Open access activities: eIFL update

Susan VeldsmaneIFL Content Manager

susan.veldsman@eifl.net

• An independent foundation that strives to lead, negotiate, support and advocate for the wide availability of electronic resources by library users in transition and developing countries.

• Operates through a network of national library consortia in 55 countries.

eIFL.net programs and services

eIFL.net currently offers 6 core programs to the consortia in its network:

• Negotiating access to commercially available e-resources• Supporting the creation of sustainable national library

consortia• Open access publishing and the building of institutional

repositories of local content• Intellectual property rights and libraries• Free and Open Source software for Libraries• Knowledge sharing and networking

eIFL Open Access Program• Supported by OSI• Call for Interest among eIFL members:

– Serbia, November 2003 & November 2005– South Africa, July 2004 & May 2005– Ukraine, February 2005– Lithuania, February 2005– China, June 2005– Southern Africa, August 2006– Poland, September 2006– Lesotho, April 2007– Ghana, June 2007– South Africa, 2007

 Country Number of repositories within the countries

Azerbaijan 1

Belarus 6

China 7

Estonia 2

Jordan 1

Lithuania 1

Mongolia 4

(Namibia) (1)

Poland 18

Russia 2

(South Africa) (5)

Senegal 1

Serbia 1

Slovenia 1

Uganda 2

Ukraine 8

Zimbabwe 1

Total institutional repositories 62

Ukraine

• International Renaissance Foundation (national Soros foundation)

• Open Access Conference, February 2005– Recommendations endorsed by Ukrainian Vice

Prime Minister• Ukrainian Parliament recommendation to mandate

Open Access for publicly-funded research, December 2005

• National Network of Open Access Repositories (2006), 10 institutions

Lithuania• Lithuanian Research Library Consortia• Open Access Scholarly Communication Workshop, February 2005

(Librarians)• “Open Access - Revolution in the Scholarly Publishing?” June 2005

(Vice Rectors, Policy Makers, Scientific Community• Development of Lithuanian Academic Libraries Network (national IR

network); Received EU Structural Funds, considering Fedora, team led by Kaunas University

China• Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences• International Conference on Strategies and Policies for

Open Access to Scientific Information, Beijing, June 2005– Recommendations: require that all government funded

research be published in OA; reform current system of review of S&T achievements so as to encourage academics to publish in OA; support leading journals to convert to OA

• Conducting studies of OA policies in other countries• National Science and Technology Library of China

considering Open Call for Open Access to Scientific Information

African countries…

• Zimbabwe: meeting 2007, on agenda of NUST, has an IR

• Uganda: has an IR• Malawi:

– University of Malawi-statement on IR’s– Postgrad committee-appointed subcommittee

to work out logistics for the implementation of IR’s

– MALICO- Greenstone

Africa: Uganda

African countries….

• Zambia: Copperbelt University-policy paper on IR’s

• Nigeria-just beginning• SARUA: vice chancellors and OA

South Africa……

• Sivulile• Xhosa…we have opened

Who are we?• Workgroup

– Susan Veldsman (eIFL)– Dr D Peters (DISA), – J De Beer (lecturer , OA specialist)– Dr H Suleman (snr lecturer in Digital Libraries)– Co-opting expertise e.g Monica Hammes, Charl

Roberts, Eve Gray, Catherine Dubbeld and many more during 2007!

• Informal, working across sectors and institutions• Consider ourselves to be activists for OA and IRs by

raising awareness• All have digital libraries as an aim, some way or

another• Presenting different perspectives to the same thing• Bringing different expertise to the workgroup

Why are we doing this?• Assist libraries in setting up OAI compliant digital

research archives• Work towards setting up a national virtual research

archive• Knowledge gap between the use and the

implementation of IR’s• Facilitate improved visibility and impact of research

output• Supplement the existing scholarly publishing system• Raise general awareness for OA and IRs• Advocate the benefits of OA to scholarly publishers and

librarians• Promoting eIFL’s efforts in OA in nationally, regional

and internationally

What have we done so far?• 2004: Open Access Conference

– Promoted the general idea and advantages of OA and IRs

• 2005:– Workshop on setting up an Institutional Repository– Workshop on implementing Greenstone (Dec 2005)

• 2006:– LIASA Higher Education Interest Group:Western Cape School (March 2006)– Various presentations: DALRO, DACST– Southern Africa workshop

• 2007:– Lesotho with Swaziland particpants– Ghana– Carnegie corporation– SARUA– ASSAF– NRF…national project

What are our challenges?• Four institutions have set up their IR’s at home institutions

– University of Stellenbosch– University of Namibia– University of Zimbabwe

– Adopt institutional policies to submit material to IRs– Others: Rhodes University, Univ Johannesburg, WITS,UP

• Human resources (capacity)• Spread the knowledge! Not taking ownership !• Lack of governmental support• Lack of institutional support• Decentralised efforts—lack of working together• Operational levels vs strategic/managerial efforts• Funding

Example:Rhodes

What are our challenges?

• How to identify champs?• Wow!! ASSAF• IR’s are not just about e-thesis and

dissertations• Better understanding of what are the

issues• Who do you target?• How does the map look like?

Projects/Tools to be useful?

• We must take ownership of our own destiny!• Continue the awareness programs we are

doing—this is only the beginning of big times to come!

• Keep giving support and leadership• Thanks to….SPARC, DARE, eIFL, Peter

Suber, OSI, Creative Commons now Science commons, ASSAF

Thank you!

susan.veldsman@eifl.net