This document discusses open access and defines it as free access to peer-reviewed scholarly research. It outlines the benefits of open access such as increased visibility, readership and potential impact of research. It also discusses how open access can be achieved through open access journals ("gold route"), repositories ("green route") or hybrid journals. The document recommends ways for librarians to promote open access, such as launching institutional repositories and open access journals, and educating academics about open access options for publishing and depositing their work. Major organizations that support open access like UNESCO, EIFL and IFLA are also mentioned.

1. Open Access in Summary
Amos Kujenga
EIFL-FOSS National Coordinator, Zimbabwe
akujenga@gmail.com
Lupane State of Education, 23 October 2013
Lesotho CollegeUniversity, 22-23 October 2013

2. Outline of Presentation
 Definition of Open Access
 Benefits of Open Access
 What librarians can do to promote Open Access
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3. The Case for Open Access
 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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4. Open Access Defined
“Open Access (OA) is the provision of free access
to peer-reviewed, scholarly and research
information to all” (UNESCO, 2012).
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5. OA Publishing
 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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6. OA Publishing
 Through OA, researchers and students worldwide 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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7. OA Publishing
Some major publishers allow the published PDF
version
to
be
deposited
in
an
IR
(CONCORDIA, 2013):
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8. OA Publishing
Some major publishers allow the postprint (final, refereed manuscript) to be deposited in
an IR (sometimes with an embargo):
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9. 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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10. Benefits of Open Access
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11. Organisations Supporting OA
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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12. 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/openaccess
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13. 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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14. 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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15. 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.org
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16. OA-Related Open Source Software
Category
Repository Software
Examples
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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17. How to Promote Open Access
 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.
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18. How to Promote Open Access
 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
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19. How to Promote Open Access
 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.
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20. How to Promote Open Access
 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/OpenAccess3890276
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21. Conclusion
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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22. Thank You
Amos Kujenga
EIFL-FOSS National Coordinator,
Zimbabwe
akujenga@gmail.com