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Just in time for Open Access Week: Announcing the ASU Digital Repository

October 23, 2012 · All locations · Comments Off

This week is the 6th International Open Access Week, dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness of open access to scholarly information. Open access is the free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research, and the right to use and re-use those results as you need.

One aspect of The ASU Libraries’ commitment to open access has been the development of the ASU Digital Repository to serve as a central place for sharing and preserving the scholarly and creative work of Arizona State University.  ASU faculty and researchers now have a tool that preserves their research and also provides international exposure through commercial search engines, such as Google and Bing, as well as the ASU Libraries web site. The ASU Digital Repository is now online and open for business.

“Our goal with the ASU Digital Repository is to advance research and learning here at ASU,“ said Phil Konomos, Associate University Librarian and Chief Technology Officer at ASU Libraries.  “The ASU Digital Repository will provide broader access to important digital collections, as well as articles, data, and other works by ASU’s world class faculty.”

Many studies have demonstrated that open access articles have increased citation rates and impact. Additionally, providing free, online access to ASU scholarship benefits the local community as well, allowing teachers in K-12 schools to use reliable and cutting edge references in their lesson plans. The ASU Digital Repository also encourages transdisciplinary research by engaging scholars and researchers worldwide, increasing impact globally through the rapid dissemination of knowledge.

The ASU Digital Repository also functions as a tool to help faculty meet public access policies and archival requirements specified by many federal grants. “Researchers are now faced with new requirements in order to secure grant funding. The ASU Digital Repository is there to help them,” Konomos says.

For more information, visit the ASU Digital Repository or email digitalrepository@asu.edu.

Want more information about Open Access?

Celebrate Open Access Week With Us

October 18, 2012 · All locations · Comments Off

Join us next week for the 6th International Open Access Week, where we raise awareness and celebrate open access to information. Open Access is free, immediate access to scholarly information online, along with the right to use and reuse that information however you need.

 

This year, we hope you’ll join us for these events:

 

SPARC and the World Bank Open Access Week Kickoff Event Webcast

Monday, Oct 22, 2012 at 1:00 PM
Hayden Library Upper Concourse Room C6A (map)

The following speakers will discuss why Open Access is an imperative to them, and to their work:

  • Michael Carroll, Professor of Law, American University and founding Board Member, Creative Commons
  • Matt Cooper, President, The National Association of Graduate-Professional Students
  • Maricel Kann, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland and member, PubMed Central National Advisory Committee, NIH
  • Carlos Rossel, Publisher, The World Bank
  • Neil Thakur, Special Assistant to the Deputy Director, Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The 90-minute panel will be moderated by Heather Joseph, Executive Director, SPARC, with ample time for questions from audience members.

 

Open Access and Your Publications: What’s Copyright Got to Do with It? Webcast

Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 11:30 AM
Hayden Library Upper Concourse: Room C6A (map)

For librarians, researchers, and many other library users, the open access movement has enabled easy and reliable access to a wide range of new publications. However, the success of open access hinges on the terms in the agreements between authors and publishers. The copyright language that spells out whether the public will have access to specific material might be buried in a cryptic, pro forma email attachment or even a click-through agreement. Don’t let your materials stay hidden under a rock; facilitate access by learning to be proactive with the expert advice of copyright authority Kenneth D. Crews. In this ALA Editions workshop you will learn to:

  • Be a good steward for your institution’s rights
  • Scrutinize the publication contracts for your projects and advise faculty and researchers
  • Identify key language for a range of publishing agreement provisions
  • Negotiate the copyright clause of agreements
  • Increase usage of new publications by facilitating access for the wider community

 

Open Access: What You Should Know – brown bag presentation

Friday, Oct. 26 at 12:00 Noon
Hayden Library Upper Concourse: Room C6A (map)

Open Access especially impacts students in their education and in their future careers. For this presentation, ASU’s Graduate and Professional Student Association partners with the ASU Libraries to educate students about the importance of open access. Bring your lunch and join librarians Anali Perry and Alexandra Humphreys as they explain what open access means, discuss its effect on students, and offer suggestions on how to get involved. There will be time for discussion and questions.

