Month: October 2009

WISPALS Library Consortium Coordinator

The Wisconsin Project for Automated Libraries is recruiting a WISPALS Library Consortium Coordinator.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The primary responsibilities of the WISPALS Library Consortium Coordinator are to coordinate the Consortium budget and operations, facilitate future growth of the Consortium including marketing Consortium services and establish services to new members, act as liaison between Consortium and automation system and electronic services vendors, and represent the Consortium to other groups and agencies.

2010 National Leadership Grant Guidelines Available

The Institute of Museum and Library Services has made its 2010 National Leadership Grant guidelines available.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is accepting grant applications for the agency’s 2010 National Leadership Grant (NLG) program. Applications, guidelines, and examples of successful proposals can be found on the agency's Web site. The deadline for submitting applications is February 1, 2010.

For the past 12 years, the National Leadership Grants program has been the capstone program for IMLS, providing the agency's highest level of support for innovative projects that provide important research, tools, and models for library and museum programs across the country. Museums and libraries interested in submitting NLG proposals to IMLS can apply for one of two types of grants: Projects or Collaborative Planning Grants. Each of these types applies to the four funding categories: Advancing Digital Resources, Library-Museum Collaboration, Research, and Demonstration.

DeepDyve Launches Rental Service for Scholarly Articles

DeepDyve has launched a rental service for scholarly articles.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

DeepDyve today unveiled the world 's largest online rental service for scientific, technical and medical research. From a growing database spanning thousands of journals, DeepDyve now gives consumers and professionals access to more than 30 million articles for as little as $0.99 per article.

"The web is transforming the publishing industry and creating opportunities for new users to access our content," said Martin Frank, Ph. D., executive director of the American Physiological Society. "The rental model that DeepDyve has pioneered enables us to serve these new users without compromising the products we offer to our traditional subscription customers." . . .

DeepDyve . . . offers an array of features and benefits to enrich the searching and reading experience, including:

  • Free search & preview: Researchers can be certain of an article's relevance before renting.
  • Personalized suggestions: DeepDyve will automatically display suggested articles based on a user 's profile.
  • Bookmarks: Favorite articles are saved and displayed on a user 's MyDeepDyve home page for easy access.
  • Email and RSS alerts: Users can receive regular updates of new articles and search results delivered directly to their email inbox or RSS reader.
  • More Like This: DeepDyve offers links to related content with every search result and article page. . . .

DeepDyve is currently offering a risk-free, 14-day trial that allows users unlimited access to thousands of authoritative journals at no cost. Users enjoy continuous access to any article until their Free Trial expires, after which they may join one of three plans:

  • Basic Rental Plan: For just $0.99 per article, users of this “pay-as-you-go” plan can rent and read a premium article from one of the many prestigious journals available through DeepDyve. Articles can be read multiple times for up to 24 hours.
  • Silver Monthly Plan: For $9.99 per month, users can rent and read up to 20 premium articles per month. Each article can be read multiple times for up to seven days.
  • Gold Monthly Plan: For $19.99 per month, users can rent and read an unlimited number of articles for an unlimited amount of time. There is no expiration date.

"A Defense of the Public Domain: A Scholarly Essay"

Laura N. Gasaway, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, has self-archived "A Defense of the Public Domain: A Scholarly Essay" in SelectedWorks.

Here's the abstract:

Much has been written for librarians about copyright law. Despite the importance of the public domain, it has attracted much less scholarly attention than has copyright law generally, and yet a healthy and robust public domain is crucial to our society. It provides the building blocks for authors, composers, artists and movie makers who can borrow from public domain works without seeking permission of copyright owners. Unfortunately, the public domain is under attack from expanding the term of copyright, to making it more difficult for works to enter the public domain to the restoration of some foreign copyrights that had entered the public domain in the United States. Some librarians have asked whether vigorous application of fair use could not substitute for the shrinking public domain. It cannot. Fair use is a defense to copyright infringement and is very fact determinate. A court's finding of fair use applies only to the two parties to the litigation while the public domain is available to everyone from individual users of works, to artists and authors and to publishers and producers. It is crucial that the public domain be energetically defended. Today, it is not clear whether an author can even place his or her work in the public domain since copyright attaches automatically. A statutory method must be developed so that authors who wish to do so can easily place their works in the public domain.

Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for Digitization for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums

The Cornell University Library has published Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for Digitization for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums by Peter B. Hirtle, Emily Hudson, and Andrew T. Kenyon. A PDF copy of the book can be freely downloaded and the print version can be purchased from CreateSpace.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

How can cultural heritage institutions legally use the Internet to improve public access to the rich collections they hold?

"Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for Digitization for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums," a new book by published today by Cornell University Library, can help professionals at these institutions answer that question.

Based on a well-received Australian manual written by Emily Hudson and Andrew T. Kenyon of the University of Melbourne, the book has been developed by Cornell University Library's senior policy advisor Peter B. Hirtle, along with Hudson and Kenyon, to conform to American law and practice.

The development of new digital technologies has led to fundamental changes in the ways that cultural institutions fulfill their public missions of access, preservation, research, and education. Many institutions are developing publicly accessible Web sites that allow users to visit online exhibitions, search collection databases, access images of collection items, and in some cases create their own digital content. Digitization, however, also raises the possibility of copyright infringement. It is imperative that staff in libraries, archives, and museums understand fundamental copyright principles and how institutional procedures can be affected by the law.

"Copyright and Cultural Institutions" was written to assist understanding and compliance with copyright law. It addresses the basics of copyright law and the exclusive rights of the copyright owner, the major exemptions used by cultural heritage institutions, and stresses the importance of "risk assessment" when conducting any digitization project. Case studies on digitizing oral histories and student work are also included.

Hirtle is the former director of the Cornell Institute for Digital Collections, and the book evolved from his recognition of the need for such a guide when he led museum and library digitization projects. After reading Hudson and Kenyon's Australian guidelines, he realized that an American edition would be invaluable to anyone contemplating a digital edition.

Anne R. Kenney, the Carl A. Kroch University Librarian at Cornell University, noted: "The Library has a long tradition of making available to other professionals the products of its research and expertise. I am delighted that this new volume can join the ranks with award-winning library publications on digitization and preservation."

As an experiment in open-access publishing, the Library has made the work available in two formats. Print copies of the work are available from CreateSpace, an Amazon subsidiary. In addition, the entire text is available as a free download through eCommons, Cornell University's institutional repository, and from SSRN.com, which already distributes the Australian guidelines.

Towards Repository Preservation Services. Final Report from the JISC Preserv 2 Project

Steve Hitchcock, David Tarrant, and Les Carr have self-archived Towards Repository Preservation Services. Final Report from the JISC Preserv 2 Project in the ECS EPrints Repository.

Here's the abstract:

Preserv 2 investigated the preservation of data in digital institutional repositories, focussing in particular on managing storage, data and file formats. Preserv 2 developed the first repository storage controller, which will be a feature of EPrints version 3.2 software (due 2009). Plugin applications that use the controller have been written for Amazon S3 and Sun cloud services among others, as well as for local disk storage. In a breakthrough application Preserv 2 used OAI-ORE to show how data can be moved between two repository softwares with quite distinct data models, from an EPrints repository to a Fedora repository. The largest area of work in Preserv 2 was on file format management and an 'active' preservation approach. This involves identifying file formats, assessing the risks posed by those formats and taking action to obviate the risks where that could be justified. These processes were implemented with reference to a technical registry, PRONOM from The National Archives (TNA), and DROID (digital record object identification service), also produced by TNA. Preserv 2 showed we can invoke a current registry to classify the digital objects and present a hierarchy of risk scores for a repository. Classification was performed using the Preserv2 EPrints preservation toolkit. This 'wraps' DROID in an EPrints repository environment. This toolkit will be another feature available for EPrints v3.2 software. The result of file format identification can indicate a file is at risk of becoming inaccessible or corrupted. Preserv 2 developed a repository interface to present formats by risk category. Providing risk scores through the live PRONOM service was shown to be feasible. Spin-off work is ongoing to develop format risk scores by compiling data from multiple sources in a new linked data registry.

Digital Library Systems Specialist at Singapore Management University

Singapore Management University is recruiting a Digital Library Systems Specialist.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

The Library seeks a dynamic, innovative and service-oriented professional to join the Digital Library Systems Team in supporting and enhancing the new systems. Reporting to the Systems Librarian, the Digital Library Systems Specialist is primarily responsible for managing the Institutional Repository (IR). Other duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: assisting the Systems Librarian in managing the Digital Library systems including Millennium, the ILMS, and the other system modules from Innovative Interfaces Inc.; helping support the Library RFID management system; identifying and analyzing user requirements; providing optimal operation of information systems and supporting other technical staff in meeting user needs. The successful candidate will work in conjunction with the University Webmaster to support the library website and with the library staff to introduce web services and coordinate and support content development.

