The document discusses the importance and benefits of open access (OA) in scholarly communication, emphasizing its role in addressing the crisis in traditional publishing models. It outlines various OA publishing routes, tools, and organizations that support OA initiatives, as well as the potential for OA to enhance research visibility and impact. Additionally, it provides strategies for librarians to promote OA within their institutions.

1. Open Access:
Prospectors Wanted!
Amos Kujenga
EIFL-FOSS National Coordinator, Zimbabwe
akujenga@gmail.com
Lupane State University, 22-23 October 2013
National University of Lesotho, 22 October 2013

2. Outline of Presentation
 Definition of Open Access
 Benefits of Open Access
 Examples of Open Access tools
 Organisations Supporting Open Access
 Examples of Open Access-related Open Source
Software
 What librarians can do to promote Open Access
2

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)
3

4. Open Access Defined
“Open Access (OA) is the provision of free access
to peer-reviewed, scholarly and research
information to all” (UNESCO, 2012).
4

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
5

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)
6

7. 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)
7

8. Benefits of Open Access
8

9. Open Access Tools
9

10. Open Access Tools
The Directory of Open Access Repositories
 An authoritative world-wide directory of Open
Access repositories with academic materials.
 OpenDOAR allows users to search for and/or
within repositories
 Accessible on http://www.opendoar.org/
10

11. Open Access Tools
The Directory of Open Access Journals
 Aims to increase the visibility and ease of use of
OA scientific and scholarly journals, thereby
promoting their increased usage and impact.
 It aims to be comprehensive and cover all OA
scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality
control system to guarantee the content.
 Aims to be THE one stop shop for users of OA
journals.
 Accessible on http://www.doaj.org
11

12. Open Access Tools
12

13. Open Access Tools
Networked Digital Library of Theses and
Dissertations (NDLTD
 An international organization dedicated to
promoting
the
adoption,
creation,
use,
dissemination, and preservation of ETDs.
 Site has resources for university administrators,
librarians, faculty, students, and the general
public.
 Accessible on http://www.ndltd.org/
13

14. Open Access Tools
The Directory of Open Access Books
 While most attention has been focused on
scholarly works, OA is applicable in many
contexts such as access to archival collections
and scholarly books.
 Aims to increase the discoverability of Open
Access books.
 Accessible on http://www.doabooks.org/doab
14

15. Open Access Tools
15

16. Open Access Tools
UNESCO Global Open Access Portal (GOAP)
 Presents a snapshot of the status of OA to
scientific information around the world by country
 Highlights critical success factors
 Identifies key players, potential barriers and
opportunities.
 Updated through Country Representatives
 Accessible on
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communicationand-information/portals-and-platforms/goap/
16

17. 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.
17

18. 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
18

19. 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.
19

20. Organisations Supporting OA
INASP
 Extensive information on OA
 Links to OA resources
 Annual OA Week Competitions
 More information on http://inasp.info
20

21. 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
21

22. Open Source Software (OSS)
 Open Source Software (OSS) is software for
which the source code, i.e., the raw programme
lines as punched in by a programmer in some
programming language, is freely available.
Also, the software can be modified and
redistributed freely according to a specified
license.
 The Open Source Initiative (OSI) definition of
OSS includes 10 conditions that the software
must satisfy. See http://opensource.org/docs/osd
 OSS is as free as “a free puppy”
22

23. OSS Advantages
 No annual subscriptions
 Software code is open to criticism and so
weaknesses can be identified easily.
 Users have the freedom to change/customise
the software to meet their particular
needs, e.g., languages translations, character
sets.
 No “black boxes” since the code can be viewed
by anyone.
 Empowers locals through technical skills
23

24. OSS Disadvantages
 Projects can die a natural death as people lose
interest or new technologies come up.
 When things go wrong, there is no one to
blame, i.e., the software comes with no
warranties.
 OSS applications generally require a high level
of technical skills to implement.
 There is much work to be done when upgrading
after customising a system.
24

25. Open Access & Open Source
“The parallels between this movement - what has
come to be known as “ open access” – and open
source are striking. For both, the ultimate
wellspring is the Internet, and…for both their
practitioners, it is RECOGNITION – not
RECOMPENSE –
that drives them to
participate.” (Eklektix, 2006)
25

