October 22, 2012

VCU Libraries joins scholarly colleagues globally in marking Open Access Week, Oct. 22 - 26. This international observance promotes free access to academic research. It encourages academic publishers to make research available online for free, increasing its reach for students, researchers and the public. 

Open Access Week is sponsored by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition and has participants in almost 100 countries.  A self-described catalyst for action, SPARC is made up of some 225 academic and research library members that promote easier and more affordable sharing of scholarship. According to its mission statement: "SPARC believes that faster and wider sharing of outputs of the research process increases the impact of research, fuels the advancement of knowledge, and increases the return on research investments. ... Its pragmatic agenda focuses on collaborating with other stakeholders to stimulate the emergence of new scholarly communication norms, practices and policies that leverage the networked digital environment, expand the dissemination of research findings and reduce financial pressures on libraries."

To reduce barriers to the access, sharing and use of scholarship, the organization's strategy is to educate people about the problems facing scholarly communication, to advocate for policy changes and dissemination of scholarship as an essential component of the research process and to help develop new publishing models that benefit society. 

Take a moment during this week to learn more about Open Access publishing: Open Access Week.  

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