CNI Conversations Series Podcasts

The Coalition for Networked Information launched the CNI Conversations series with Clifford A. Lynch in September.

Two podcasts are now available:

  • Oct. 6, 2009
    Discussion topics included:

    • Internet2
    • NDIIPP storage systems symposium
    • Bamboo Project
    • University libraries and presses
  • Sept. 15, 2009
    Discussion topics included:

    • DataNet
    • Google Books proposed settlement
    • Library measures for the challenging economic climate
    • Future of newspapers

Duke, NC State, and UNC Data Sharing Cloud Computing Project Launched

Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have launched a two-year project to share digital data.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

An initiative that will determine how Triangle area universities access, manage, and share ever-growing stores of digital data launched this fall with funding from the Triangle Universities Center for Advanced Studies, Inc. (TUCASI).

The two-year TUCASI data-Infrastructure Project (TIP) will deploy a federated data cyberinfrastructure—or data cloud—that will manage and store digital data for Duke University, NC State University, UNC Chapel Hill, and the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) and allow the campuses to more seamlessly share data with each other, with national research projects, and private sector partners in Research Triangle Park and beyond.

RENCI and the Data Intensive Cyber Environments (DICE) Center at UNC Chapel Hill manage the $2.7 million TIP. The provosts, heads of libraries and chief information officers at the three campuses signed off on the project just before the start of the fall semester.

"The TIP focuses on federation, sharing and reuse of information across departments and campuses without having to worry about where the data is physically stored or what kind of computer hardware or software is used to access it," said Richard Marciano, TIP project director, and also professor at UNC's School of Information and Library Science (SILS), executive director of the DICE Center, and a chief scientist at RENCI. "Creating infrastructure to support future Triangle collaboratives will be very powerful."

The TIP includes three components—classroom capture, storage, and future data and policy, which will be implemented in three phases. In phase one, each campus and RENCI will upgrade their storage capabilities and a platform-independent system for capturing and sharing classroom lectures and activities will be developed. . . .

In phase two, the TIP team will develop policies and practices for short- and long-term data storage and access. Once developed, the policies and practices will guide the research team as it creates a flexible, sustainable digital archive, which will connect to national repositories and national data research efforts. Phase three will establish policies for adding new collections to the TIP data cloud and for securely sharing research data, a process that often requires various restrictions. "Implementation of a robust technical and policy infrastructure for data archiving and sharing will be key to maintaining the Triangle universities' position as leaders in data-intensive, collaborative research," said Kristin Antelman, lead researcher for the future data and policy working group and associate director for the Digital Library at NC State.

The tasks of the TIP research team will include designing a model for capturing, storing and accessing course content, determining best practices for search and retrieval, and developing mechanisms for sharing archived content among the TIP partners, across the Triangle area and with national research initiatives. Campus approved social media tools, such as YouTube and iTunesU, will be integrated into the system.

Stanford University Preparing Proposal for Text Mining Center Providing Access to 30 Million Digitized Books Plus Highwire Journals

In "Possible Text Mining Opportunity at Stanford," Matthew Jockers describes a research proposal being developed at Stanford University for a text mining center that would provide access to 30 million digitized books plus Highwire Journals.

Here's an excerpt:

As I'm sure many of you already know, Stanford has been closely involved with Google's book scanning project, and we (Stanford) are currently preparing a proposal for the creation of a text mining / analysis Center on campus. The core assets of the proposed Center would include all of the Google data (approx. 30 million books) plus all of our Highwire data and all of our licensed content. We see a wide range of research opportunities for this collection, and we are envisioning a Center that would offer various levels of interaction with scholars. In particular we envision a "tiered" service model that would, on one hand, allow technically challenged researchers to work with Center staff in formulating research questions and, on the other, an opportunity for more technically advanced scholars to write their own algorithms and run them on the corpus. We are imagining the Center as both a resource and as a physical place, a place that will offer support to both internal and external scholars and graduate students.

The Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery

Microsoft Research has released The Fourth Paradigm: Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery.

Of particular interest is the "Scholarly Communication" chapter.

