DFG Project: A Nation-Wide Online Information Portal On Open Access Issues

[Cordula Noetzelmann <cordula.noetzelmann@uni-bielefeld.de>]

  ***Apologies for cross-posting***

Please find attached an announcement concerning Open Access activities
in Germany.


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DFG Project: A Nation-Wide Online Information Portal On Open Access Issues
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Since September 2006 the German Science Foundation [Deutsche 
Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG] funds the implementation of a 
nation-wide online information portal on Open Access issues that 
is operated cooperatively by the Universities of Bielefeld, 
Goettingen, Constance and the Free University of Berlin, with 
support from DINI - German Initiative for Networked Information. 
The platform is intended to inform scientists, their professional 
societies, university administrations and the interested public 
comprehensively on objectives and use of Open Access, and support 
them with practical assistance on its implementation in practice.

Open Access Publications are conceived as scientific publications 
that are worldwide freely available on the Internet. The Open 
Access Movement's objective is the better utilisation of this 
form of publication in order to maximise the diffusion and usage 
of scientific knowledge. As recent studies demonstrate [1], the 
reception of Open Access publications generally is already 
several times higher than that of traditional publications behind 
cost barriers. For individual authors as well as their 
institutions, this translates into a significantly better 
"visibility" within the international scientific community. The 
signing of the "Berlin Declaration on open access to scientific 
knowledge" [2] by numerous national and international science 
organisations and funding bodies and a growing number of 
Universities underlines the importance for Open Access for 
Science Policy in general.

A DFG survey on author's experiences with Open Access [3] showed 
that open access publication opportunities are still 
underutilized, but found much willingness to actively further 
Open Access in Germany. Therefore the DFG, as a cosignatory of 
the "Berlin Declaration", like many other national funding 
organisations, strongly encourages all project investigators to 
publish in refereed Open Access journals or to make available 
digital copies of their work on Open Access servers.

Until now Information on Open Access is largely produced in an 
uncoordinated way and is mostly scattered widely throughout the 
Internet, much of it is dependent upon the local personal 
commitment of individuals. This fact is largely responsible for 
the discrepancy between the growing international significance of 
Open Access on one hand and the comparatively small publicity and 
little practice with German scientists on the other hand.

The new information portal sets out to counter this development 
in Germany. The offer addresses primarily scientific authors, 
university administrations and scholarly societies. Current 
deficits in information and use within the German Higher 
Education Landscape are sought to be removed by the concise 
presentation of relevant information on open access issues 
targeted to specific audiences. The information platform will 
also concentrate on concrete recommendations for action, know how 
and argumentation aids as well as the sharing of practical 
experience and all sort of information materials on Open Access.

The four project partners all belong to the pioneers on the field 
of Open Access in Germany. After its completion in May 2007, the 
online platform will be open to all interested users and 
additional cooperation partners for exchange of information and 
experiences. DINI - the German Initiative for Networked 
Information, regards the new information platform as a chance to 
better promote the relevant open access activities of DINI. 
Platform development and operation are therefore supported by 
DINI.

More information may be found on the website of the project
http://www.openaccess-germany.de/ or via the coordinators:

Dr. Norbert Lossau (Director, State and University Library 
Goettingen, Project Leader), norbert.lossau@sub.uni-goettingen.de

Cordula Noetzelmann (Coordination Scientific Publishing, 
University of Bielefeld), cordula.noetzelmann@uni-bielefeld.de

Dr. Katja Mruck (Coordination e-Publishing, Open Access, Center 
for Digital Systems (CeDiS) of the Free University of Berlin), 
katja.mruck@fu-berlin.de

Karlheinz Pappenberger (Coordination Scientific Publishing, University of
Constance), Karlheinz.Pappenberger@uni-konstanz.de

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[1] (http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html)
[2] (http://oa.mpg.de/openaccess-berlin/signatories.html)
[3]
(http://www.dfg.de/en/dfg_profile/facts_and_figures/statistical_reporting/open_access/index.html

*********************************************************************
* Cordula Noetzelmann
* Koordination "Wissenschaftliches Publizieren"
* Fachreferentin fuer Anglistik, Allg. Literaturwissenschaft
* Universitaetsbibliothek Bielefeld
* Universitaetsstr. 25
* 33615 Bielefeld
* Tel. 0521/106-3417
* http://www.ub.uni-bielefeld.de
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