 

For more information, see http://libguides.asu.edu/OAweek

Increasing Public Access to Federally Funded Research

May 21, 2012 · All locations · Comments Off

 

 

 

U.S. Government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), are some of the most important sources of funding for scholarly research. As with all aspects of government, the grants these agencies provide come from taxes collected from U.S. citizens. However, the results of this research are usually communicated through articles published in journals that require a subscription or fee to access. This means that this knowledge is restricted to those who can pay to read it, either through their place of employment or education or their private funds. Taxpayers are being asked to pay twice for the same research- first to conduct it and then again to learn the results.

In 2006, the NIH implemented a public access policy which required all recipients of NIH funding to deposit the final copy of their research articles in a free, publicly-accessible database called PubMed Central. Since the implementation of this requirement, PubMed Central has become a valuable source of reliable scientific research with over 2.4 million articles and receives over 500,000 visits per day.

Today, a petition calling for public access to all federally funded research has been posted on whitehouse.gov. This petition seeks to build on the success of the NIH public access policy by  expanding it to all federally funded science agencies. The belief driving this petition is that all taxpayers should be able to access the results of the research they fund. This would greatly benefit everyone: students, teachers, researchers, patients, and entrepreneurs. Open access to federally funded research increases the global reach and impact of that research through ease of discovery. It allows scholars to have access to the most current research activities in their field and encourages innovative, interdisciplinary approaches.

If you believe that the White House should expand the NIH public access policy to all U.S. Federal Science Agencies and promote public access to taxpayer-funded research, go to whitehouse.gov before June 19 and sign the petition. If the petition garners 25,000 signatures, it will be submitted to the White House for an official administrative response.

For more information, visit Access2Research.org. Or take 2 minutes and watch this video:

Scholars Without Borders: How to Get Free, Open Access Articles (Workshop)

February 28, 2012 · All locations · Comments Off

Workshop: Scholars Without Borders: How to Get Free, Open Access Articles

Date: Thursday March 15, 2012

Time: 5:00-6:30pm

Location:  Hayden Library, Room C6A/East (on Upper Concourse Level), Tempe campus

Description:  Academic libraries and other institutions spend considerable portions of their budgets on databases that help students find articles for their assignments. Since 2001, when the open access movement began, many new scholarly journals have been launched with open-access policies, and an increasing number of established print journals have switched to an open access format. Although the proportion of open access material remains small, the number of scholarly journals and articles available free of charge to users continues to grow steadily.

Attendees of this presentation will be introduced to the concept of open access, learn how to find free scholarly articles, and discuss various other aspects of this relatively new practice in the world of scholarly publishing.

Presenters:

RSVP (requested but note required): Alexandra.Humphreys@asu.edu or 602-496-1188

Open Access Week Continues!

October 27, 2011 · All locations · Comments Off
For an introduction on Open Access, view our Library Minute!
 

Download the iPod ready Library Minute (mp4 video)

“Open Access literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder.

Open access is entirely compatible with peer review, and all the major open access initiatives for scientific and scholarly literature insist on its importance. Just as authors of journal articles donate their labor, so do most journal editors and referees participating in peer review.

Open Access literature is not free to produce, even if it is less expensive to produce than conventionally published literature. The question is not whether scholarly literature can be made costless, but whether there are better ways to pay the bills than by charging readers and creating access barriers.” – from A Very Brief Introduction to Open Access by Peter Suber.

The Open Access movement grows more and more each year:

Want more information about Open Access?

 

Welcome to Open Access Week: October 24-30, 2011

October 24, 2011 · All locations · Comments Off

ASU is celebrating the third international Open Access Week, which brings an opportunity for the academic and research community to learn about the benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to inspire wider participation in making Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research.

The Impact of Open Access on Science and Scholarship
Dr. Brian Smith, Director – School of Life Sciences

When: Wednesday, October 26. 3:30-4:30
Where: Hayden Library Room C6 East

On Wednesday, October 26, join Dr. Brian Smith, along with ASU Librarians Anali Perry and Rene Tanner for a presentation on the Impact of Open Access on Science and Scholarship. During this interactive discussion we’ll give an introduction to Open Access, talk about its impact and discuss the challenges and opportunities it presents for sharing knowledge.

As the new Director of the School of Life Sciences, Dr. Smith pursues initiatives that advance awards of large multidisciplinary research grants; new technologies to enhance education; and innovations in graduate student training. Dr. Smith’s own recent scientific venture combines insects and human health, neuroscience and national security, funded by the Department of the Navy. He is an author of more than 80 journal publications, including several with the open access journal, PLoS ONE. Dr. Smith is also an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has received a Fulker Award from the Behavior Genetics Association and a National Institute of Mental Health Nation Research Service Award.

