the ‘Fair Dealing’ Button,” by Arthur Sale, Marc Couture, Eloy Rodrigues, Les Carr, and Stevan Harnad

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In “Open Access Mandates and the ‘Fair Dealing’ Button,” Arthur Sale, Marc Couture, Eloy Rodrigues, Les Carr, and Stevan Harnad discuss the provision of a “fair dealing button” on research that is deposited in a funder’s or institution’s repository. The fair dealing button developed out of the longstanding tradition of individuals writing to authors to request a copy of their article. With the fair dealing button, this process is automated. But how does this function connect to the open access…

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On “OA Statement of Commitment for Librarians, Archivists, and PEA”

On “OA Statement of Commitment for Librarians, Archivists, and PEA”

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The University of Victoria’s 2012 “OA Statement of Commitment for Librarians, Archivists, and PEA” is the closest that UVic gets to an official, documented position on open access (OA). Of course, a “statement of commitment” is not a policy nor a mandate. Rather, it is an articulation of goodwill and a recognition of the importance of open access to research and cultural material. It is interesting to note that this statement of commitment — the only of its kind from…

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On “United Kingdom’s Open Access Policy Urgently Needs a Tweak,” by Stevan Harnad

On “United Kingdom’s Open Access Policy Urgently Needs a Tweak,” by Stevan Harnad

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In “United Kingdom’s Open Access Policy Urgently Needs a Tweak,” Stevan Harnad points out a flaw in the Research Councils UK (RCUK) policy released in 2012 that resolved to make any RCUK-funded research open access within 2 years. The issue, as Harnad sees it, is that the RCUK has agreed to direct more funds to Gold OA (i.e., open access journal publishing) over Green OA (i.e., OA repository deposit). This will not make researchers publish OA, Harnad argues, as it…

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On “Open Access is a Research Community Matter, Not a Publishing Community Matter,” by Stevan Harnad

On “Open Access is a Research Community Matter, Not a Publishing Community Matter,” by Stevan Harnad

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In this short article, Stevan Harnad repeats his argument that Green OA (i.e., depositing research in OA repositories) is the best path toward the widespread adoption and implementation of open access. In “Open Access is a Research Community Matter, Not a Publishing Community Matter,” he aims to convince researchers to self-archive or deposit their own output because publishers do not yet have enough impetus to commit wholly to open access. Further, Harnad argues, “researchers’ institutions and funders need to mandate…

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On “Open Access Towards Bridging the Digital Divide – Policies and Strategies for Developing Countries,” by Allam Ahmed

On “Open Access Towards Bridging the Digital Divide – Policies and Strategies for Developing Countries,” by Allam Ahmed

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It is easy to make the case for open access in North America, where there are coordinated, national efforts to develop technical infrastructure. One of the frustrating things about our current scholarly communication system is that it is still not entirely open access despite the fact that we have the technological capability to create and sustain an OA publishing system. Indeed, we are lucky here in Canada, for many reasons. But a robust, open access-ready technology infrastructure is not the…

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On “ACRL Policy Statement on Open Access to Scholarship by Academic Librarians” and “IFLA Statement on Open Access – Clarifying IFLA’s Position and Strategy”

On “ACRL Policy Statement on Open Access to Scholarship by Academic Librarians” and “IFLA Statement on Open Access – Clarifying IFLA’s Position and Strategy”

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Both the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) have public position statements on open access. IIFLA released “IFLA Statement on Open Access – Clarifying IFLA’s Position and Strategy” in April 2011, and ACRL released “ACRL Policy Statement on Open Access to Scholarship by Academic Librarians” five years later, in June 2016. Both documents provide an official statement on open access, although IFLA takes a much stronger position in regards…

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On “International Policy and Practice on Open Access for Monographs,” by Josephine Asmah

On “International Policy and Practice on Open Access for Monographs,” by Josephine Asmah

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Josephine Asmah prepared “International Policy and Practice on Open Access for Monographs” as a report to the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences regarding the state of open access policy and practice in regards to monographs, internationally. This is a unique focus, as most academic and policy-driven conversations about open access concern journals or data, at least in Canada. Journals have been prioritized over monographs in this context for a few different reasons: Time: monographs have a longer publication…

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