If you hadn’t noticed, not everyone agrees about the value and importance of open access.
The perspective of AU Press has always been that open access works for us.
The truth is we could not be an open access press if we were not generously supported by Athabasca University.
So then the logical question would be, why? And the reason is simple. AU is dedicated to removing barriers that restrict access and success in university-level study and it focuses on four key principles to achieve that lofty goal—openness, flexibility, innovation, and excellence. It is not difficult to see that AU Press and its mission beautifully dovetails with this mandate.
- When we make our books free we reduce barriers to important research and scholarship.
- When we protect our publication rights with the Creative Commons license we allow for more flexibility in the use and re-use of our books.
- When each title is reviewed by an author’s peers and then rigorously copyedited, we ensure that the highest stands of scholarship are maintained.
- And when we publish books in both print and multiple digital formats, when we host websites and journals, and when we examine areas of scholarship that are often overlooked, we innovate.
But our perspective is not the only one that matters. So, we asked an author and an open access advocate to share their thoughts about open access in action.
AUTHOR
Jon Dron, co-author of AU Press publication Teaching Crowds
“The goal for any academic should be to increase the amount of knowledge in the world, so the removal of barriers to spreading that knowledge can only be a good thing. Teaching Crowds has been read by many thousands who would not otherwise have done so. And there have been no notable disadvantages to us. If anything, sales of the physical book have been higher because of that greater exposure. Meanwhile, it positively delights me that readers (including teachers) can use the book in ways that suit their needs, and build with it rather than just upon it. We should not just stand on the shoulders of giants; giants can only reach so far. We reach far higher when we support one another and build our knowledge collectively.”—Jon Dron
OPEN ACCESS ADVOCATE
Rory McGreal, UNESCO/Commonwealth of Learning Chairholder in Open Educational Resources
“I believe that the provision of access to information and knowledge is a defining feature of both the classical and modern university. Today, high journal subscription costs take up an enormous portion of an institution’s library budget, and as a result, there are limited funds available to an institution to support research and acquire others kinds of academic literature. At the same time, the Web has given us access to information and at very low cost. Open access provides an alternative to some of these cost pressures.
The 2002 Budapest Open Access Initiative, which is supported by the Open Society Foundations, has 338 organizational signatures (including Athabasca’s ICAAP) and provides a rationale for the academic imperative to support Open Access.”–Rory McGreal
And finally, here’s a quote from John Willinsky, another open access advocate whose work has influenced the direction of the movement in Canada.
“The key is raising public expectations around the right to knowledge,” says Willinsky. “I am optimistic about the success of Open Access as the model for scholarly publishing going forward. I am concerned about ensuring that the shift in money spent on journal subscriptions to open access publishing increases scholars’ equality of opportunity for sharing knowledge world-wide rather than the opposite.” –John Willinsky, Director of the Public Knowledge Project
Adams, Caralee. “John Willinsky.” SPARC. http://sparcopen.org/our-work/innovator/willinsky/.