This event is free and open to everyone. 

Directions: http://www.asu.edu/map/interactive/?campus=tempe&building=LIB

Open Access Week: Videos about Open Access (Including the Library Minute!)

October 22, 2010 · All locations, Library Minute · Comments Off

Of course, we couldn’t celebrate Open Access week at ASU without a Library Minute!

Download the iPod ready Library Minute (mp4 video)

However, we’re not the only ones inspired to make videos about Open Access.  The Anita Greene Student Working Group of Boston University Libraries made this great video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTvyzp-RwzY

One of the great things about Open Access is that it encourages and supports creativity. It’s not just about access to research, but also about reusing, remixing and mashing material into something new. The Sparky Awards Video Contest is a great way to flex your creative muscles and promote open access at the same time! This contest is for student-created videos that explain why open access to research is important to students. Entries can be submitted solo, or as part of a team, and are due May 26, 2011. There are several award categories, so there’s more than one way to win!

Open Access Week: University Commitments to Open Access

October 21, 2010 · All locations · Comments Off
Many universities around the world have made commitments to making their scholarly works open access.  Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences made waves in 2008 by unanimously passing the first faculty-initiated Open Access Policy in the United States. Harvard’s FAS were shortly joined by the Harvard School of Law, Stanford’s College of Education, Boston University, MIT, and many others.  Currently, there are over 241 policies worldwide listed in ROARMAP, the Registry of Open Access Repository Material Archiving Policies.

On October 20, 2010, the Librarians Assembly of ASU Libraries passed an Open Access Resolution declaring our commitment to Open Access. Specifically, we resolve:

  1. To disseminate our scholarship as broadly as possible.  We endeavor to make our scholarly work openly accessible in conformance with open access principles.  Whenever possible, we make our scholarship available in digital format, online, and free of charge.
  2. To grant ASU Libraries a Creative Commons “Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States” license to each of our scholarly works to allow the ASU Libraries the right to archive and make publicly available the full text of our scholarly works via the ASU Libraries’ digital repository.
  3. To deposit the author’s final version of our scholarly work in the digital repository as soon as is possible, recognizing that some publishers may impose an embargo period.
  4. To seek publishers whose policies allow us to make our scholarly works freely available online.  When a publisher’s policies do not allow us to make our works freely available online, we resolve to engage in good faith negotiations with the publisher to allow deposit of pre- or post-print versions of our scholarly work in the digital repository.
  5. To promote Open Access on campus and assist scholars in making their research openly available.

Today, Arizona State University Librarians join a worldwide movement towards Open Access.  We don’t think there’s a better way to celebrate Open Access Week!

Open Access Week: Why should we support Open Access?

October 20, 2010 · All locations · Comments Off
We support Open Access because it advances the goals of universities in general, and Arizona State University in particular. The New American University is committed to the concepts of “Excellence, Access and Impact.”  Open Access directly advances our commitment to Access and Impact.

The main concept behind Open Access is providing free, unrestricted access to scholarly research online.  This means patients can access quality information about their medical issues and treatments, that students have access to the research they need to get a quality information. It means researchers can access the best scholarship in the field as soon as it is available.  Providing Open Access to scholarly research makes it more inclusive, rather than excluding access to those who can’t pay.

Additionally, Open Access encourages the dissemination of scholarly research. A recent study published in the PLoS ONE found a distinct citation advantage for authors whose articles were open access, either through open access journals or open access repositories. This is beneficial to authors since it makes their scholarship more widely read, but also increases the reach and impact of scholarship.

ASU Libraries support Open Access through a variety of ways. For example:

Want more information about Open Access?

What Does Open Access Mean to You?

October 19, 2010 · All locations · Comments Off
Open Access is free, immediate access to scholarly information online, along with the right to use and reuse that information however you need.

It’s important for students because it makes it easier – and cheaper! – for you to get access to the information you need to get a quality education.

It’s important for faculty because it gives greater visibility to your research and enables more rapid dissemination of scholarly information, keeping you more up to date on current research.

It’s important for everyone because the research that is funded by our taxes can have the greatest possible impact by letting researchers build off of new ideas as soon as possible, while allowing us access to the information that we paid for!

Want more information about Open Access?

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