Here are some selections from that chapter:

  • "Jim Gray’s Fourth Paradigm and the Construction of the Scientific Record," Clifford Lynch
  • "Text in a Data-Centric World," Paul Ginsparg
  • "All Aboard: Toward a Machine-Friendly Scholarly Communication System," Herbert Van de Sompel and Carl Lagoze
  • "I Have Seen the Paradigm Shift, and It Is Us," John Wilbanks

Papers from the European Research Area 2009 Conference

Papers from the European Research Area 2009 Conference are now available.

Here's a selection from the "Open Access and Preservation" session:

HathiTrust Will Release Search Engine Indexing 1.5 Billion Pages from Digitized Books and Other Materials

Next month, the HathiTrust will release a full-text search engine indexing 1.5 billion pages from digitized books and other materials from 25 member research libraries.

An experimental version of the search engine is now available.

Read more about it at "HathiTrust Launching Full-Text Library of Books."

Presentations from Throwing Open the Doors: Strategies and Implications for Open Access

Presentations by Tracy Mitrano and Heather Joseph from "Throwing Open the Doors: Strategies and Implications for Open Access" are now available from EDUCAUSE.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

n the past decade, the proliferation of Web 2.0 tools for sharing and creating knowledge, coupled with the creation of open-access journals, databases, and archives across the web, has begun to redefine the concept of "openness" in higher education. Advocates of the open-access campaign argue that free, virtual access to scholarly works and research advance scientific discovery and lead to faster knowledge dissemination and richer research collaborations, throwing open the doors that once restricted knowledge sharing and exploration. Critics of the movement have doubted its economic sustainability and raised concerns about its impact on peer review. Regardless, open access requires a new examination of campus copyright and publishing policy.

Interim Head Librarian of Systems and Technical Services at St. Olaf College

The St. Olaf College Libraries are recruiting an Interim Head Librarian of Systems and Technical Services (full-time through December 31, 2010 with the possibility of an extension through May 31, 2011).

Here's an excerpt from the ad (position #0100299):

The Interim Head Librarian of Systems and Technical Services (a) plans, organizes, and oversees the libraries' acquisition, organization, and distribution of information (including books, serials, and electronic resources), and (b) serves as the point person for technology and digital initiatives in the libraries.

This position oversees the technical services department, including acquisitions, cataloging, serials, and digital initiatives. Serves with other departmental heads on the libraries' administrative council. Actively contributes to library-wide planning, policy-making, goal-setting and the development of new services and initiatives. Works with counterparts at Carleton College to manage and improve the shared library system. Supports the College Librarian in vetting new ideas, initiatives, and strategic plans.

Boston University Launches Digital Common Institutional Repository

Boston University has launched its Digital Common institutional repository. In February, the BU University Council approved a Scholarship, Libraries, and Open Access Archiving Initiative.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Boston University now has a Digital Common—a place where research and other academic materials can be stored, shared, and discovered.

The Digital Common is an example of an institutional repository, and it is yours to use. The launch comes just in time to help celebrate Open Access Week. It already contains about a thousand scholarly works, and library staff are currently working with others, such as the Philosophy Department and the School of Public Health, to add more

.

University of Michigan to Distribute Over 500,000 Digitized Books Using HP BookPrep POD Service

The University of Michigan Library will distribute over 500,000 rare and hard-to-find digitized books using HP BookPrep POD service.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

HP BookPrep — a cloud computing service that enables on-demand printing of books — brings new life to the traditional publishing model, making it possible to bring any book ever published back into print through an economical and sustainable service model.

As part of a growing movement to preserve and digitize historic content, major libraries are partnering with technology leaders to scan previously hard-to-find works using high-resolution photography. HP's process transforms these scans prior to printing by cleaning up some of the wear and tear that often is present in the originals.

HP BookPrep significantly drives down the cost of republishing books by eliminating the manual cleanup work that would otherwise be required. Based on imaging and printing technology from HP Labs, the company's central research arm, HP BookPrep automates the creation of high-quality, print-ready books from these raw book scans by sharpening text and images, improving alignment and coloration, and generating and adding covers.

People can now purchase high-quality print versions of public-domain, out-of-print books from the University of Michigan Library through HP BookPrep channels, including traditional and online retailers such as Amazon.com.

"People around the world still value reading books in print," said Andrew Bolwell, director, New Business Initiatives, HP. "HP BookPrep technology allows publishers to extend the life cycle of their books, removes the cost and waste burdens of maintaining inventory, and uses a full spectrum of technologies to deliver convenient access to consumers."

