Open access refers to scholarly literature that is digital, online, free of charge and free of most copyright and reuse restrictions. International Open Access Week, organized by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) prioritizes approaches to open scholarship that serve the best interests of the public and the academic community.

KU has been a leader in open access, dating back to the Faculty Senate’s 2005 resolution on Access to Scholarly Information and the creation of KU ScholarWorks, an institutional repository featuring scholarly work by KU faculty, staff and students. In 2009 and 2010, Faculty Senate passed the KU Faculty Open Access Policy, asserting faculty rights to make their published scholarly articles openly accessible and became the first public institution to adopt an open access policy. More information and connection to resources can be found at KU’s Open Access website.

KU campus advocates of open access, across disciplines, also shared video testimonials on its importance during Open Access Week, including Paulyn Cartwright (ecology & evolutionary biology), Meggie Mapes (communications studies), Amy Mendenhall (social welfare), Shannon O’Lear (environmental studies), Michael Vitevich (speech-language-hearing) and Rami Zeedan (Jewish studies). KU Libraries shared the videos across their social media accounts (@KULibraries).

Josh Bolick, KU Libraries’ head of the David Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright, conducted a workshop titled Open Access and Early Career Researchers during Fridays on Fourth in Watson Library. The session introduced open access in the current context of scholarly publishing, explained how graduate students can engage and why it’s useful to do so.

KU Libraries continues to build on the history of leadership related to openness, supporting open publishing opportunities, investing in open initiatives, advocating for open educational resources (OER) and the KU ScholarWorks repository, among others. The Libraries are actively monitoring the pending implementation of public access plans resulting from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy August 2022 directive and developing related resources.

Infusing Technology into KU Libraries, including open access, is one of the KU Libraries’ priorities in the current campus fundraising campaign with KU Endowment. For information on how you can help support the KU Libraries, please contact Amy Gray, Development Officer at KU Endowment (785-832-7421).