Upcoming Events Focusing on Open Access of Information
The UA Libraries is celebrating "Open Access Week" this month in celebration of the public's right to access to information and scholarship.

By La Monica Everett-Haynes, University Communications
Oct. 14, 2009


The University of Arizona is joining institutions across the world celebration open access to information.

The global "Open Access Week" celebration, which is being held Oct. 19 through Oct. 23, involves academic institutions around the world in the celebration of open access – the ideal of free, full-text, immediate, online access to peer-reviewed scholarship. 

As part of the "Open Access Week," the UA Libraries is hosting two lectures featuring nationally known scholars. Both are free and open to the public. 

David Shulenburger, whose research focuses on the economics of scholarly communications, will present his lecture, "The Research University Imperative to Distribute Scholarly Materials," Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. in the Kiva Room at the Student Union Memorial Center. Shulenburger is the first vice president for academic affairs at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, formerly known as the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. 

On Oct. 23, David Wiley, an associate professor of instructional psychology and technology at Brigham Young University, will discuss the broader impacts of openness on education. The 1 p.m. lecture will be held in Room A313/314 of the Main Library. ,Wiley also founded the Open High School of Utah and is the chief openness officer at Flat World Knowledge.

The intention behind open access information is to allow new ideas and information to be easily accessible, both rapidly and freely, to everyone.

The movement driving open access attempts to address the unsustainable situation that scholars, students and society face as the skyrocketing cost of journal subscriptions jeopardizes access to scholarly works. 

Supporters of the movement advocate removing price and permission barriers for readers so that scholarly works can have greater impact as they will be easier to find, reach a greater audience and accelerate the pace of research.

Open access embraces new forms of scholarship that a networked electronic environment makes possible, including peer-reviewed e-journals, e-books, virtual communities of scholars, thematic research collections, and peer-reviewed encyclopedias.

Among the units, programs and services at the UA that promote open access are the Institutional Repository, the Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, Special Collections and the Digital Library of Information Science and Technology.

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Dan Lee

University of Arizona Libraries

520-621-6433

leed@u.library.arizona.edu