TEDxWaterloo – Michael Nielsen – Open Science :
Journal tendering for societies: a brief guide
Hundreds of societies publish journals in collaboration with publishers. Some may be considering how and whether to renegotiate or go out to tender. Some may be considering whether they can/should/wish to change the business model of the journal (e.g. by a move to Open Access). Other societies may be considering using an external publisher for the first time.
This guide, based on our experience, is written for all of these. In their negotiations with publishers learned societies – especially smaller ones – may have difficulty articulating their requirements and assessing the publishers’ offerings. This is true where they wish to compare the newer models with typical « conventional » models, or simply compare different conventional offerings.
The reasons are complex and include:
- lack of knowledge of the publishing industry on the part of the society’s executive staff (who cannot always find the time to acquire the knowledge);
- the « author/research funder pays » models, which, whilst becoming more prevalent in the domains of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), appear (but may not actually be) rather less feasible in other domains.
This guide draws on the experience of one learned society, the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), in reviewing the publishing arrangements for its journal Research in Learning Technology, between September and December 2010.
A qualitative evaluation of The European Library
Evaluation of digital libraries assesses their effectiveness, quality and overall impact. In this paper we describe a qualitative evaluation of “The European Library” carried out by six highly qualified evaluators from the area of computer and library science. The findings – mainly usability issues – are presented along the ITF model and suggestions are given to overcome these findings.
Institutional Repositories Features Architecture Design and Implementation Technologies…
Institutional Repositories: Features, Architecture, Design and Implementation Technologies :
« Europe is the leading continent in terms of active adoption and use of Digital Libraries – particularly Institutional Repositories (IRs). Africa has not done poorly in this area with a steady increase from 19 repositories in 2008 to 46 in January, 2011 but there is need to raise awareness and channel efforts towards making IRs easily accessible to Africans through ubiquitous channels such as hand-helds and mobile devices. This paper reviews the features, architecture, design and implementation technologies of IRs. In addition, it highlights viable research areas that can be pursued by African researchers in the field of Digital Libraries. It also encourages research efforts to focus on areas that will be beneficial to Africa. »
URL : http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/108/
Heading for the open road costs and benefits…
Heading for the open road: costs and benefits of transitions in scholarly communications :
« This new report investigates the drivers, costs and benefits of potential ways to increase access to scholarly journals. It identifies five different routes for achieving that end over the next five years, and compares and evaluates the benefits as well as the costs and risks for the UK.
The report suggests that policymakers who are seeking to promote increases in access should encourage the use of existing subject and institutional repositories, but avoid pushing for reductions in embargo periods, which might put at risk the sustainability of the underlying scholarly publishing system. They should also promote and facilitate a transition to open access publishing (Gold open access) while seeking to ensure that the average level of charges for publication does not exceed c.£2000; that the rate in the UK of open access publication is broadly in step with the rate in the rest of the world; and that total payments to journal publishers from UK universities and their funders do not rise as a consequence.
At a time of financial stringency for universities, research funders and publishers, it is important that all the stakeholders in the scholarly communications system work together to find the most cost-effective ways of fulfilling their joint goal of increasing access to the outputs of research. This report provides the first detailed and authoritative analysis of how this might be achieved over the next five years. We hope that it will stimulate new dialogue and new approaches to policy and practice across all stakeholders. »
URL : http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-research/heading-open-road-costs-and-benefits-transitions-s
Awarness and Use of Open Access and Free Resources on the Internet: A Case Study at BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus, Goa
« The Internet is a huge source of free and openly available information. However, the awareness about the availability of such free and open source information amongst members of the academic community is not clearly known. This aspect was studied using a structured questionnaire and the data recorded through the survey was analyzed. The results reinforce the commonly held belief that the academic community is largely unaware of these vast and freely available resources. The study also points out the role a librarian can play in imparting awareness through information literacy sessions from the library . »
Going beyond the textbook: The need to integrate open access primary literature into the Chemistry curriculum
Unrestricted, open access to scholarly scientific literature provides an opportunity for chemistry educators to go beyond the textbook, introducing students to the real work of scientists. Despite the best efforts of textbook authors to provide information about recent research results, textbooks are not a substitute for learning to use the primary literature. Chemical educators can use open access articles to develop research-related skills, to foster curiosity, and to cultivate the next generation of scientists. It is becoming increasingly important for chemical educators to teach undergraduates how online journals are changing the nature of chemical research.
Some institutions can not afford online subscription costs, and open access journals can be an important resource to provide practical experience. Open access publications eliminate the barriers to the central work of scientists providing chemistry educators (whether at well-endowed or economically limited colleges) with the key resources for enhancing student learning through current, relevant research.
URL : http://www.journal.chemistrycentral.com/content/5/1/18