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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

CRKN releases its plan for OA

The Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) has released a Statement on Alternative Publishing Models & Open Access.  It was approved by the CRKN Board of Directors on September 9, 2008, and will be presented to the Annual General Meeting on September 23, 2008, for discussion and ratification.  (Thanks to Leslie Chan.)  Excerpt:

Principles

CRKN affirms that broad and enduring access to the materials and outputs of scholarly research is an integral component of Canada’s research infrastructure, and vital to the progress of science, civil society and global well?being.

CRKN is committed to securing the broadest access to the world’s knowledge for the benefit of its member universities and the communities they serve – researchers, students, staff and the public.

CRKN is committed to working within a framework that includes new models of scholarly publishing as well as content licensing, viewing these as complementary strategies that both contribute to the overarching goals of lowering barriers and maximizing access to the materials and outputs of research....

Actions

1. Focus on Canadian research outputs and Canadian content

1.1.  CRKN will open formal channels of discussion with Canadian publishers, content providers and research funders to explore how CRKN may be an active partner in helping transition to an open access environment.

Deliverables: development of a business plan in 2009 for pilot project(s)

1.2. CRKN will take an active role in maximizing access to Canadian research outputs and implementing granting council policies, by redoubling our efforts with publishers to ensure author rights to archive their peer-reviewed manuscripts in institutional or open access repositories.

Deliverable: formal provisions within CRKN procurement contracts, on timeline of license renewals.

2. Focus on roles as a national focal point for international open access initiatives

2.1.  CRKN will act as a national focal point for international open access initiatives, where CRKN is uniquely positioned to play a coordination and/or financial management role on behalf of its members.

Deliverable: Participation in international initiative, 2009-2010.

3. Focus on advancing open access provisions within content licensing program

3.1. CRKN will promulgate model license and contractual agreements that provide for the broadest base of users and most expansive usage for the member community.

3.2. CRKN will negotiate aggressively for reduced licensing fees for content resources that have open choice (i.e. author pay) provisions.

3.3. CRKN will work with the researcher and publisher communities to explore tool development and support usage rights for text mining.

Deliverable: development of pilot project, 2009-2010

Comments

  • Kudos to the CRKN board.  This plan would significantly advance OA in Canada, and I hope the members approve it next week.  I especially like the CRKN's willingness to talk to all institutional stakeholders (universities, funders, publishers) and its goal to boost the number of green journals. 
  • CRKN is in a very good position to get member institutions to launch IRs and adopt effective policies to fill them.  This goal isn't mentioned in the plan, but I hope the CRKN will take it up.  Boosting the number of green journals only increases permission for OA.  To increase OA itself, authors and their institutions must take advantage of the opportunity.
  • CRKN has a $50+ million annual budget, focuses on the humanities and social sciences, and represents 72 universities across Canada.

Update.  Here's some related information from Heather Morrison, by email.  (Thanks, Heather.) 

Most CRKN members are also members of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL).  CARL has had an institutional repository program and metadata harvester for years; most libraries either have, or are in the process of developing, repositories.  It is not clear whether smaller members of CRKN would have their own repositories, or whether collaboration makes more sense. More likely the latter; sharing of  infrastructure is quite common.

CRKN does not focus just on the social sciences and humanities,  rather this was the last major initiative.  The initial round of content acquisition was focused very much on the sciences.

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