Open access investment at the local level: Sharing diverse tactics to improve access & affordability

This is a panel presented recorded for the ACRL 2021 Conference. Panelists include:
- Sam Teplitzky, Open Science Librarian, UC Berkeley
- Timothy Vollmer, Scholarly Communication & Copyright Librarian, UC Berkeley
- Sharla Lair, Senior Strategist, Open Access & Scholarly Communication Initiatives at LYRASIS
- Tom Narock, Assistant Professor of Data Science at Goucher College
- Justin Gonder, Senior Product Manager, Publishing, California Digital Library.
00:00 Introductions
02:57 Timothy Vollmer talking about UC Berkeley Library Open Access Investment Working Group
14:33 Sharla Lair talking about Open Access Community Investment Program
21:57 Tom Narock and Justin Gonder talking about EarthArXiv
35:39 Discussion
Panel topic:
Improving accessibility, inclusivity, and affordability of scholarship is a central tenet to realizing a more equitable higher education system. Many decisions about open access investments take place at administrative or consortial levels, but librarians frequently field requests for access, resources, or partnerships at the local level through their relationships with students, researchers, and faculty. An open access investment working group was established at UC Berkeley Library in late 2019 to bridge this gap between larger scale strategic investment and local decision making. The group proposed a set of criteria to guide library investments in sustainable open access projects. With this group’s work in the foreground, the panel will share real-world examples of where and how academic libraries decide to invest in open access resources. Panelists will discuss commonalities and differences in strategies and give attendees examples they can apply in their own roles.