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The Scholarly Communications Initiative
| Over the past decade the methods by which research is created, compiled and distributed have dramatically changed and traditional relationships between authors and publishers have shifted. Publishers are no longer the sole purveyors of scholarship. The ubiquity of the Internet, coupled with free, open source software platforms, has made it possible for researchers to disseminate their work without having a publisher supply a stable distribution network. York University Libraries are keeping pace with these changes by developing a number of digital initiatives to support the work of researchers in the online environment.
Studies have shown that authors who make their research available to all, without any barriers to access such as memberships and subscription fees, benefit significantly through increased exposure. The higher visibility possible through publishing in an openly-available online format rewards authors through increased citations. Hajjem et al. found that in a comparison of open access and non-open access articles in the same journal and the same year, the open access articles had consistently more citations with the advantage varying from 36%-172% by discipline and year. (IEEE Data Engineering Bulletin, 28 (4). pp. 39-47.) Further impetus for moving to an open access format is tied to recent changes in government grants requirements. Canadian granting agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the National Cancer Institute of Canada have embraced the idea that publicly funded research should be made publicly accessible, and have mandated that research be made freely available after an acceptable embargo period. Institutions such as Harvard University have adopted similar open access policies. York-based digital initiatives to support faculty research To help our faculty take advantage of the benefits of open access, and also to adhere to grant requirements, York University has launched an institutional repository, YorkSpace, as well as a journal hosting program called York Digital Journals. York is also a partner institution in the Synergies initiative (our top story in YULibrary News Winter 2008). Synergies is a Canada Foundation for Innovation-funded collaborative project between 21 universities to build a portal of Canadian social science and humanities scholarship that will aggregate research collected by partner institutions. Participation in this project will increase the visibility of participating researchers and journals. ScholCom To further support the scholarly research process, the Scholarly Communications Initiative was created at York. Founded in August 2007, the Scholarly Communications Initiative hosts an informative website to keep the York University community up to date on granting agency guidelines and available services, such as creative commons licenses and lists of open-access friendly publishers.
The initiative also hosts a speaker series, in which distinguished speakers from York and beyond are invited to discuss current developments and issues with members of the York community. The next talk will be held on November 19 from 12:00 pm -1:30 pm (lunch provided). It will feature Prof. Pina D'Agostino from Osgoode Hall Law School and Marcus Bornfreund, founding project lead of Creative Commons Canada. The speakers will discuss issues of copyright in the academy in the 21st century. In the future, the Scholarly Communications Initiative hopes to engage graduate students in discussions about open access issues through speaking engagements and panel discussion events. A study is also planned to explore discipline-specific attitudes and differences on open access issues on campus. The Scholarly Communications Initiative is available to speak to students and the community about navigating the publishing environment and to discuss concerns and ideas with faculty. —Andrea Kosavic, Digital Initiatives Librarian |
LibX: Bring your Library to the Web The YUL LibX toolbar plugs you into the Libraries from anywhere on the web. You can highlight text by “right-clicking” your mouse and quickly perform a ‘context menu’ search , or drag and drop the text as search terms straight onto the toolbar, instantly searching the YUL library catalogue or eResources from the comfort of your browser. If you’re searching Google or another library catalogue, you’ll find the ISBN number becomes a hyperlink to the YUL catalogue. You can immediately see if the book is in York’s collection and whether it’s available to borrow. You’ll also start seeing the embedded cues like the York University icon and the ‘Find It @ York’ button appearing on web pages like Wikipedia, Amazon and anywhere else that refers you to a potential library resource. Want to give it a try? Point your Firefox browser here: http://libx.org/editions/download.php? —F. Tim Knight, for the YUL Emerging Technology Interest Group |