26. Open Access & Open Source
 Those affected by the Crisis in Scholarly
Communication may also be affected by high
costs of proprietary software.
 OA uses Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) to increase and enhance the
dissemination of scholarship (UNESCO, 2012).
This can be achieved through the use of OSS.
26

27. 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
27

28. OA Repository Software
28

29. DSpace
 Used to host the NUST IR (NuSpace)
 Developed by MIT labs and Hewlett Packard
 Content is organised into communities and
collections
 Has rich statistics module
 Accepts all manner of digital formats
 Users can upload content on their own
 Arguably the most popular IR software globally
 Rather difficult to install and configure
 Large community of users worldwide
29

30. DSpace Example
30

31. DSpace Example
 NuSpace
accessible
online
on
http://ir.nust.ac.zw:8080/jspui
 Communities made up of faculties and units
 Contains journal articles, conference papers, and
speeches
 Running on Fedora Linux server
 Registered with OpenDOAR (Directory of Open
Access Repositories)
 Launched in 2012
31

32. DSpace Example
32

33. DSpace Example
33

34. Greenstone
 Software for building and distributing digital
library collections
 A “general purpose” digital library software
application, i.e., can be used for several
purposes
 Best suited for digital libraries as opposed to Irs
 “Depositor” facility can be used to build an IR
 First developed in 1996 by the New Zealand
Digital Library Project at the University of
Waikato’s Computer Science Department
34

35. Greenstone
 Has been heavily supported by UNESCO
 Access to content can be controlled at collection
and document level
 Easy to install and configure
 Large community of users
35

36. Greenstone
 Aims to empower users, particularly in
universities, libraries, and other public service
institutions to build their own digital libraries
(to avoid being read-only societies)
 Aims to encourage the effective deployment of
digital libraries to share information and place it
in the public domain
 More information on:
 http://www.greenstone.org
 http://www.adlsn.org
36

37. Greenstone
37

38. Greenstone Example
38

39. Greenstone Example
 Used to host the NUST Digital Library (NuStone)
 Accessible online on
http://library.nust.ac.zw/gsdl/cgi-bin/library.cgi
 Includes several digital collections
 Running on Linux server
 Appears on the official Greenstone examples
page: http://www.greenstone.org/examples
39

40. Greenstone Example
40

41. Greenstone Example
41

42. Open Journal Systems (OJS)
Open Journal Systems (OJS) is a journal
management and publishing system that has been
developed by the Public Knowledge Project
through its federally funded efforts to expand and
improve access to research.
42

43. Open Journal Systems Features
 OJS is installed locally and locally controlled.
 Editors configure requirements, sections, review
process, etc.
 Online submission and management of all
content.
 Subscription module with delayed open access
options.
 Comprehensive indexing of content part of
global system.
43

44. Open Journal Systems Features
 Reading Tools for content, based on field and
editors’ choice.
 Email notification and commenting ability for
readers.
 Complete context-sensitive online Help support.
44

45. Open Journal Systems Example
45

46. SubjectsPlus
 A web based set of programs that allow you to
build subject guides PLUS other tools
 Provides facilities to dynamically manage a
library’s subject, course, and topic guides.
 Subject guides help users to easily find
resources related to their subject areas
 Runs under the XAMP (Windows/Linux-ApacheMySQL-PHP/Perl/Python) environment
 Easy to install and configure – good in situations
where technical skills are limited.
46

47. SubjectsPlus
More information on:
 http://www.subjectsplus.com
 http://splus.pbworks.com
47

48. SubjectsPlus Example
 Accessible online on http://library.nust.ac.zw/sp/
 Guides arranged by academic department
 Guides built by teams led by Faculty Librarians
 Built as part of an EIFL FOSS pilot project
 Running on Linux server
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49. SubjectsPlus Example
49

50. SubjectsPlus Example
50

51. 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.
51

52. 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
52

53. 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.
53

54. 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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55. 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
55

56. Thank You
Amos Kujenga
EIFL-FOSS National Coordinator,
Zimbabwe
akujenga@gmail.com