Open Access: Prospectors Wanted!

Amos Kujenga

EIFL-FOSS National Coordinator, Zimbabwe

akujenga@gmail.com

Lupane State University, 22-23 October 2013National University of Lesotho, 22 October 2013

Definition of Open Access Benefits of Open Access Examples of Open Access tools Organisations Supporting Open Access Examples of Open Access-related Open Source

Software What librarians can do to promote Open Access

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Outline of Presentation

The Crisis in Scholarly Communication is a major driving force behind the OA movement. (UNESCO, 2012).

In 2012 Harvard reported that its annual cost for journals from large journal publishers approached $3.75M (HARVARD, 2012)

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The Case for Open Access

“Open Access (OA) is the provision of free accessto peer-reviewed, scholarly and research

information to all” (UNESCO, 2012).

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Open Access Defined

The “GOLD” route Achieved through OA journals

The “GREEN” route Achieved through repositories

The “Hybrid” route OA articles in non-OA journals

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OA Publishing

Through OA, researchers and students world-wide gain increased access to knowledge.

Publications receive more visibility and readership, and the potential impact of research is increased.

Increased access to, and sharing of knowledge leads to opportunities for equitable economic and social development, intercultural dialogue, and can potentially spark innovation. (UNESCO, 2012)

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OA Publishing

“Emerald supports authors' voluntary deposit of their own work. Once an article has been published by Emerald, an author may voluntarily post their own version of the article that was submitted to the journal (pre-print) or the version of the article that has been accepted for publication (post-print) onto their own personal website or into their own institutional repository with no payment or embargo period. Authors may also use their own version of the paper (pre-print or post-print) for their own teaching purposes.” (EMERALD, 2013)

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OA Publishing

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Benefits of Open Access

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Open Access Tools

The Directory of Open Access Repositories An authoritative world-wide directory of Open

Access repositories with academic materials. OpenDOAR allows users to search for and/or

within repositories Accessible on http://www.opendoar.org/

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Open Access Tools

The Directory of Open Access Journals Aims to increase the visibility and ease of use of

OA scientific and scholarly journals, thereby promoting their increased usage and impact.

It aims to be comprehensive and cover all OA scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality control system to guarantee the content.

Aims to be THE one stop shop for users of OA journals.

Accessible on http://www.doaj.org 11

Open Access Tools

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Open Access Tools

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD

An international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination, and preservation of ETDs.

Site has resources for university administrators, librarians, faculty, students, and the general public.

Accessible on http://www.ndltd.org/

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Open Access Tools

The Directory of Open Access Books While most attention has been focused on

scholarly works, OA is applicable in many contexts such as access to archival collections and scholarly books.

Aims to increase the discoverability of Open Access books. 

Accessible on http://www.doabooks.org/doab

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Open Access Tools

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Open Access Tools

UNESCO Global Open Access Portal (GOAP) Presents a snapshot of the status of OA to

scientific information around the world by country Highlights critical success factors Identifies key players, potential barriers and

opportunities. Updated through Country Representatives Accessible on

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/portals-and-platforms/goap/

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Open Access Tools

UNESCO OA is at the heart of UNESCO’s goal to provide

universal access to information and knowledge Believes that increased access to, and sharing

of knowledge leads to opportunities for equitable economic and social development, intercultural dialogue, and has the potential to spark innovation. (UNESCO, 2012)

Has a detailed Open Access Policy guidelines document.

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Organisations Supporting OA

EIFL Has an Open Access programme in place Building capacity to launch OA repositories and

to ensure their long-term sustainability. Training, supporting knowledge sharing, and

providing expertise on OA policies and practices Empowering librarians and library professionals,

scholars, educators and students to become OA advocates.

More information on http://www.eifl.net/openaccess18

Organisations Supporting OA

IFLA “IFLA affirms that comprehensive open access

to scholarly literature and research documentation is vital to the understanding of our world and to the identification of solutions to global challenges and particularly the reduction of information inequality.” (IFLA, 2013)

Building capacity to launch OA repositories and to ensure their long-term sustainability.

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Organisations Supporting OA

INASP Extensive information on OA Links to OA resources Annual OA Week Competitions More information on http://inasp.info

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Organisations Supporting OA

African Digital Libraries Support Network (ADLSN) A community of African practitioners and other

interested actors with a common goal of supporting the preservation and dissemination of African content in digital form.

Specialises in Open Source repository software Implementation Training Technical Support

More information on http://www.adlsn.org21

Organisations Supporting OA

Open Source Software (OSS) is software for which the source code, i.e., the raw programme lines as punched in by a programmer in some programming language, is freely available. Also, the software can be modified and redistributed freely according to a specified license.

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) definition of OSS includes 10 conditions that the software must satisfy. See http://opensource.org/docs/osd

OSS is as free as “a free puppy”22

Open Source Software (OSS)

No annual subscriptions Software code is open to criticism and so

weaknesses can be identified easily. Users have the freedom to change/customise

the software to meet their particular needs, e.g., languages translations, character sets.

No “black boxes” since the code can be viewed by anyone.

Empowers locals through technical skills development

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OSS Advantages

Projects can die a natural death as people lose interest or new technologies come up.

When things go wrong, there is no one to blame, i.e., the software comes with no warranties.

OSS applications generally require a high level of technical skills to implement.

