Open Access - What Now?

Last week (21 - 27 October) was international Open Access Week. So what is Open Access and what are a few things we, as library and information professionals, can do to support it for the other 51 weeks of the year?

What's Open Access again?

If you'd like a quick refresher on Open Access, or are looking for a great resource to which you can direct others, check out this video created by PHD Comics.



Or try this overview by Peter Suber, an authority on the Open Access movement.

What about Open Access in Australia?

The Australian Open Access Support Group (AOASG) is a great starting point for resources about OA - specific to Australia.

Free information!

Who doesn't like free information? If you're looking for Open Access journals, your first stop would have to be the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), which celebrated its tenth birthday this year.

If you've got time on your hands, browse the 141 Library and Information Science journals currently listed in the DOAJ.

And don't forget institutional repositories, where institutions collect and showcase their scholarly output. To browse or search repositories around the world, explore the Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR).

What can we do?

Check out a recent AOASG post by Dr Danny Kingsley outlining four issues restricting widespread green OA in Australia, along with her suggested solutions. Is there something here that you or your organisation could address?

See Peter Suber's extensive list of things that Librarians can do to support OA for many more ideas - this is specific to academic libraries.

Contribute to WikiProject Open - this project aims to improve Wikimedia content through the use of open materials, and to improve Wikipedia articles on openness. If, like me, you've never contributed to Wikipedia before, start with the section welcoming new Wikipedians.

Share in the comments - what are you going to do before next year's Open Access Week?

Amy Croft
Convenor, ALIA Sydney
@amyecroft