SPARC-ACRL at ALA: panel on the Berlin Open Access Declaration

[Jennifer McLennan <jennifer@arl.org>]

For immediate release
May 24, 2011

For more information, contact:

Jennifer McLennan
SPARC
(202) 296-2296 ext. 121
jennifer [at] arl [dot] org

Kara Malenfant
ACRL
(312) 280-2510
kmalenfant [at] ala [dot] org

SPARC-ACRL forum at ALA: Speakers announced for panel on the 
Berlin Open Access Declaration

Washington, DC and Chicago, IL:  The organizers of the upcoming 
SPARC-ACRL forum on emerging issues in scholarly communication 
have announced the speakers who will zero in on the motivation 
and drive behind the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to 
Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, building support on 
campuses in North America, and plans for the November meeting.

Planned in conjunction with the American Library Association 
(ALA) meeting in New Orleans, LA, this installment of the popular 
forum is focusing on expanding support for the Berlin 
Declaration, which outlines concrete steps to promote the 
Internet as a medium for disseminating global knowledge, 
including encouraging researchers and cultural heritage 
custodians to make all kinds of materials openly available, from 
texts to datasets.

The Berlin Declaration has garnered signatures from nearly 300 
research institutions, libraries, archives, museums, funding 
agencies, and governments from around the world -- including the 
leaders of organizations ranging from the Max Plank Society and 
Chinese Academy of Sciences to Academia Europaea. Most recently, 
both Harvard University and the International Federation of 
Library Associations added their names to the roster.

The goals of the declaration are advanced in part by an annual 
conference of international leaders that will take place in North 
America for the first time this November, offering a unique 
opportunity for the library community to continue its leadership 
role in advancing Open Access.

The following speakers will help libraries to navigate the 
potential impact of the Berlin process for their campuses:

* Dr. Dieter Stein, Professor of English Language and 
Linguistics, Heinrich Heine University (Germany), and organizer 
of the Berlin 6 conference.

* Lorraine Haricombe, Dean of Libraries at the University of 
Kansas.

* Jennifer McLennan, Director of Programs and Operations for 
SPARC and moderator of the Berlin 9 organizing coalition.

The forum will be held Saturday, June 25, 2011 from 4:00 to 6:00 
PM at the Morial Convention Center, Room 383.  The ACRL Scholarly 
Communications Discussion Group will explore how we can bring a 
global action like the Berlin Open Access Declaration to our own 
institutions through our education and outreach programs.  Join 
us for this Discussion Group on Sunday, June 26, from 4:00 PM to 
5:30 PM at the New Orleans Marriott, Mardi Gras H Room.

Separate registration for this event is not required. For further 
details on the forum, visit http://www.arl.org/sparc/forum.

For details on the Berlin Declaration, visit 
http://oa.mpg.de/lang/en-uk/berlin-prozess/berliner-erklarung/.

For details on the Berlin 9 Open Access Conference, visit 
http://www.berlin9.org.

##

SPARC

SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), 
with SPARC Europe and SPARC Japan, is an international alliance 
of more than 800 academic and research libraries working to 
create a more open system of scholarly communication. SPARC's 
advocacy, educational and publisher partnership programs 
encourage expanded dissemination of research. SPARC is on the Web 
at http://www.arl.org/sparc.

ACRL

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a 
division of the American Library Association (ALA), represents 
nearly 13,000 academic and research librarians and interested 
individuals. It is the only individual membership organization in 
North America that develops programs, products and services to 
meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its 
initiatives enable the higher education community to understand 
the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning 
and research environments. ACRL is on the Web at 
http://www.acrl.org.


-------------------------------------
Jennifer McLennan
Director of Programs & Operations
SPARC
jennifer@arl.org
(202) 296-2296 x121
Fax: (202) 872-0884
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermclennan
http://www.arl.org/sparc
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Open Access Week 2011
October 24 - 30
http://www.openaccessweek.org