Fostering Open Access by a new international information platform
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Fostering Open Access by a new international information platform
The paper shows how the information platform open-access.net contributes to the further progress of the open access idea by informing not only researchers but also research institutions, universities, professional associations, libraries and publishing houses about all aspects of open access publishing. Since 2006 the platform has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) supporting scientists and research institutions to implement open access in practice. Users like for example doctoral students are able to find convincing arguments to publish open access, information about different kinds of repositories, hybrid publications or legal aspects of open access publishing. In a next step the platform will be translated into the English language and expanded to include other European countries. Therefore in addition to the existing cooperation with Switzerland and Austria, new collaborations in Europe especially with English language countries are intended. The Library of the University of Konstanz, one of the pioneers of the open access movement in Germany and also one of the co-founders of the information platform, was able to implement the open access topic very well at the university. As a result of continuous efforts of the Library dissertations can be published solely electronic and open access meanwhile at most departments of the University of Konstanz. But despite these successes, open access publication opportunities are still underutilized. Therefore it is necessary not only to inform the scientists, but also to give the people responsible for implementing open access in the institutions an opportunity to exchange their experiences and share best practice examples like the one from the University of Konstanz described above. The aim is to establish an international network on open access to foster open access, create a knowledge base and give the open access movement a strong voice.
2008