Many OhioLINK institutions are promoting and hosting events for the 10th annual Open Access Week (October 23-29), an international week that focuses on resources that are freely available to anyone online. This year’s theme, “Open in order to …”, allows participants to showcase their efforts and the benefits of Open Access (OA). Open Access and Open Educational Resources (OER) help make education more affordable for students in Ohio and around the world.
At OhioLINK, the OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) Center is Open Access. More than 90,000 ETDs submitted by 32 member institutions are available for anyone in the world to view and download. The OhioLINK ETD Center is open in order to share scholarship worldwide. With over 52 million downloads and visits from 231 different countries, OhioLINK ETDs and their novel Ohio research are a valued OA resource worldwide. The OhioLINK ETD Council also created a flyer for OA Week to promote the benefits of our ETD Center.
Here are some of the different OA events and promotions around Ohio at OhioLINK member institutions:
- Cleveland State University’s Michael Schwartz Library hosts several events and workshops during OA Week. Here is just a sample:
- Ever wonder about Open Educational Resources, a subset of OA resources? Catch this Monday session from 12:30 to 2 p.m. to learn all about them.
- Learn about OA textbooks from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. This is a popular topic currently getting a great deal of attention.
- Do you have an ORCID research number yet, or have questions about using it? Stop by the reference desk Tuesday through Friday for help. The library also has an information table all week long, so be sure to drop by and chat about OA whenever it’s convenient.
Visit the webpage for a complete OA Week 2017 schedule of events, with many more sessions on a variety of OA topics.
- Miami University Libraries have a variety of events for OA Week.
- During the OER workshop on Monday, faculty can learn about a stipend for using open textbook options in a course. Registration is required for this event.
- The Center for Digital Scholarship hosts an “open” house Wednesday afternoon to promote OA projects and initiatives by Miami University students and faculty.
- Join the OER/Affordable Learning panel discussion also on Wednesday afternoon to discuss OA textbooks and other affordable learning resources to reduce student costs.
Contact Carla Myers, coordinator of scholarly communications, at myersc2@miamioh.edu to learn more about these events and other OA initiatives at Miami University.
Read more about the event details and register on the OA Week 2017 webpage.
- Oberlin College promotes OA throughout the week, including with OA laptop stickers.
- Many OA resources will be featured on digital signage in libraries.
- What is an OA resource? Check out Oberlin’s comprehensive guide to OA and resources in specific subject disciplines.
- Love swag? Make sure to pick up an OA sticker for your laptop or other highly visible spot to show off your support of OA.
- The Ohio State University has three events during OA Week this year, with a little bit of everything for everyone.
- Want to publish an OA monograph? The OSU Libraries will discuss their new OA monographs initiative on Friday afternoon, complete with sizeable funding awards.
- Unsure of OA and copyright? Thursday afternoon’s OA and copyright basics workshop will answer your questions.
- Love trivia? Join OSU Monday afternoon to compete to be the Copyright Champion.
Read more about the event details and register on the OA Week 2017 webpage.
- Ohio University hosts webinars and promotes OA online this year.
- Two librarians give an overview of OER, OA publishing, and the events at the Alden Library during OA Week 2017 in a YouTube video.
- Catch a webinar about OA monographs and their sustainability on Tuesday afternoon, and another webinar on understanding the term OA on Wednesday afternoon.
- Also, watch for a photo essay about recent workshops with the Open Textbook Network
View webinar details on the school’s OA blog post.
- The University of Toledo hosts three topical events, each repeated twice during the week at the Carlson and Mulford libraries.
Whether you use, promote, or are just learning about OA resources, be sure to ask yourself this week why OA resources are “open in order to …” for you!
- Learn how to watch out for predatory publishing when considering OA during the Tuesday or Thursday afternoon workshop.
- OA theses and dissertations are a great example of current OA resources that receive plenty of use. Attend the Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon workshop to learn more.
- Do you use a digital repository? Learn about the University of Toledo’s digital repository during the Wednesday or Thursday afternoon workshop to find out what is in it and how to use it.
For more details about these workshops, and to learn about the top five downloaded electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) in the digital repository and the OhioLINK ETD Center, check out the LibGuide for OA Week 2017.
Whether you use, promote, or are just learning about OA resources, be sure to ask yourself this week why OA resources are “open in order to …” for you!
