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Weekly News Digest
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April 22, 2013 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. For other up-to-the-minute news, check out ITI’s Twitter account: @ITINewsBreaks.
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Expanded Public Access to Federally Funded Research—A Call to Action
The Association of American Universities (AAU), Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and Association of Research Libraries (ARL) have released a statement by David E. Shulenburger calling on the research university community to provide input to the U.S. government for increasing access to the results of federally funded research. In February, John P. Holdren, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, issued a memorandum directing federal research funding agencies with R&D budgets of $100 million or more to develop a plan within 6 months to support increased public access to the results of research funded by the federal government.
Shulenburger states: To assure that resulting plans serve scholarship well, it is critically important that we provide input to federal agencies while they are considering what to propose to the White House, as well as during the Director’s approval process. We must help ensure that agency plans are efficient and effective, and that they meet the needs of the academy, the Government, and the public. The statement, “Expanded Public Access: A New Era with New Challenges,” issued this call to action. Each research university campus, and the APLU and AAU who represent them, should develop a process for soliciting input and recommending to the agencies and Director Holdren desired practices for deposit. Otherwise, we have no one to blame but ourselves if compliance with the deposit policies is expensive, if access is cumbersome, or if the interests of higher education are not fully reflected in the agencies’ policies. The statement also highlighted the special case of research data. Turning responsibility for digital data management over to those who do not have the academy’s sole interest as their own might well result in a future where access to digital data generated by our faculty becomes increasingly expensive and difficult for them and their students. We should plan carefully in order not to repeat our experiences with the scholarly publications marketplace. The White House memorandum provides the academy with an important opportunity for such planning. Source: Association of Research Libraries
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Brandi Scardilli
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