The advent of open access to peer reviewed scholarly literature in the biomedical sciences creates the opening to examine scholarship in general, and chemistry in particular, to see where and how novel forms of network technology can accelerate the scientific method. This paper examines broad trends in information access and openness with an eye towards their applications in chemistry.
Archives des mots-clés : open access
Open Access at the University of Southampton Pushing…
Open Access at the University of Southampton. Pushing the boundaries and the art of the possible.
Case study :
“At the University of Southampton researchers, academics, service providers and senior management have been working together for ten years in a partnership to underpin an “open” approach to research and learning resources based on the repository model.
Innovative research at the School of Electronics and Computer Science set out the technical building blocks for making research available on open access. As a next step, the JISC- funded TARDis project (Targeting Academic Research for Dissemination and Disclosure) successfully brought together internal departments – the Library, the University Computing Service and the Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Research Group within Electronics and Computer Science. Together, they committed to support an institutional strategy for making scholarly communication both more visible and more accessible. This partnership approach remains key and has allowed Southampton to extend open access into other areas including the learning repository.
At institutional level the value of the research repository has been strongly identified with the University’s strategies for the RAE/REF, and with the institutional response to meeting funder mandates. The University of Southampton became the first university in the UK to adopt a formal requirement that all academic staff make access to their published research available online through the institutional repository. Senior management support has been crucial as has been the promotion of the benefits to the author. Institutional strategy often means less to individual academics and researchers than how the services provide benefits to them. It is therefore important to link open access to the research and learning process, and to the benefits of increasing visibility. A pragmatic approach combined with a strongly visible support service has underpinned the way in which open access has been developed institutionally at Southampton.
The University’s main priorities going forward are to increase the amount of open content by encouraging the direct deposit of postprints in the research repository and increasing the range of material across disciplines in the learning repository. In parallel Southampton will experiment with scoping options to link access to research data initially at metadata level.”
URL : http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/topics/opentechnologies/openaccess/institutionsandoa/southampton.aspx
Report on Integration of Data and Publications …
Report on Integration of Data and Publications :
“Scholarly communication is the foundation of modern research where empirical evidence is interpreted and communicated as published hypothesis driven research. Many current and recent reports highlight the impact of advancing technology on modern research and consequences this has on scholarly communication. As part of the ODE project this report sought to coalesce current though and opinions from numerous and diverse sources to reveal opportunities for supporting a more connected and integrated scholarly record. Four perspectives were considered, those of the Researcher who generates or reuses primary data, Publishers who provide the mechanisms to communicate research activities and Libraries & Data enters who maintain and preserve the evidence that underpins scholarly communication and the published record. This report finds the landscape fragmented and complex where competing interests can sometimes confuse and confound requirements, needs and expectations. Equally the report identifies clear opportunity for all stakeholders to directly enable a more joined up and vital scholarly record of modern research.”
URL : http://www.libereurope.eu/sites/default/files/ODE-ReportOnIntegrationOfDataAndPublication.pdf
Open Access Publishing with Drupal In January…
Open Access Publishing with Drupal :
“In January 2009, the Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) suspended publication of its print quarterly journal, Colorado Libraries, as a cost-saving measure in a time of fiscal uncertainty. Printing and mailing the journal to its 1300 members cost CAL more than $26,000 per year. Publication of the journal was placed on an indefinite hiatus until the editorial staff proposed an online, open access format a year later. The benefits to migrating to open access included: significantly lower costs; a green platform; instant availability of content; a greater level of access to users with disabilities; and a higher level of visibility of the journal and the association. The editorial staff chose Drupal, including the E-journal module, and while Drupal is notorious for its steep learning curve—which exacerbated delays to content that had been created before the publishing hiatus—the fourth electronic issue was published recently at coloradolibrariesjournal.org. This article will discuss both the benefits and challenges of transitioning to an open access model and the choice Drupal as a platform over other more established journal software options.”
URL : http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/5913
A case study in openness Salford University …
A case study in openness: Salford University :
“A case study in institutional openness has just been published, focused on Salford University. Written by the Vice Chancellor and EOS Board member, Professor Martin Hall, the study describes the drive to openness and the benefits it brings to the University and its public. “The University aims to create economic and social value through innovative ways of working together. A key element of this is openness”, says Professor Hall.
In the paper, he develops the concept of a ‘Generic Open Access University’ and describes how the univeristy repository, USIR, is the core of intermediary agencies and a wide range of networked connections. “The open access repository is at the heart of this model, in the place that the library has occupied from the earliest days of the university”, Professor Hall says.”
URL : http://www.openscholarship.org/jcms/c_7273/a-case-study-in-openness-salford-university
Open Access to Scientific Information in Croatia Increasing…
Open Access to Scientific Information in Croatia : Increasing Research Impact of a Scientifically Peripheral Country :
“Open Access (OA) to scientific information has become, during the last decade, an important means of communicating in science. The most important fact, proved by numerous studies, is that OA can increase visibility and impact of research results. The first chapter of the book gives an overview of the beginnings of formal scientific communication as an introduction to the further discussion on OA, especially OA in developing and transition countries. In the second chapter, basic definitions of OA and basic OA initiatives are explained as well as the two ways of achieving OA. The third chapter analyses access barriers for scientifically peripheral countries and the ways of removing them. Chapters four and five are completely dedicated to the Open Access in Croatia. Using an example of Croatia, the possibilities of increasing research results of a scientifically peripheral country are explained. Results of the complete study of OA in Croatia are analysed and explained. The study consists of two parts – study of Croatian OA journals and study of Croatian OA repositories. In the first part, the data on editorial policy regarding electronic publishing are gathered by the method of web content analysis. In the sample are all the Croatian scientific journals that had, by the end of June 2010, at least one 2009 issue freely available on the internet. The second part of the study discusses the problem of OA repositories in Croatia and gives an example of such a repository. Recommendations for further development of OA in Croatia are given as a part of the conclusion.”
URL : http://darhiv.ffzg.hr/1397/
Benefits to the Private Sector of Open Access…
Benefits to the Private Sector of Open Access to Higher Education and Scholarly Research :
“This report is set out in five chapters which, following this introduction, look at:
• The study context and, in particular, available (past) evidence of businesses and benefits of engaging with publicly funded research, as well as access to and discoverability of research and business engagement in OA policy (Chapter 2).
• Business engagement with Open Access, including business models, knowledge transfer contexts, awareness and distinctive use of OA and its role and contribution to businesses (Chapter 3).
• Benefits of OA to the private sector including a review of the nature and limitations of the reviewed evidence, benefits and impact of OA, and in-company enablers and constraints to securing benefit (Chapter 4).
• Conclusions and recommendations (Chapter 5)”.
URL : http://open-access.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/OAIG_Benefits_OA_PrivateSector.pdf