The Ongoing Open Access Debate in the THE

Good article in the Times Higher today on the open access debate.  Required reading I suspect for anyone with an interest in scholalry communication.  Especially impressed that Salford’s VC appears to be championing open access there, if there’s one thing repository managers still need today it’s vocal senior administrative member speaking out in support. 

I was writing my workshop for academics on open access that I’ll be running next month (2nd December) via our Staff Development Office, so this kind of overview is smashing.  It’s something I’ll certainly be using to support the session and pointing my participants towards reading.  Actually it might well form part of the hands on portion of the session, as I’m planning to really get the people there thinking about their own publishing habits and those of their peers in relation to OA.

It also gives the publisher’s side, which while dissmissive in part of some of the research on OA (I wonder if they’re so sneery about research they publish that doens’t impact on their business model?) remains of considerable interest.  It even draws in the funders as well.  As a clear and plain english overview it’s not bad at all.

Open Access Week: Federal Research Act

Those following the developments in open access and scholarly research publication often look to the US and Australia, and to a lesser degree the Scandinavian countries, whom are generally a year or so ahead of the situation in the UK.  Interestingly in the States at the moment there is a bill, the Federal Research Access Act of 2009, which is looking to legislate the following:

“…require researchers with grants from certain federal agencies — those that fund more than $100 million in extramural research annually — to make their final peer-reviewed manuscripts openly available in digital repositories within six months.”

Okay, it does look like this is a successor to a similer defeated bill back in 2006; but since then both the political landscape and the open access movement has seen considerable developments.  Funders mandates are now very much a central theme now, where as in 2006 we were only seeing the first ones emerge.  Would we see a piece of legislation like this in the UK?  Probably not anytime soon given the run up to the general election in 2010; I find it unlikely that with the state of the economy anyone’s going to be able to bring scholarly research access up the political agenda.  I certainly don’t think the vast bulk of public are aware, or even overly concerned, that so much of their taxes goes to pay for access to research we’ve given away. 

Maybe this is something that OA advocates should be doing – reaching out to the general public and getting the OA debate out of the ivory towers and into the press and media?  Perhaps it’s a role for UKCoRR or the reformulated RSP?

Either way, the reception and progress of this bill is certainly one to watch with interest.

Showdown at the KO Corral

It might not have escaped your notice in recent months, but there’s been a Web 2.0 storm brewing twix CILIP and some of the more vocal Web 2.0/social networking proponents in the sector. No, sadly not me – I’m more garrulous than vocal.  It all stems from an original posting by CILIP Chief Exec Bob McKee All of a Twitter, which by now more than eleventy million people have commented on (well, close).    Well known tech evangelist and sci-fi fan Phil Bradley crafted the most marvellous reply which about the same number of people (yours truly among them) commented on.

It has rather illustrated to myself at least, an organisation that is supposed to be leading on information and communication rather getting stuck in the past.  And this at a time when CILIP’s long term future is ever in doubt, given the state of its finances.  I think it would be a real shame if this were to be the lemming onto the bonnet that sent the CILIPmobile hurtling over the cliff.  I’ve got a lot out of my engagement with the membership and the executive team down in London over the years, and it would leave a bit of a void in my professional life.

But not an irreplaceable one.  Given my networks on Facebook, twitter and in real life that I have available there are already many (in some cases more relevant and immediate) ways in which I get my professional support, training, advocacy and development. 

However, to give CILIP its due, they have rallied and invited Phil, along with Brain Kelly, to address their Council and interested parties in open session on the 29th April.  I’d love to be there, but the chances of getting work to stump up hundred plus quid for a two hour afternoon discussion session are somewhere between “none” and “less than zero”.  There isn’t a live Web feed (for shame!) but at least they have announced a hashtag(#CILIP2) for the event; so the twitter enabled will be able to tell us more.  I’ve already marked the date in my diary and will be following the developments withinterest (and probably making the odd comment myself).  As I know one or two CILIP folk who are already tweeting (huzzah) I hope there will be a good steady feed of information for those of us out here in the barren wilderness beyond the M25…