For publishers and content owners, HP BookPrep offers an opportunity to offer their full catalog of titles online, irrespective of demand. Because HP BookPrep is a web service that processes books as they are ordered, there is little upfront investment or risk as books are printed only after they are purchased, no matter the volume, eliminating the need for high carrying costs.

Consistently ranked as one of the top 10 academic research libraries in North America, the University of Michigan Library is a true repository for the human record. The print collection contains more than 7 million volumes, covering thousands of years of civilization. HP is collaborating with the university to eliminate barriers and increase access to content as part of an ongoing effort to make the concept of "out of print" a thing of the past.

"Our partnership with HP is a testament to the University of Michigan Library's commitment to increase public access to our library's collections and our continued innovative use of digitization," said Paul N. Courant, librarian and dean of libraries, University of Michigan. "We are excited that HP BookPrep can offer print distribution of the public domain works in our collection and help to provide broad access to works that have previously been hard to find outside the walls of our library."

The collaboration also builds upon HP's existing relationship with Applewood Books, a publisher of historical, Americana books. The company, which has been using HP BookPrep for the last year to republish hundreds of titles, also will distribute HP BookPrep's best-selling titles from the University of Michigan Library.

Podcast: Open Access—Harvard's Success Story with Robert Darnton

JISC has released a podcast: Open Access—Harvard's Success Story with Robert Darnton.

Here's the announcement:

In October 2008 Harvard University in the US adopted an open access policy for all its research papers to be made available in their university repository, in an opt out basis. 12 months on, since the policy was adopted, JISC's Rebecca O'Brien speaks with Professor Robert Darnton, Director of Harvard University Library and trustee of New York Public Library and the Oxford University Press (USA), about the cultural change that is taking place at Harvard and the background to why professors at the university decided to share their knowledge in this way.

Publisher Self-Archiving Policies: Major SHERPA RoMEO Upgrade

SHERPA has released a major upgrade of its RoMEO service, which lists publishers' self-archiving policies.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

A major upgrade to RoMEO has been released today, giving:

  • Extra Category for the self-archiving of the Publisher's Version/ PDF
  • Expanded Journal Coverage
  • Extra Search Options for Journal Abbreviations and Electronic ISSNs
  • New Tabular Browse View for Publishers
  • Selective Display of Publishers' Compliance with Funding Agencys' Mandates . . . .

Previous versions of RoMEO have concentrated on highlighting information on the use of the pre-print and post-print. There has been great support from the community for also providing clearly labelled information on the use of the publisher's version/PDF as a separate item. This feature has now been included and sits alongside information on self-archiving rights for Pre-prints and Authors' Post-prints. The information is available in both individual publisher entries and in the new Tabular Browse View.

RoMEO now provides expanded journal coverage, enabling users to draw from both the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and the Entrez journal list for the Life Sciences, along with the existing resource of the British Library's Zetoc service.

In addition to searching for journals by Print ISSN, users are now able to search by Electronic ISSN. They can also search for journals using title abbreviations.

The new Tabular Browse View enables users to display comparative charts of publishers, to quickly determine and compare what different Publishers allow them to deposit, and if the Publisher has a Paid OA Option.

If you or your authors receive funding from any of the 50 plus agencies listed in JULIET, you will now be able to restrict your search results to display Publishers' compliance with any of the funding agencies' policies listed in JULIET.

PALNI Systems Analyst at INCOLSA

INCOLSA is recruiting a PALNI Systems Analyst.

Here's an excerpt from the ad:

As a member of INCOLSA's Information Technology Department, the PALNI Systems Analyst will be responsible for system implementation, technical support, and user training/support for various library systems for the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) . Specific responsibilities may include project planning and management, systems design and implementation, development of detailed technical and user documentation, user training and support, library applications design and development, and Internet server administration.. The PALNI Systems Analyst will help to support existing computer-based library applications for PALNI, including an Ex Libris Aleph integrated library system, a MetaLib/SFX portal and OpenURL resolver system, a ContentDM Digital Library system, and various open-source and custom-developed applications. When assigned, the PALNI Systems Analyst will work with PALNI member libraries and other members of the Project Team to develop, implement, and provide on-going support for new library applications, systems, and services.

DiSCmap: Digitisation in Special Collections: Mapping, Assessment, Prioritisation. Final Report.

