Programme with abstracts

Chair: Bruce Madge, IFLA Health and Biosciences libraries Section

Fulfilling the Promise of Scholarly Communication: Can Open Access Deliver? - David C Prosser, SPARC Europe
Abstract: The convergence of dissatisfaction with traditional, subscription-based business model for scholarly communications and the development of new, digital technologies allow us to look consider the claims of new open access models. This presentation describes the requirements of a scholarly communication system and investigates whether the open access models can, compared to existing models, better satisfy these requirements.
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Archiving NIH Research Results in PubMed Central - Sheldon Kotzin, National Library of Medicine , U.S.A.
Abstract: NIH has announced a policy that facilitates access to the results
of its funded research by requesting that its grantees submit a copy of
their final manuscript, once accepted for publication, to NLM's PubMed
Central (PMC) archive. The purpose of this policy is to create a permanent
repository of peer-reviewed NIH-funded research publications in order to
help NIH better meet its mission and to enhance the ability of scientists
and the public to access scientific and health-related information more
effectively. By using PMC as the archive, NIH builds on existing information
technology infrastructure to achieve cost-effective results. Another benefit
of using PMC is the linking that it provides to a variety of
research-related resources in other NLM databases such as DNA and protein
sequences, protein structures, small molecules, and taxonomy. The policy
takes effect on May 2, 2005.

This presentation will describe the NIH Policy in detail, provide data on
submissions, and show how PMC contributes to increased access and scientific
discovery.
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The CERN publication policy and the measures taken - Jens Vigen, CERN Scientific Information Service, Switzerland
Abstract: In the original convention for the establishment of CERN, more than 50 years ago, the founding members laid down the principle that all the scientific results of the Organization, including both experimental and theoretical work, should be published or otherwise made generally available. Now, for the first time ever, the Internet offers the possibility of making knowledge universally accessible. As a result, publishing practices and the system of quality assurance are expected to undergo considerable changes.

The process of transforming scholarly communication towards the Open Access model, pioneered by the high-energy physicists, has now taken up additional momentum. The recommendation from the Berlin 3 meeting, held in Southampton in March 2005, on how the Berlin Declaration should be put in place is fully in line with the CERN policy that was actually presented at the same meeting:

1. Implement a policy to require their researchers to deposit a copy of all their published articles in an open access repository.
2. Encourage their researchers to publish their research articles in open access journals where a suitable journal exists and provide the support to enable that to happen.

In the French-speaking world, the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research), as leading research organisation in Europe and signatory of the Berlin declaration, is naturally at the forefront of this evolution.

The presentation gives an overview of these CNRS initiatives, including the related international involvement. They led to an important event in early 2005: the announcement, together with three other French research institutions, of a common policy for promoting open access and for building institutional archives.
As for the latter, issues of accessibility, quality and service design are addressed, as well as community-specific needs and practices, to be taken into account within a multidisciplinary body.
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Chair: Julia Gelfand, IFLA Science and Technology Libraries Section

The technology is mature, is it our turn now? - Tony McSean, Library Relations, Elsevier.
Abstract: In its various flavours and colours, open acess is moving from
experiment to mainstream, and it is time for all the stakeholders to seek a
calm view of how the provision of STM research information is being
affected. The evolution of the scientific information system is too serious
a matter to be driven by polemic, and this paper seeks to examine the issues
in the light of the evidence.
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Oxford Journals Open Access experiments: an interim report - Richard Gedye, Oxford University Press.
Abstract: Oxford Journals is conducting a number of experiments in open access publishing. What are the effects of going open access on article usage and citation, and can we identify any business model that will provide long-term viability for the open access journal as a means of distributing academic research? Richard Gedye from Oxford Journals reports on what we have learnt so far.
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New Trends in Scholarly Communication: how do Authors of different research communities consider OA? - Valentina Comba & Marialaura Vignocchi, University of Bologna - Italy.
Abstract: At the time of the Budapest Declaration, self-archiving supporters looked like a revolutionary, "anti-commercial publishers" movement. Today, after some years debate (and technological innovation in research and scientific e-publishing), antagonist positions are able to compromise and consider the tradeoffs.

What is really changing in the Authors' attitude towards institutional or disciplinary repositories, and peer reviewed open access journals?

Many recent papers have investigated these topics. From these sources we can note that Biomedical Authors behave differently from Physicists, Astronomers and Mathematicians, who have been using open archives for such a long time. Therefore we intend to analyze these different trends in the diverse communities.

Several aspects also deserve a careful attention: the role of new OA journals in evaluation processes (i.e. their impact and citations), implementation and maintenance costs of institutional repositories, the evolution of bibliometric indicators.

We intend also to discuss the role of libraries in service innovation and e-publishing promotion. The main areas where a key role may be played are: institutional repository management and users' training, the promotion of OA journals and information about evaluation methods (both qualitative and quantitative).

We think that the transition towards new communication models may be a great opportunity that libraries have to be ready to support.
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Chair: Arne Jakobsson, University of Oslo Library, Library of Medicine and Health Sciences

Does national access to e-publications make a difference: the Icelandic experience. - Solveig Thorsteinsdottir, Medical and Health Information Centre, Reykjavík, Iceland
Abstract: National access to e-publications is one of the goals set by the Icelandic government regarding the information society. This goal was partly met by national deals for access to e-journals in 2002. The national deals in Iceland opened access not only to the academic community but also to the general public. Libraries in Iceland are publicly funded and the argument was that access paid by public funding should allow open access to e-journals for all Icelanders, at work or at home. The national deals cover access to a few of the main publishers with access to about 3.000 – 4.000 e-journals. The funding is covered by the acquisition funds from few of the main research libraries in Iceland. There is very little central funding for this project. The financial burden is on few research libraries. This is a heavy burden and does limit funding for other more specified journals such as Nature and Cell Press which were too expensive to be included in the national deal. The outcome is that there is good open access to the more general journals but more limited access to specialist journals.

Advantages including the impact of the national access to e-publications and how the resources are used will be presented. The paper will also cover disadvantages and problems within the present model.

The road to open access for all Icelandic research publications.
Iceland is one of the 35 OECD member countries that agreed on supporting open access in 2004. Iceland is also part of the European Heritage Online project within ESB regarding the preservation and access to publications. 16 European nations participate in this project.

The Icelandic prime minister has appointed a group to prepare a law making access open to all research publications and findings, funded by public funds. This work is in accordance with the ongoing work within OECD and ESB. The progress so far will be reported.

It is discussed in what way open access will affect the national deals in Iceland.
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