University of Maryland: "What's the Opposite of a Pyrrhic Victory?: Lessons Learned from an Open Access Defeat"

In "What's the Opposite of a Pyrrhic Victory?: Lessons Learned from an Open Access Defeat," Tim Hackman examines the defeat of an open access resolution at the University of Maryland.

Here's an excerpt:

The "Faculty Voice"; article on open access published in March 2009 had been the first of its kind at UM, and discussion and drafting of the resolution had taken place mostly behind closed doors within the Faculty Affairs Committee, without involving the rest of the Senate. A handful of interested departments (almost all of them in the sciences) had met with representatives from the libraries to discuss scholarly communication and open access, but the majority of faculty members had no direct contact with someone who could explain the issue and its importance and answer specific questions. It was hoped that the faculty newsletter article would help in this regard, but it was a case of too little too late. The lesson then is don't assume faculty understand the situation or sympathize with the library's point of view.