Dalziel Open Access Handout

Karin Dalziel // karin.dalziel.org // [email protected] // May 4, 2007

Open Access for Librarians: What, Why, and How? I hear occasionally about how open access publications are not a viable option for scholars to publish in. In their essay Building the Profession-Research, Creative Activities, and Publication by Academic Librarians, Joan Beam and Cathy Cranston interviewed three new librarians about their publishing habits. "So far, each new librarian has chosen well-established journals in which to publish. Although all were aware of open-access journals in their field, they did not feel that it was worth the risk to publish in these lesser-known journals" (Gregory, 2005, p. 40). This sentiment is popular with scholars, but librarians are uniquely positioned to fight it. In the tenure and review process, librarians can explain the decision to publish in open access literature with authority, and explain to the review committee the reasons for choosing open access publishing.

Librarians need to be informed of open access publishing methods and ideology because it is becoming an increasing force in scholarly literature.

What is open access? Open access (OA) means immediate, free and unrestricted online access to digital scholarly material, primarily peer-reviewed research articles in scholarly journals. OA was made possible by the advent of the internet. (Wikipedia)

There are two types of open access: Self-archiving, and open access journals. Self-archiving: Users self publish (usually in an institutional or topical repository) and conform to OAI standards so search engines can treat the separate archives as one. These archives often contain pre- or post-print material that is also submitted to a print journal, or it may contain material unpublished in other formats. Open access journals: These are often peer reviewed journals that are free and open to the public. Funding for the journal may come in a variety of ways ─ institutional support, grants, or even through the people that submit to the journal.

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Karin Dalziel // karin.dalziel.org // [email protected] // May 4, 2007

Why Open Access? Not everyone has access. This may be because of money or location. Open access enables global communication and collaboration Open access might keep prices and permissions reasonable. How can librarians help? Start by reading and using open access journals!

Talk about it. Open access suffers from many people not knowing it exists. Talk about it with others, offer a brownbag, and show open access resources in reference interviews.

Submit to open access journals and archives There is an open access Journal especially for Library students: the Library Student Journal which accept submissions from any student studying Library and Information Science. You can also submit papers, presentations, and other items (the site even contains podcasts!) to the E-LIS repository. which “aims to further the Open Access philosophy by making available papers in LIS and related fields” (2007).

Publish Bigger libraries may start large initiatives like the Lewis and Clark or Walt Whitman archives, but smaller libraries can start sites of local interest.

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Karin Dalziel // karin.dalziel.org // [email protected] // May 4, 2007

Sources Cited. Amory, A., Dubbeld, C., & Peters, D. (2004). Open content, open access and open source? Ingede: Journal of African Scholarship, 1(2), 1-12. Cohen, L. (November 20, 2006). The coming end of completed publications. Library 2.0: An Academic's Perspective. Retrieved March 26, 2007 from http://liblogs.albany.edu/library20/2006/11/the_coming_end_o f_completed_pu.html Donovan, G., & Estlund, K. (2007). New librarians and scholarly communication: Get involved. College & Research Libraries, 68(3), 155-158. Retrieved April 16, 2007, from Wilson Web. E-LIS. (2007). Welcome to Eprints for LIS. Retrieved May 3, 2007, from http://eprints.rclis.org/ Gregory, G. (2005). The successful academic librarian : Winning strategies from library leaders. Medford N.J.: Information Today Inc. Salo, D. (December 15, 2006). Why I am the enemy. Caveat Lector. Retrieved April 16, 2007, from http://cavlec.yarinareth.net/archives/2006/12/15/why-i-amthe-enemy/ Suber, P. (February 2003). Introduction to open access for librarians. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/acrl.htm Suber, P. (2007). Trends favoring open access. SPARC Open Access Newsletter. Retrieved May 3, 2007, from http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/05-02-07.htm Wikipedia. (01:21, 14 April 2007). Open access. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved April 27, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access

Other Selected Resources. Antelman, K. (2004). Do open-access articles have a greater research impact? College and Research Libraries, 65(5), 372-382. Chan, L., Cuplinskas, D., Eisen, M., Friend, F., Genova, Y., Guédon, J., et al. (2002). Budapest Open Access Initiative. Retrieved April 27, 2007, from http://www.soros.org/openaccess/read.shtml Morgan, E.L. (2004). Open access publishing. Retrieved April 16, 2007, from http://infomotions.com/musings/open-access/open-

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Karin Dalziel // karin.dalziel.org // [email protected] // May 4, 2007 access.pdf Suber, P. (2007). Open-Access timeline (formerly: FOS Timeline). Retrieved April 15, 2007, from http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/timeline.htm Vershbow, B. (March 1, 2007). if:book: AAUP on open access / business as usual? Future of the Book blog. Retrieved April 16, 2007, from http://www.futureofthebook.org/blog/archives/2007/03/aaup_o n_open_access_business_a.html

General Links: Directory of Open Access Journals Peter Suber's Open Access Overview SPARC Open Access Newsletter and Discussion Forum Budapest Open Access Initiative

Selected Open Access Journals in Library and Information Science: ARIADNE D-Lib Magazine E-JASL Information Research Journal of Issues in Informing Science & Information Technology Journal of Digital Information Library Student Journals LIBRES

Note: you can find the full content of my paper, and all links, at karin.dalziel.org Go to the presentations section or search for “open access.”

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