The Leddy Library at University of Windsor has a very nice article to introduce Open Access Week to its university community:
October 18-24 is Open Access Week 2010, an international celebration that hopes to broaden awareness and understanding of Open Access.
Most people are familiar with Open Source software, which is not only distributed for free, but distributed in such a way that the underlying code is open to be tinkered with. The idea is to democratize software so that anyone can potentially contribute.
The Open Access movement brings the same approach to content, encouraging researchers and creators to publish in free and open venues that contribute to the democratization of research. SPARC (The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) is one key player in the academic world, bringing together partners from the research and publishing worlds to encourage greater openness of research publication.
It goes on to discuss how University of Windsor contributes to open access through its ETD program, open access journals, etc. It also describes the significance and importance of the author’s addendum to enable authors to maintain certain rights to their scholarship. Read the full piece for more information.
