During Open Access Week, the Vaal University Library is offering  a 50% discount to clients who are paying outstanding fines or returning overdue books during the week of 22 - 28 October. After announcing this in the library slot on the campus radio, via e-mail and through notices, response is overwhelming. Students were informed via sms and staff members were e-mailed, VUT community is using this opportunity to clear their accounts and access library material again.  

Great work in the… Continue

A message to all members of Open Access Week

At this week's Webcast with SPARC director Heather Joseph, we talked about the important opportunity we have with this year's OA Week to surface evidence of how Open Access to research is transforming the way research and scientific inquiry are conducted.



Heather pointed to a few examples, including how a recent and rare move to share research data on

Alzheimer's disease led to important advances (… Continue

Of interest to the OAW network, SPARC has just announced the fourth installment of the Sparky Awards -- a successful contact that invites students to express their support for Open Access to research in a two-minute video. It's a great way to get students involved and increase their comfort with copyright and reuse in the digital space. Plus, it's a great tool for fall classes.



Campuses have promoted the Sparky Awards during Open Access Week, as an easy way to get involved. As… Continue

In case you'd like to use the Open Access Week site fonts in your artwork, here they are! (With big thanks to Pat at PLoS). header_fonts.pdf

Just in time for Open Access Week 2011, SPARC has again produced t-shirts for Open Access, Author Rights, and SPARC and are making them available at cost. U.S. orders should be placed by October 8 to ensure delivery by October 15. International orders should be placed by October 1.

ORDER NOW on the SPARC Web site.

Are you making shirts, too? SEND A SAMPLE. We'll collect all the…

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by Jamaica Jones, Special Projects Librarian, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Andrew Waller, Licensing and Negotiations Librarian and Open Access Librarian, University of Calgary
with Jennifer McLennan, Director of Programs and Operations, SPARC
In the new issue of Research Library Issues. Check it out!

Hi everyone,



We're looking at next steps for Open Access Week planning and I just took a look at the make up of our participants so far. WOW. If you haven't noticed the breadth and depth of the international group you're participating with here, do take a look. It's pretty amazing. (Do an advanced search at http://www.openaccessweek.org/profiles/members). We have a tremendous show from India and the U.S., plus a lot of… Continue

Hi everyone,



We had our first Open Access Week 2010 Web cast and planning event today -- June 2. We were so pleased to be joined by Andrew Waller from the University of Calgary and Jamaica Jones from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, who spoke about their hugely successful events -- and related Open Access progress -- in 2009 (thanks, guys!). The details about the event are here:… Continue

Open Access Week 2010 Kick-Off Planning Event

A SPARC Webcast

Date: Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Time: 12:00 - 1:00PM Eastern

There is no fee to attend. Please register by June 1 at http://www.arl.org/sparc/meetings/event_registration.shtml



Open Access Week (OAW) 2010 has been declared for October 18th to 24th and promises to be the biggest event of its kind so far. Already, participation promises to… Continue

This year’s OAWeek preparations kick off with a challenge to researchers from Dr. Philip E. Bourne, Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California San Diego and Founding Editor-in-Chief of PLoS Computational Biology. In a video posted to the OA Week Web site, Bourne calls upon scholars to think beyond free and ready access to the literature – made possible by Open Access – and consider how technology may be deployed to advance research, to truly mine the… Continue

• To kick off Open Access Week 2010, Dr. Philip Bourne has challenged scholars to think beyond free and ready access to the literature – made possible by Open Access – and consider how technology may be deployed to advance research. Accept the challenge and report on how Open Access has changed your ability to conduct research, access literature, or teach. Post your report in text or video to…

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• Promote an open-access policy. Administrators can have a dramatic and lasting impact on scholarly communication by initiating or encouraging faculty to consider an institutional open-access policy. Open Access helps to ensure the best return on research dollars invested by your institution by opening up research results to the widest possible audience. Dozens of institutions – public and private, small and large, all over the globe – are adopting…

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• In 2009, Open Access Week was the platform for the student Right to Research Coalition to announce that it had expanded to represent over 5 million students worldwide, with the commitments of the Canadian Federation of Students, the U.S. Students’ Association, and The International Association for Political Science Students.
  
  
  
  JOIN the coalition. Individual students, student governments, and student organizations are invited to sign The…

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Librarians have played a crucial, leading role in advocating for Open Access worldwide. As a traditional focal point for scholarly communication innovation, libraries continue to exercise their leadership by encouraging faculty members, administrators, and students to engage in Open Access Week activities.

• In 2009, librarians were the key drivers behind the remarkable height of participation in Open Access Week. By hosting Webcasts (Athabasca…

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