There is much work to be done when upgrading after customising a system.

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OSS Disadvantages

“The parallels between this movement - what has come to be known as open access and open � � �source are striking. For both, the ultimate wellspring is the Internet, and…for both their practitioners, it is RECOGNITION not �RECOMPENSE that drives them to participate� .” (Eklektix, 2006)

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Open Access & Open Source

Those affected by the Crisis in Scholarly Communication may also be affected by high costs of proprietary software.

OA uses Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to increase and enhance the dissemination of scholarship (UNESCO, 2012). This can be achieved through the use of OSS.

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Open Access & Open Source

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OA-Related Open Source Software

Category ExamplesRepository Software DSpace, Greenstone,

ePrints

Publishing Systems Open Journal Systems,E-Journal (Drupal Module)

Subject Guides Software SubjectsPlus, Library a la Carte, LibData

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OA Repository Software

DSpace

Used to host the NUST IR (NuSpace) Developed by MIT labs and Hewlett Packard Content is organised into communities and

collections Has rich statistics module Accepts all manner of digital formats Users can upload content on their own Arguably the most popular IR software globally Rather difficult to install and configure Large community of users worldwide

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DSpace Example

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DSpace Example

NuSpace accessible online on http://ir.nust.ac.zw:8080/jspui

Communities made up of faculties and units Contains journal articles, conference papers, and

speeches Running on Fedora Linux server Registered with OpenDOAR (Directory of Open

Access Repositories) Launched in 2012

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DSpace Example

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DSpace Example

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Greenstone

Software for building and distributing digital library collections

A “general purpose” digital library software application, i.e., can be used for several purposes

Best suited for digital libraries as opposed to Irs “Depositor” facility can be used to build an IR First developed in 1996 by the New Zealand

Digital Library Project at the University of Waikato’s Computer Science Department

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Greenstone

Has been heavily supported by UNESCO Access to content can be controlled at collection

and document level Easy to install and configure Large community of users

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Greenstone

Aims to empower users, particularly in universities, libraries, and other public service institutions to build their own digital libraries (to avoid being read-only societies)

Aims to encourage the effective deployment of digital libraries to share information and place it in the public domain

More information on: http://www.greenstone.org http://www.adlsn.org

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Greenstone

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Greenstone Example

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Greenstone Example

Used to host the NUST Digital Library (NuStone) Accessible online on

http://library.nust.ac.zw/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.cgi Includes several digital collections Running on Linux server Appears on the official Greenstone examples

page: http://www.greenstone.org/examples

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Greenstone Example

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Greenstone Example

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Open Journal Systems (OJS)

Open Journal Systems (OJS) is a journal management and publishing system that has been developed by the Public Knowledge Project through its federally funded efforts to expand and improve access to research.

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Open Journal Systems Features

OJS is installed locally and locally controlled. Editors configure requirements, sections, review

process, etc. Online submission and management of all

content. Subscription module with delayed open access

options. Comprehensive indexing of content part of

global system.

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Reading Tools for content, based on field and editors’ choice.

Email notification and commenting ability for readers.

Complete context-sensitive online Help support.

Open Journal Systems Features

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Open Journal Systems Example

SubjectsPlus

A web based set of programs that allow you to build subject guides PLUS other tools

Provides facilities to dynamically manage a library’s subject, course, and topic guides.

Subject guides help users to easily find resources related to their subject areas

Runs under the XAMP (Windows/Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP/Perl/Python) environment

Easy to install and configure – good in situations where technical skills are limited.

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SubjectsPlus

More information on: http://www.subjectsplus.com http://splus.pbworks.com

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SubjectsPlus Example

Accessible online on http://library.nust.ac.zw/sp/ Guides arranged by academic department Guides built by teams led by Faculty Librarians Built as part of an EIFL FOSS pilot project Running on Linux server

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SubjectsPlus Example

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SubjectsPlus Example

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How to Promote Open Access

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Launch an OA Institutional Repository. Get support from top management Provide usage statistics Help academics to deposit their research

articles in the IR Consider publishing an institutional OA journal.

Use Open Source software, e.g., OJS Implement Subject Guides and work with

academics when putting links to OA resources.

How to Promote Open Access

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Look for good quality OA resources and provide links to them on your website.

Use social media to reach out to your audience and spread the news.

Include OA issues when conducting Information Literacy Skills (ILS) training.

Make use of tools such as Google Custom Search to create custom search engines for OA resources.

Collaborate with other organisations/institutions

How to Promote Open Access

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Celebrate International OA Week annually. Distribute promotional OA materials widely Get buy-in from academics

Identify internal and external champions. Subject Librarians should be constantly in

touch with their constituencies on this matter. Establish full-text Electronic Theses and

Dissertations (ETDs) for your institution, backed by policies mandating students to submit their work.

How to Promote Open Access

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Lobby for an Open Access Policy for your institution.

Keep up-to-date with OA developments through social networks, e.g., OA group on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/groups/OpenAccess-3890276

As the Open Access movement gains momentum worldwide, it is essential for librarians and other information professionals to acquire the necessary skills in order to assist users to retrieve quality information from the growing pool of electronic resources. This will go a long way in enhancing the impact of research output made available via Open Access

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Conclusion

Thank You

Amos Kujenga

EIFL-FOSS National Coordinator, Zimbabwe

akujenga@gmail.com