Vanderbilt Libraries invite the campus community to find out more about the potential benefits of Open Access—the free, immediate online access to the results of scholarly research and the right to use those results—at a series of free events Oct. 20–26.
“Open Access Week, which has become a global event, is an opportunity for the Vanderbilt academic community to discuss critical questions about access to scholarly research,” said Jody Combs, interim dean of Vanderbilt Libraries. “[rquote]Unrestricted access to scholarship can maximize research investments, transform how scholars conduct their work, and contribute to the betterment of our society.”[/rquote]
Duke University Law School professor and administrator Richard Danner will discuss “Open Access in Law: Lessons Learned from the Durham Statement” on Oct. 23 from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Central Library Community Room. Danner is the Rufty Research Professor of Law and senior associate dean for information services at Duke Law School.
The Durham Statement on Open Access to Legal Scholarship calls for all law schools to stop publishing their journals in print format and to rely instead on electronic publication coupled with a commitment to keep the electronic versions available in stable, open, digital formats. It was drafted in 2008 during a meeting at Duke University of the directors of the law libraries at the University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania and University of Texas, and Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, New York, Northwestern, Stanford and Yale universities.
Danner will discuss how the lessons learned from the drafting and implementation of the Durham Statement might apply to other professions seeking to provide open access to scholarship.
Other discussions involving Vanderbilt library administrators and staff include:
- Open Access and the Sciences, Oct. 20 from 3 to 4 p.m. in Central Library, Room 418A;
- Open Access and the Social Sciences, Oct. 21 from 10 to 11 a.m. in Peabody Central Library, Room 304; and
- Intellectual Property and Higher Education, Oct. 22 from 11 a.m. to noon in Central Library, Room 800BB.
More information is available at Vanderbilt Libraries Research Guide, or contact Ed Warga, institutional repository coordinator, at (615) 875-8897.