JISC has released DiSCmap: Digitisation in Special Collections: Mapping, Assessment, Prioritisation. Final Report..

Here's an excerpt:

In its widest sense the project contributes towards preliminary evidence on user-driven priorities which could help in the process of allocation of funding for digitisation projects. It also can help to define the purpose, value and impact of digitisation not on institutional basis but on UK HE scale. By development of a framework of user-driven prioritisation criteria, DiSCmap contributes towards the longer-term goal of developing a quantifiable and adjustable system of metrics in the digitisation life cycle especially addressing the selection phase.

The amount of collections nominated to the long list [of 945 collections nominated for digitisation] reached beyond the expectations of the project team. This list itself is a valuable outcome which should be enriched further in order to provide a broad and trustworthy basis for the future digitisation decisions. DiSCmap surveyed over 1000 intermediaries and end users; this report presents in a very condensed form only a small proportion of the total evidence on user demand gathered by the project team. Yet in analysing and representing fully the range of end user priorities, DiSCmap has made a considerable advance in identifying the actual digitisation needs of end users. It has done so with the aim of removing the element of guesswork and assumption hitherto inherent in our understanding of user requirements in this area. The combination of intermediary' and end user' studies provides a richness of view points which highlight the many important different aspects related to the user dimension in digitisation.

Canadian Association of Research Libraries and JISC Join Confederation of Open Access Repositories

Both the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and JISC have joined the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) as founding members.

Here's an excerpt from the CARL press release:

On October 21, CARL became a founding member of the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR). COAR is an international association of organizations that have a common strategic interest in open access to scholarly communication. COAR was formed out of a need to work together at the international level to promote greater visibility and application of research outputs through global networks of open access digital repositories.

Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) has played a leadership role in the development of open access repositories in Canada. Through the CARL Institutional Repositories Program, the Association has assisted its members in setting up repositories on their campuses; and worked with other research organizations in Canada and internationally in support of open access. Participation in COAR is a natural extension of these activities. "We are delighted to announce our membership in COAR," said Tom Hickerson, chair of the CARL Institutional Repositories Working Group and Vice-President/President-Elect of CARL. "COAR membership offers CARL and Canadian research libraries the opportunity to have a greater influence on the direction and expansion of open access world-wide"

Here's an excerpt from the JISC press release:

Taking inspiration from the European DRIVER repositories project, which helps to enhance repository development, COAR takes this vision to an international scale; founding members of the Confederation include members from North America, China and Japan, as well as Europe. . . .

Neil Jacobs JISC's programme manager for digital repositories says, "JISC's work over the past few years in encouraging the growth of institutional repositories means that the UK now has a virtually unparalleled network of repositories that covers almost all of the research-base of UK higher education."

"Joining COAR at the early stage of its development means members will be able to contribute to shaping the organisation's objectives which will look at interoperability, raising awareness and promoting Open Access repositories, supporting the repository community and working with partners in closely related fields such as research management and publishing."

Trinity University in San Antonio Adopts Open Access Policy

Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas has adopted an open access policy.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Trinity University's faculty members today endorsed a measure to allow them to bypass some publication restrictions while sharing their scholarly research with the broader academic community.

Trinity becomes the first small, primarily undergraduate liberal arts institution to pass such a measure, known as Open Access. To date, the only U.S. universities to implement such policies are Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of Kansas. Diane Graves, Trinity University Librarian, professor, and chair of the Faculty Senate, said she hoped the Trinity model would be emulated by others in higher education.

"Members of Trinity's faculty have been studying imbalances in the scholarly communication system for several years now," Professor Graves said. "I am proud that the faculty as a whole came together to support change toward a more sustainable and equitable model for access to their scholarly output. My hope is that other institutions will see the broad range of universities that have taken this action – from Harvard, to the University of Kansas, to Trinity – and choose to join us." . . .

The new Open Access policy also would enable Trinity professors to post the author's version of the article in a freely-accessible digital repository. Such a repository already exists as part of the Liberal Arts Scholarly Repository, a collaboration among Trinity and other private liberal arts colleges, including Carleton College, Bucknell University, Grinnell College, University of Richmond, St. Lawrence University, and Whitman College. . . .

Trinity's Faculty Senate approved the proposal in late September. The vote by the full faculty on Friday, Oct. 23 was taken at an assembly during International Open Access Week.