André Brown, Grad Student from Open Access Videos on Vimeo.

Ida Sim, Physician Scientist from Open Access Videos on Vimeo.

Dr. Mark Walport, Wellcome Trust Director from Open Access Videos on Vimeo.

Open access continues to be an important topic of discussion in academia, as funding agencies and institutes of higher learning are increasingly turning to open access (OA) – or public access – policies to facilitate the sharing of ideas and the advancement of science and research. Since April 7, 2008, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are required by law to deposit their final manuscripts, upon acceptance for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, in PubMed Central (PMC) no later than twelve months after publication. In March of this year, faculty at MIT voted to adopt a university-wide OA policy to make their scholarly articles available in an OA repository. The University of Kansas followed suit two months later, adopting a similar university-wide policy to make their scholarship open through their digital repository KU ScholarWorks.  These are just a few notable developments and we anticipate more OA news soon.

The Library advocates for OA publishing and research and offers a wide range of OA services, including repository and publishing services that facilitate the rapid, barrier-free dissemination of Tech-produced scholarly materials and research. EPAGE@Tech (see: http://epage.gatech.edu), the Library’s digital publishing program, and SMARTech (see: http://smartech.gatech.edu), Georgia Tech’s institutional repository (IR) service, help Tech researchers capture, manage, produce, store, and distribute their digital content.

By reaching a wider audience, Open Access helps authors find readers, accelerates research, and increases the productivity of researchers. Kathy Roper, faculty from the College of Architecture’s Building Construction program, selected EPAGE@Tech to publish her new OA journal International Journal of Facility Management. Professor Roper commented: “Using EPAGE@Tech allows us to publish an issue much faster and with fewer resources than the traditional publishing model. It also makes our journal available to not only academics but practitioners in the field who would not otherwise have access to library subscription journals.” 

The Library recently redesigned the web interface for the Library-produced OA journal Information Technologies and International Development (ITID). ITID is published by USC Annenberg Press. It was co-founded by current Editor-in-Chief Dr. Michael L. Best, Assistant Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing.  We host Open Journal Systems (OJS) software for ITID, which is open source software developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP). This software helps editors create a journal website, manage the abstract and paper submission and review process, and publish content online.  

In addition to the journal and repository services, consider using EPAGE@Tech to handle editorial workflows online and to make output OA for lecture series, symposia, or conferences. We publish OA conference proceedings and record and archive scholarly events on campus (over 230 as of this writing).

Friday, October 23, 2009, Wardlaw Gordy Room

Introduction and Closing Remarks:

• Catherine Murray-Rust, Dean and Director of Libraries

10:00-11:00 Keynote:

• Rick Luce, Vice-Provost and Director of Libraries at Emory University

11:00-11:30 Break

11:30am-12:30pm Panel

• Tyler O. Walters, moderating
• Dr. Michael L. Best, Assistant Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Editor-in-Chief of Information Technologies & International Development
• Dr. John M. Nickerson, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University, Senior Editor of Molecular Vision
• Kathy Roper, Associate Professor, Building Construction Program, Georgia Institute of Technology, Co-Editor of International Journal of Facility Management