The Center For Teaching And Learning at Bowling Green State University has posted a video and blog notes on Michael Carroll's public talk from October 31, Copyright and Your Right to Use and Share Your Scholarly Materials. From the blog notes:
...Copyright laws are the crux of the issue behind the scholarly communication movement and the pressing need for change. The first laws, enacted in the early 18th century, were intended to protect those who wanted to make money from their written works rather than those who wrote for impact, as researchers and scholars do. Currently, when an author signs over their copyright to the publisher, they become limited in their own access to the work as well as limit many others due to what Dr. Carroll calls “the pay wall.”
Carroll asks that researchers and authors make responsible decisions regarding the publication of their works – to consider the effects of simply signing the first or “opening offer” a publisher extends....
Carroll listed several ways that OA is good for authors/researchers:
increases impact (# of citations) due to easier access by researchers
serendipitous researchers come across works more often, making previously unforeseen connections
researchers need broader access to a myriad of sources/literature
helps international and poorly financed researchers – access/cost
medical researchers – providing out of date treatments due to lack of access to most recent findings
current pay-for journals are not searchable because they are not linked (lots of information could be added to the general pool of accessible resources)....
So, what can faculty authors do?
Check current authors’ rights with publishers (these can sometimes be altered after the fact)
Negotiate with the publisher – they are getting used to this process and providing options for authors (it’s your call – they want to keep a good relationship with you too)
Many publishers already allow some form of open access, but most authors still are not asking/requesting; it’s a usually a workflow issue, habit, or simply non-awareness (most faculty are simply not aware of their options nor the benefits of OA)
As Dr. Carroll opined, “we’re reaching the tipping point… (and we) need help to push this forward.” Spread the word and become a part of the soon-to-be-in-crowd of Open Access authors!
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/13/2008 12:07:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
