Science Commons Announcements

["Donna Wentworth" <dwentworth AT creativecommons.org>]

Science Commons and SPARC release guide for creating open access policies at institutions

April 28th, 2008 by dwentworth

Science Commons and SPARC today released a new guide for faculty who want to ensure open access to their work through their institution.

The how-to guide, Open Doors and Open Minds, is aimed at helping institutions adopt policies to increase the practical exposure to the scholarly works being produced, such as that adopted by the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences in February. It provides information on copyright law, offers specific suggestions for licensing options and provides a ten-point list of actions people can take to craft and implement a policy that maximizes the impact of research.

From the SPARC media release:

"The Harvard policy is a recognition that the Internet creates opportunities to radically accelerate distribution and impact for scholarly works," said John Wilbanks, Vice President of Science at Creative Commons. "As more universities move to increase the reach of their faculty's work, it's important that faculty members have a clear understanding of the key issues involved and the steps along the path that Harvard has trail-blazed. This paper is a foundational document for universities and faculty to use as they move into the new world of Open Access scholarly works."

"Everyone - faculty, librarians, administrators, and other advocates - has the power to initiate change at their institution," said Heather Joseph, Executive Director of SPARC. "By championing an open access policy, helping to inform your colleagues about the benefits of a policy change, and identifying the best license and most effective path to adoption, it can be done."

The guide is available both at the SPARC site and in the Science Commons Reading Room.

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Donna Wentworth
Communications Specialist
Science Commons
http://sciencecommons.org
dwentworth AT creativecommons.org
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