Open access repositories worldwide 2005-2012 Past growth current…

Open-access repositories worldwide, 2005-2012: Past growth, current characteristics and future possibilities :

« This paper reviews the worldwide growth of open-access (OA) repositories, December 2005 to December 2012, using data collected by the OpenDOAR project. It shows that initial repository development was focused on North America, Western Europe and Australasia, particularly the USA, UK, Germany and Australia. Soon after, Japan increased its repository numbers. Since 2010, other geographical areas and countries have seen repository growth, including East Asia (especially Taiwan), South America (especially Brazil) and Eastern Europe (especially Poland). During the whole period, countries such as France, Italy and Spain have maintained steady growth, whereas countries such as China and Russia have experienced relatively low levels of growth. Globally, repositories are predominantly institutional, multidisciplinary and English-language-based. They typically use open-source OAI-compliant repository software but remain immature in terms of explicit licensing arrangements. Whilst the size of repositories is difficult to assess accurately, the available data indicate that a small number of large repositories and a large number of small repositories make up the repository landscape. These trends and characteristics are analyzed using Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) building on previous studies. IDT is shown to provide a useful explanatory framework for understanding repository adoption at various levels: global, national, organizational and individual. Major factors affecting both the initial development of repositories and their take up by users are identified, including IT infrastructure, language, cultural factors, policy initiatives, awareness-raising activity and usage mandates. It is argued that mandates in particular are likely to play a crucial role in determining future repository development. »

URL : http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/76632/

Scholar Librarian Collaboration in the Publication of Scholarly…

Scholar-Librarian Collaboration in the Publication of Scholarly Materials :

« Recent developments in scholarly publication and the new directions being pursued in both humanities departments and libraries in the production of digital content provide opportunity for scholars and li-braries to explore new models for working together to produce and disseminate scholarly materials. We offer as a first step toward a model for publication the case of Opuscula: Short Texts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (OSTMAR), a hybrid form of publication that leverages the university library infrastructure to create a platform for the publication of scholarly primary materials, an area of publication formerly re-served for the commercial press. This model is dependent on close collaboration between scholar and librarian, the nuances of which are outlined in this paper. »

URL : http://collaborativelibrarianship.org/index.php/jocl/article/view/243

The Digital Public Domain Foundations for an Open…

The Digital Public Domain : Foundations for an Open Culture :

« Digital technology has made culture more accessible than ever before. Texts, audio, pictures and video can easily be produced, disseminated, used remixed using devices that are increasingly user-friendly and affordable. However, along with this technological democratization comes a paradoxical flipside: the norms regulating culture’s use — copyright and related rights — have become increasingly restrictive. This book brings together essays by academics, librarians, entrepreneurs, activists… »

URL : http://books.openedition.org/obp/513

Current Status of ShodhGangotri: Repository of Indian Research in Progress

Across the globe, new research projects are undertaken every year by the researchers. There should be some system which will maintain a database of ongoing research work in order to avoid duplication of research. Some universities and institutions in foreign countries maintain database of research in progress.

In India, various universities and institutions like INFLIBNET, DELNET, NASSDOC, IISc, CSIR and University of Mysore etc. have their Electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) repository providing open or login based access to full-text ETDs. But, none of these have any database of Research in Progress.

Recently, INFLIBNET introduced ShodhGangotri, which has been built to maintain a database of synopsis of on-going M.Phil/ Ph.D in Indian universities and institutions. The present paper provides a brief picture of the current status of ShodhGangotri. »

URL : http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/997/

Too early too fast The regulation of the…

Too early, too fast? The regulation of the eBook market in France and its possible effects on EU libraries :

« Until now, legislative interventions on eBooks and libraries have been applied to mass digitization programmes. France has taken further steps, with general regulation of the eBook market. Over and above the French “cultural exception”, the eBook price-maintenance law of May 26, 2011, and the decrease in the eBook VAT rate decided in 2012 will have profound effects on this sector and, perhaps, could prevent the strains between publishers and libraries seen in the USA.
Moreover there is a problem with regulation, namely: what is an eBook? The French Parliament laid the foundations for the debate, but the answers depend on the EU authorities, who have to define a clear policy. The ongoing discussions could have a major consequence: is the eBook, becoming a juridical object, subjected to the “digital renting and lending right”, in line with the 2006 Council directive? This may be the first step towards regulation of the European library market. »

URL : http://liber.library.uu.nl/index.php/lq/article/view/8539/9605

Open Access literature productivity of Physics A DOAJ…

Open Access literature productivity of Physics: A DOAJ Perspective :

« The World Wide Web has introduced new vistas for scholarly publishing which can be accessed online via internet. DOAJ is the most accepted and authoritative list of scholarly, peer-reviewed, fully Open Access journals. This study aims to analyze the contribution of open access literature in the subject physics through DOAJ. Directory of Open Access Journals covers literature contribution of a wide variety of subjects, countries and also different languages. Study analyses Indian contribution to DOAJ, institution-wise categorization, language-wise distribution. »

URL : http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/971/

Open Access And Scholarly Monographs in Canada

« The unprecedented access to knowledge enabled by the internet is a critical development in the democratization of education. The Open Access (OA) movement argues that scholarly research is a common good that should be freely available. In theory, university presses concur, however, providing such access is largely unsupportable within current business model parameters.

This study presents an overview of OA in North America and Europe, focusing on the Canadian context. Given their relatively small market and current funding models, Canadian scholarly presses differ somewhat from American and European publishers vis-à-vis OA. Drawing both on information from industry stakeholders and relevant research, this paper aims to clarify how Canadian university presses might proceed with respect to OA. While the study does not make specific recommendations, possible business models are presented that might help university presses offset the cost of offering OA to the important body of scholarship that they publish. »

URL : http://www.ccsp.sfu.ca/2013/08/open-access-and-scholarly-monographs-in-canada/