Open Access Week Exhibit 2011

Research Commons Lobby thru the end of Winter Quarter 2012

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An Exhibit for International Open Access Week, Allen Lobby October 10-28, 2011

Scholarly publishing is in a state of flux. While the book and journal remain the primary vehicles for communicating published scholarship, how their content is reviewed, packaged, paid for, distributed, discovered, accessed, and preserved has changed over the last few years and continues to change rapidly. Many traditions of scholarly publishing remain, but new options, driven by new technologies and changing economic models, are now available and are becoming increasingly accepted in the scholarly community. We invite you to explore some of those options in this exhibit. We hope this content is informative, that it answers some questions while raising others, and that it brings to light some of the problems that the academic community faces in the current scholarly publishing environment. We intend that it makes you question some long-established traditions, and that it helps you to understand and embrace some of the new publishing options available. Sharing ideas and expanding knowledge are two of the guiding principles of academia. HOW we do that – the future of communicating scholarship – is the focus of this exhibit. We welcome your questions and comments.

Open Access refers to literature that is “digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder.”

Does Open Access publishing work for all disciplines? In some situations, no. In the Sciences, many Open Access publications, including journals, are supported by research grant funds, which are less available in the Humanities, Fine Arts and “soft” Social Sciences. The Open Access movement has more work to do to find viable funding models for journals in these disciplines, which continue to be supported by subscriptions and society membership fees. Most society-published journals remain reasonably priced, as long as they are not transferred to expensive for-profit publishers. Journal hosting services, such as the OJS system offered by the Libraries, can help keep costs in check for small scholarly journal publishers.

The images at left are select posters from the exhibit in the Research Commons lobby.

Please visit from now until the end of Winter Quarter 2012.

Scholarly publishing is in a state of flux. While the book and journal remain the primary vehicles for communicating published scholarship, how their content is reviewed, packaged, paid for, distributed, discovered, accessed, and preserved has changed over the last few years and continues to change rapidly. Many traditions of scholarly publishing remain, but new options, driven by new technologies and changing economic models, are now available and are becoming increasingly accepted in the scholarly community.

We invite you to explore some of those options in this exhibit. We hope this content is informative, that it answers some questions while raising others, and that it brings to light some of the problems that the academic community faces in the current scholarly publishing environment. We intend that it makes you question some long-established traditions, and that it helps you to understand and embrace some of the new publishing options available. Sharing ideas and expanding knowledge are two of the guiding principles of academia. HOW we do that – the future of communicating scholarship – is the focus of this exhibit. We welcome your questions and comments.