Open Access Week 2021 - It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity: About Open Access Week

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What is Open Access Week?

 

SPARC defines open access as: "the free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment.

This year’s theme intentionally aligns with the recently released UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, of which Open Access is a crucial component. Circulated in draft form following discussion by representatives of UNESCO’s 193 member countries, the Recommendation powerfully articulates and centers the importance of equity in pursuing a future for scholarship that is open by default.

You can read more about the 2021 theme on the SPARC website.

Open Access Week at Columbia

Panel: Open Access Week and International Resources

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Open Access Week and International Resources: the South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) and Arabic Collections Online (ACO)

October 25- 31 is International Open Access Week, and we would like to invite you to a special panel entitled "Open Access Week and International Resources: the South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) and the Arabic Collections Online (ACO)." It will take place 2:00-3:00pm on Tuesday, October 26th. In this panel, four area studies subject experts, from the Columbia University and NYU Libraries, with an expertise in the Middle East and South Asia, will discuss two collaborative open access projects, namely the CRL member based South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) project, and the inter-institutional collaborative Arabic Collections Online (ACO).

The South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) is a collaborative partnership of 27 major research libraries and archives in the United States, India, Nepal and Pakistan. This open access initiative is aimed at addressing both the current scarcity of digital resources relevant to South Asian studies and the costliness of commercial databases by giving researchers worldwide open access to collections. More than 24,000 items (over 700,000 pages) have been made accessible thus far.

The Arabic Collections Online (ACO) is a partnership of several major research libraries in the United States and the Middle East. It aims to digitize Arabic monographs in the partners' collections and more generally, enhance access to non-Roman resources from and about the Middle East. To date over 17,000 volumes from Arabic-speaking countries, Turkey and Iran have been digitized and made available.

The panel begins with a talk by two SAOA member librarians, who will provide background on the rationale and vision of this project, and address challenges and accomplishments thus far. Then two Middle East Studies librarians will offer an overview of the ACO project, focusing on the Open Access nature of the project, international collaboration and copyright issues.

Speakers: Aruna Magier, Librarian for South Asian Studies, International Relations & Food Studies, NYU Libraries; Gary Hausman, South Asian Studies Librarian, Columbia University Libraries; Guy Burak, Librarian for Middle Eastern, Islamic and Jewish Studies, NYU Libraries; Peter Magierski, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Librarian, Columbia University Libraries.

Please register for the event to receive the Zoom invitation.

Other Open Access Week events

There are over 100 free, online events planned for Open Access Week 2021 at institutions around the world. Use the link below to learn more and register for upcoming events.