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Open Access Week 2019: Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge at UNO

Join UNO Libraries for Open Access Week October 21-27, 2019. Activities include workshops, interactive displays and a movie screening.

  • date: 10/21/19 - 10/27/19
  • time: 12:00 AM
  • location: Criss Library  • maps

Open Access Week is a global event that celebrates open access research and the benefits this brings not only to the academic community, but society as well. Open access is the free, immediate access to academic research. The theme for Open Access Week 2019 is Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge.

UNO Libraries seeks to support faculty, students and staff in pursuing open access as open knowledge provides equity of access to both the internal and external research community. For instance, open access research helps students gain access to free, quality learning materials and results in less innovation being hidden behind a paywall. Through open access the speed with which research is disseminated increases and this in turn leads to greater impact and citation rates for faculty.

During Open Access Week, the university community can participate in Open Access Week events. The workshop “Opening Access and Increasing Control: Sharing your Research in the Digital Age” will provide faculty and graduate students the opportunity to find out how they can maximize the impact of their research. This will be done through demonstrating that through their participation in open access culture they can increase the impact and control of their work, as opposed to increasing the power of the publisher. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, October 23 at 12:15pm in Criss Library 231.

Members of the university community are welcome to attend one of the three screenings of the movie, “Paywall: The Business of Scholarship”. This 65 minute documentary explores the benefit of open access in research and science and analyzes the ethics of the academic publishing industry. In the academic publishing industry the profit margins can reach 40%, which is often higher than tech giants. The movie will be screened in the Criss Library theater (room 225) on Friday, October 25 at 11am, 12:30pm and 2pm. Sign-up for your preferred slot here, though walk-ins are welcome.

Throughout the week, UNO Libraries will also be hosting Open Access Week activities for you to get involved in. Outside Milo Bail Student Center, you can view our “Walk and Learn” display and learn facts about open access. In addition to this, you can interact with our “Have Your Say” whiteboards in Criss Library and engage with questions about open access. Lastly, you can play, “Open Access: The Game” on the arcade unit outside the Creative Production Lab.