Despite the fact that the Ducks are our in-state rivals, but because I’m a native Oregonian and have love for any Oregon school, I’m pleased to report that the University of Oregon library faculty has declared their own OA mandate.
For more information, see:
Open Access News: An OA mandate for U of Oregon library faculty.
UO’s temporary FAQ page.
Go Ducks!
Tags: librarians, open access, university of oregon, UO
Via Peter Suber & Gavin Baker’s Open Access News: MIT adopts a university-wide OA mandate
Something must be in the water! Just after yesterday’s announcement that Oregon State University Librarians adopted an open access mandate, MIT has done the same thing — university-wide!
Barbara Fister from the ACRL blog writes some nice thoughts about this new development (see her post Open Access — Just When We Need It).
Tags: MIT, open access
Front Entrance of Valley Library at OSU
Go Beavs!
Oregon State University Librarians have adopted an open access mandate, requiring deposit of scholarly work by the University’s faculty librarians into ScholarsArchive@OSU.
From the mandate:
“The faculty members of the OSU Libraries support open access to our scholarship and knowledge. Consequently, we grant to the OSU Libraries permission to make our scholarly work publicly available and to exercise the copyright in those works. We grant the OSU Libraries a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license to exercise any and all rights under copyright relating to our scholarly work, in any medium, and to authorize others to do the same, provided that the works are properly attributed to the authors and not sold for a a profit…
…The policy will apply to all scholarly works authored or co-authored while a faculty member of the University Libraries, beginning with works created after March 2009…
…When a publisher is involved who will not agree to the terms of this policy as stated in the Science Commons Access-Reuse Addendum, the University Librarian or the University Librarian’s designate will waive application of the policy upon written request from faculty. When a waiver is granted, faculty are encouraged to deposit whatever version of the article the publisher allows (e.g. pre or post-print).”
Photo Credit: Front Entrance from flickr user Valley Library (Oregon State University).
The photo has a creative commons license attribution-noncommercial share alike 2.0 generic.
Tags: open access, Oregon State University, OSU, ScholarsArchive@OSU
Today I stumbled upon CollegeDegree.com’s posting of 100 Extensive University Libraries From Around the World that Anyone Can Access.
That’s exactly correct – anyone can access certain collections from these libraries – no affiliation needed! The 100 libraries fit within the following categories of interest:
- Digital Libraries
- International Digital Libraries
- Texts
- Medical Libraries
- Legal Libraries
- National Libraries of Europe
- Religious Studies
- Specialized Selections
- Academic Research
- American Universities
- International Universities
Tags: international, libraries, open access
From Ohmygov (by way of LibraryStuff), Bill would ban free publication of taxpayer funded research
On February 3rd, Representative John R. Conyers (MI-14) introduced H.R. 801, a bill also known as the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act.
According to the Congressional Record summary of the bill (as of 2/3/09), The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act:
prohibits any federal agency from imposing any condition, in connection with a funding agreement, that requires the transfer or license to or for a federal agency, or requires the absence or abandonment, of specified exclusive rights of a copyright owner in an extrinsic work.
Prohibits any federal agency from: (1) imposing, as a condition of a funding agreement, the waiver of, or assent to, any such prohibition; or (2) asserting any rights in material developed under any funding agreement that restrain or limit the acquisition or exercise of copyright rights in an extrinsic work.
Defines “funding agreement” as any contract, grant, or other agreement entered into between a federal agency and any person under which funds are provided by a federal agency for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research activities.
Defines “extrinsic work” as any work, other than a work of the U.S. government, that is related to a funding agreement and is also funded in substantial part by, or results from a meaningful added value contributed by, one or more nonfederal entities that are not a party to the funding agreement.”
In sum, the bill would reverse the National Institute of Health (NIH) policy that allows government funded research to be easily available and accessible and copyright free. What is more disconcerting is that it would also extend to other governmental agencies from having similar open access policies. Theoretically if this were to pass, taxpayers who funded research in the first place would have to pay twice for the research: first to fund it and second to access it via a for-profit journal. Several associations, including the American Library Association, are against the bill.
For further reading, check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s legislative analysis post “Open Access” Policies Threatened by Copyright Bill.
update 3/24/09
The Open Access News has been following this bill and providing viewpoints on it:
Novelist Richard Roberts slams the Conyers bill (3/23)
John Willinsky on the Conyers bill (3/23)
Tags: bills, government, H.R. 801, house of representatives, open access, transparency
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