University Library signs Expression of Interest to support OA2020

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State University Library has signed the Expression of Interest to support OA2020, an international open access effort, led by the Max Planck Digital Library in Munich, Germany, affirming the Library’s commitment to and support for this worldwide movement.

Following on the recent passing of an open access resolution, the Faculty Senate Executive Board gave its support to the University Library’s endorsement of OA2020. “Iowa State is amongst a very few land-grant universities that is also an Association of American Universities member. These identities mean that the discovery of new knowledge is a priority, and that the broad dissemination of that knowledge is a priority. It is vitally important for our faculty to have dynamic access to ongoing research results from other laboratories all over the world, and for our faculty to be able to freely distribute their scholarly work throughout the world. “Open Access” is an intrinsic value for our faculty,” said Tim Day, ISU Faculty Senate President.

Sharing scholarly findings with the public is a core principle at Iowa State University, both as a research university and a land grant institution. With OA2020, Iowa State joins a growing number of researchers, libraries, and organizations that share the goal of making research articles freely available. At the heart of the OA2020 initiative is the idea that sufficient money exists in the current global journal publishing market to support a cost-neutral transition to open access.

“We understand the importance of open access and the significance of signing onto the EoI. We look forward to working with other institutions in the United States and around the world that support OA2020 and are ready to remove barriers to research and move towards scholarly publishing models that provide open access,” said Curtis Brundy, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Communications and Collections.

The next step for the University Library is to consider how we will work with other OA2020 participants, as well as university faculty and staff, to identify and implement new publishing models that provide open access. This includes continued support for Iowa State’s institutional repository, cooperation to ensure the open access system is sustainable and functional, will include quality research and stand the test of time. 

“The OA2020 initiative is an exciting opportunity, because it represents an organized, global effort to enhance the affordability and accessibility of the dissemination of research results and other scholarly work products,” said Day. Through participation in OA2020, the Library looks forward to improving Iowa State’s ability to share knowledge to Iowa and the rest of the world.

Contacts:

Curtis Brundy
Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Communications and Collections, 203 Parks Library, 515-294-7563

M. Monica Gillen
Communications Specialist, 302 Parks Library, 515-294-1442

About the Iowa State University Library. 

The Iowa State University Library advances the university’s academic excellence and land-grant mission by collecting and preserving world knowledge for its faculty, staff, students and community; by teaching the information literacy skills that enable researchers at all levels to identify, access and use high-quality information; and by actively participating in the creation, sharing, and application of knowledge, research and creative activity, to energize and empower its users toward creating a vital future for the state of Iowa and the world.