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Many scholars and librarians support public access to research publications funded by U.S. taxpayers. It's hard to argue with the idea that the people who paid for this research have a right to read the results without having to pay a third party (often a commercial publisher) for access. But, in making the case for open access to research published by faculty working at a public university, I sometimes meet supporters of public access that assume the access problem has been solved by federal policy. Reader, we have a problem.

A couple of interesting developments have occurred in the world of open access scientific publishing in the last few weeks.  Two major scientific societies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Royal Society, have both announced plans to publish open access journals.  The AAAS plans to debut their new open access journal, Science Advances, in 2015 while the Royal Society‘s new open access journal,

The Beginnings

In Spring 2013 a survey was sent to organizations in Indiana that were known to already be creating digital collections related to Indiana history.  Responding were libraries, museums, historical societies, and archives.  The overwhelming feedback indicates that Indiana cultural heritage institutions are highly interested in continuing to talk about a Digital Public Library of America Service Hub in Indiana.

What is DPLA?

Recently I've noticed a tendency in my prose to capitalize the words "Open Access." Somehow my mind turned a concept into a brand. I had some help, of course. For a shorthand, many that write about open access use the initialism "OA." It's easy to see how that might introduce capitalization when it comes time to spell out both words--so, "open access" becomes "OA" which is reborn as "Open Access." And, then, many fine OA advocates have worked to make Open Access a brand. With manifestos, conferences, books, and the ever present icon, Open Access is a brand--and that's a good thing too.

The new Web of Science interface has a feature that allows one to refine search results by the category of “Open Access”.  This opens up some interesting possibilities for analysis for researchers as well as for librarians.  For example, a quick search can help shed light on general trends in open access publishing by subject area.

IUPUIScholarWorks serves as the institutional repository for open access to works by IUPUI's faculty, students and community. If you're at IUPUI and you have something you want to post, join, look us up or send us a note.

To celebrate the launch of the Center for Digital Scholarship we will also host a special open house in November for the campus and the community to learn more about our work. The event will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, on the ground floor of the University Library.

The Center for Digital Scholarship recently launched IUPUI DataWorks. As a supplement to the Center's Data Services Program, IUPUI DataWorks provides a tool whereby researchers may share data for reuse. IUPUI DataWorks is a great way to make your data available to a world of researchers. This data repository helps you keep track of how people use your data and ensures that you will have a stable link to provide to potential collaborators.

Almost four years ago the Center for Digital Scholarship at IUPUI University Library and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway formed a partnership.

The University Library and key campus partners have started a fund to support the publication of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis scholarship in peer-reviewed open access journals. A pilot program that encourages diverse participation across schools on the campus will make $47,000 available to IUPUI faculty over the next two years.