The UT Libraries, in conjunction with Bowling Green State University’s Jerome Library, will host a mini-conference Tuesday, Oct. 23, during Open Access Week.
It will begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude by 4 p.m. in the Driscoll Alumni Center Schmakel Room.
The UT event will reflect Open Access Week events elsewhere, a global awareness campaign initiated six years ago, according to Lucy Duhon, UT scholarly communications librarian and associate professor.
Last year UT Libraries participated in Open Access Week by conducting a campus-wide survey, but this year Duhon decided to make things more interesting by holding a day of events to educate the University community.
The event will be held on the University’s Main Campus and will include panel speakers from UT, BGSU, the University of Michigan and Oberlin College, the last a leading proponent of the open-access publishing movement in Ohio.
One purpose of Open Access Week is to spread the word on one alternative to high journal subscription costs by publishers; costs often lead to frustration on the part of students and faculty alike when searching for peer-reviewed academic writing online.
“Libraries have had to cut back their subscription content because of costs,” Duhon said. “Sometimes publishers will post an embargo period for six months, which means you have to pay until the embargo is lifted.”
Duhon said publishing through open access was a bit of a new frontier, as many faculty members have not started this type of publishing yet.
“Some of the panelists will be talking about their successful experiences publishing in an open-access journal,” she said.
Panelists from Oberlin College will include Dr. Sean Decatur, dean of Oberlin College; Dr. Ray English, librarian; and Dr. Sebastiaan Faber, professor of Hispanic studies.
Duhon said sessions will cover “Open-Access Repositories,” “Open-Access Journals,” “Open-Access Publishing” and “What Is Open Access?”
Due to limited space, RSVPs are requested to Duhon at lucy.duhon@utoledo.edu or 419.530.2838 for the event, which will be streamed online.
For more information and a complete schedule of the day, visit the UT Libraries’ website at utoledo.edu/library.
