Category Archives: oa.u.kansas

University of Kansas Libraries sign transformative open access agreements with Elsevier, Cambridge University Press | The University of Kansas

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“The University of Kansas Libraries have signed a pair of renegotiated deals aimed at supporting open access and broadening the reach of KU-generated research. Through a pair of transformative read-and-publish agreements with Elsevier — the world’s largest scientific publishing company — and Cambridge University Press — the world’s oldest university publisher — KU Libraries have increased the number of scholarly journals available for reading to KU students and researchers and will cover the costs of open access article processing charges (APCs) for eligible articles by KU corresponding authors, broadening the potential reach of the work. In a three-year agreement with Elsevier, the KU community will maintain existing access to more than 2,000 journals, while covering APCs for KU corresponding authors who opt in to publish articles as open access. Historically, publishers have used a subscription model in which authors publish in a journal and their content remains behind a paywall for journal subscribers only. In an open access publishing model, articles are available to all readers regardless of subscription status, often under a Creative Commons license that enables sharing and reuse. While not all open access is supported by APCs, they have become a common model. Subscription journals that publish some open access articles on payment of an APC are referred to as hybrid open access….”

2022 Shulenburger Award | Libraries

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“KU Libraries have granted the 2022 David Shulenburger Award for Innovation & Advocacy in Scholarly Communication to two recipients: Dr. Shannon O’Lear, director of KU’s Environment Studies Program; and Corey Rayburn Yung, KU School of Law research professor.

The announcement coincides with KU Libraries’ celebration of International Open Access Week, which is Oct. 24-30. The recipients will be honored at a later date….”

Using Wikipedia to teach scholarly peer review | Journal of Information Literacy

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Abstract:  This paper outlines a creative Wikipedia-based project developed by the University of Kansas (KU) Libraries and the KU Biology Department. Inspired by the tenets of open pedagogy, the purpose of this project is to use Wikipedia as a way for students to learn about the scholarly peer review process while also producing material that can be shared and used by the world outside the classroom. The paper is divided into three sections, with the first summarizing pertinent related literature related to the paper’s topic. From here, the paper describes the proposed assignment, detailing a process wherein students write new articles for the encyclopedia which are then anonymously peer reviewed by other students in the class; when articles are deemed acceptable, they are published via Wikipedia. The parallels between this project and academic peer review are emphasized throughout. The paper closes by discussing the importance of this project, arguing that it fills a known scholarly need, actively produces knowledge, furthers the aims of the open access movement, and furthers scientific outreach initiatives.

 

University Press of Kansas to continue its work under leadership of KU Libraries dean | The University of Kansas

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“The University Press of Kansas Board of Trustees, which is composed of the provosts from each of the six Kansas Regents institutions, has confirmed University of Kansas Dean of Libraries Kevin L. Smith to serve as director of the University Press of Kansas (UPK)….

As part of this move, UPK will also begin a number of exciting initiatives, including the development of a new open access digital publishing program. This multidisciplinary platform will initially be targeted at faculty at the six Regents institutions, with a goal to expand as capacity and demand permits. UPK will continue to publish books in a traditional manner but intends to reduce its annual production to about 45 books, maintaining high standards of peer review and editorial production. It will continue with a 60/40 mix of scholarly monographs and trade books….”

University Press of Kansas to continue its work under leadership of KU Libraries dean | The University of Kansas

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“The University Press of Kansas Board of Trustees, which is composed of the provosts from each of the six Kansas Regents institutions, has confirmed University of Kansas Dean of Libraries Kevin L. Smith to serve as director of the University Press of Kansas (UPK)….

As part of this move, UPK will also begin a number of exciting initiatives, including the development of a new open access digital publishing program. This multidisciplinary platform will initially be targeted at faculty at the six Regents institutions, with a goal to expand as capacity and demand permits. UPK will continue to publish books in a traditional manner but intends to reduce its annual production to about 45 books, maintaining high standards of peer review and editorial production. It will continue with a 60/40 mix of scholarly monographs and trade books….”

6/24 Textbook Heroes: Growing an Open Education Initiative Through Recognition and Gratitude – YouTube

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“Communication plays a central role in acknowledging and educating communicates about affordability barriers faced by students and the potential of OER. In early 2019, KU Libraries launched an initiative called “Textbook Heroes” to express gratitude for advocacy and innovation in course materials affordability at the University of Kansas. Textbook Heroes are members of the KU community who’ve taken extraordinary initiative to increase access to and affordability of required course materials by implementing and advocating for OER and other low and no cost course materials. Find out how a librarian and a communications manager collaborated to build a low cost, high impact program, and hear from a hero instructor who’s saving KU students a quarter million per year.

Presenters: Josh Bolick, Scholarly Communication Librarian, KU Libraries; LeAnn Meyer, Communications Manager, KU Libraries; Meggie Mapes, Introductory Course Director, KU Communication Studies….”

What’s the IR doing in our Taylor & Francis Content License? | OAnarchy

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“Fundamentally, content licenses between KU Libraries and a publisher are about providing access to licensed content to KU students, faculty, and staff. Fine. This IR section of the T&F content license isn’t about that; it’s about them determining how we can support our institutional authors who publish in T&F journals. Since our IR is an institutional service for our authors, I don’t see why a publisher should have any voice in determining how we provide that service so long as we’re operating within the law. If KU didn’t have an open access policy then the impact would be negligible in the short term (notwithstanding the above critiques of 13.2.3, 13.2.4, and 13.3). I say in the short term because it might limit the ability of an institutional library to support a future OA policy should their faculty ever adopt and seek to implement one. Given the sustained growth of OA policies, that seems likely if this section becomes standard. This section seems directly intended to undermine Harvard-style (rights retention) institutional open access policies and tie institutions to author agreements (that the institution doesn’t sign) by codifying rights granted in those agreements in an institutional agreement. Content licenses arguably have nothing to do with how we support our faculty authors, so this has no place in a content license, IMO. Of course, that’s being challenged in the UC read and publish proposal to Elsevier, and there are isolated incidents of elite institutional libraries getting better deals for their faculty authors through these agreements. I wouldn’t presume to limit that kind of experimentation. However, anecdotally, I’ve heard of several attempts to add language to content agreements that would advance author rights, by requiring the publisher to provide accepted manuscripts for all institutionally-authored articles published in their journals, for example, which were categorically rejected by the publisher representatives. Why then should we not categorically reject their attempts to play the other side of that card, even if they weren’t problematic as I’ve described? If the only institutions who are able to successfully achieve better deals for their authors via content agreements are elite, where does that leave the rest of us? For our part, we have struck this whole IR section from our draft agreement and are waiting on a T&F reaction….”

KU Libraries publish first open textbook | Libraries

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“KU Libraries and the Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication & Copyright continue their commitment to open educational resources (OER) by publishing Dr. Razi Ahmad’s open textbook entitled, ‘Tajik Persian: Readings in history, culture and society.’ This book is available through KU ScholarWorks, KU’s open access digital repository, and is also indexed in the Open Textbook Library, a free online collection of more than 360 openly licensed textbooks curated by the University of Minnesota based Open Textbook Network.

‘It has been a great experience working with all the library faculty and staff who helped me on this project,’ said Ahmad. ‘Tajik is one of the critical languages for which there exist very limited pedagogical materials for elementary and intermediate-level and virtually negligible for the advanced-level students. ‘Tajik Persian: Readings in history, culture and society’ is a modest attempt to provide instructors and students free of cost advanced-level textbook that can be used as the primary or supplementary material in classrooms.’ 

Currently, ‘Tajik Persian: Readings in history, culture and society’ has more than 141 views from nine countries.”