Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Friday, March 09, 2007

Mobilizing librarians

Georgie Donovan and Karen Estlund, New librarians and scholarly communication: Get involved, C&RL News, March 2007.  Excerpt:

...Much progress has certainly been made in the last 20 years to devise solutions to the scholarly communication crisis, including:

  • the open access movement to provide scholarly information freely on the Internet;
  • new publishing models like BioOne, which is a cost-effective model for access to biological literature;
  • institutional repositories that offer access to scholarly works produced at specific institutions and other works that otherwise may not be published, such as data and supporting material;
  • education for faculty about retaining the rights to their works; and
  • legislation to ensure public access to research results funded by taxpayers.

Although the impact of these efforts is growing, this arena needs imagination, creativity, and energy to produce additional results....

Understanding something about the open access movement, copyright, and new models of publishing will assist a job search and serve you well in a new position....

[C]onnecting with colleagues who are interested in these issues can help early-career librarians form a network of partners for action. When a library is already conducting scholarly communication initiatives, you might join the efforts in designing programming and outreach for the campus, assist with the institutional repository, or instigate new actions....

With increased collaboration among librarians and others across campus, we can effect a transformation in the landscape of scholarship....