This week at the library we will be celebrating International Open Access Week by thinking about the theme Community Over Commercialization. But first, the basics! What is Open Access? Open access is an international movement that defines a set of principles and practices to promote the free access and distribution of academic resources.
Have you ever found an interesting article while conducting your initial research, only to be met with a paywall? Open access advocates for the removal of those paywalls to broaden the impact of research, particularly research that is publicly funded. Open access encompasses publications, research data, open educational resources, and more.
At University Libraries (UL), we prioritize strategies that alleviate some of the economic barriers faced by our students through the creation and support of free educational resources. When we reflect on this year’s theme, Community Over Commercialization, we can think about how research findings can strengthen our communities both in the academic world and beyond it. As knowledge becomes more accessible to all, people are better able to care for themselves and make informed decisions.
If you are involved in the research community, consider publishing your manuscripts or data open access or supporting the open access movement by using more open access resources in your research.
UL supports the open access movement in many ways, and we are always excited to help our community understand its importance. Below is a list of resources and workshops just for you:
- Check out the Open Scholarship landing page to learn more about the resources we have for Open Access Publishing, Open Repositories, Data Management, and Open Education.
- Workshop: Join our Data Curation Specialist, Dr. Xuan Zhou, to learn about Creating Research Data Management Plans Using DMPTool on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 from 2:00 – 3:00 pm. Click the link to signup.
- Workshop: Join Open Licenses Librarian, Tara Spies Smith, and Digital Publishing Librarian, Kristin Van Diest, to learn about Creative Content Attribution in Digital Publishing on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 from 2:00 – 3:00 pm. Click the link to signup.
- Workshop: Join the Graduate College and Digital Publishing Librarian, Kristin Van Diest for a Grad College Shop Talk on Where to Publish? Navigating the Journal Jungle and Avoiding Predators on Thursday, October 26, 2023 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm. Click the link to signup.
This article was contributed by Digital Publishing Librarian Kristin Van Diest.