[BOAI] Netherlands active in Open Access Week 2009

[Peter Suber]

[Forwarding from SURF.  --Peter Suber.]


PRESS RELEASE

Netherlands active in Open Access Week 2009

Local events link up with international Open Access Week

Utrecht, 9 October 2009 – Open Access Week 2009 
(19 to 23 October) will focus special attention 
worldwide on Open Access to research results. The 
Netherlands will be taking an active part. Many 
universities, for example, will be organising 
special lectures, discussions, and symposia to 
inform researchers, teachers, and students about 
the advantages of Open Access and about how they 
can benefit and contribute. The higher education 
sector hopes that by providing examples and 
practical help, it can inspire present and future 
researchers. SURF is coordinating the programme in the Netherlands.

Events

On 20 October, VU University Amsterdam will be 
conferring an honorary doctorate on Tim Berners 
Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. In 
Utrecht, there will be a symposium on 23 October 
entitled “Read me, Cite me, Count me”, at which 
the focus will be on publication strategy and 
research marketing for academics. Data Archiving 
and Networked Services (DANS), one of the 
institutes of the Royal Netherlands Academy of 
Arts and Sciences (KNAW), will be hosting a 
virtual Open Data Speakers’ Corner throughout the 
week. This online forum will give decision-makers 
and opinion-formers from politics, science, 
higher education and publishing the opportunity 
to engage in a wide-ranging discussion regarding 
open data. On Monday 19 October, SURF will be 
launching the national Open Access website, which 
will provide information on this topic.

Prof. Lex Bouter, the rector magnificus of VU 
University Amsterdam, believes it is important 
that publicly financed research should be 
publicly accessible: “It is the task of 
universities to make clear to the public what the 
value is of the research they have carried out 
with the taxpayer’s money. You can’t do that by 
just publishing in journals that are not open to everyone.”

The idea is a very simple one: research that has 
been financed with public funds should be 
accessible to the public and not only to groups 
that can pay for increasingly expensive 
subscriptions. An economics study recently 
revealed that Open Access publishing could save 
the Netherlands EUR 133 million a year, without 
affecting the quality of research. There are many 
routes to Open Access, and all those 
possibilities, varieties, and benefits will be 
locally explained, demonstrated and clarified during Open Access Week 2009.

In recent years, Dutch research universities and 
universities of applied sciences have worked hard 
to set up a knowledge infrastructure that will 
make Open Access possible. A network of 
repositories has been created that is easy to 
consult via NARCIS or the Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied Sciences.

Links

* National programme for Open Access Week: 
<http://www.surffoundation.nl/openaccess>www.surffoundation.nl/openaccess

* International programme for Open Access week: 
<http://www.openaccessweek.org/>www.openaccessweek.org

* Open statement by SURF: <http://www.surf.nl/open>www.surf.nl/open

* Economics study ‘Costs and Benefits of Research 
Communication: The Dutch Situation’: 
<http://www.surffoundation.nl/en/publicaties/Pages/CostsandBenefitsofOpenAccessPublicationlTheDutchSituation.aspx>www.surffoundation.nl/en/publicaties/Pages/CostsandBenefitsofOpenAccessPublicationlTheDutchSituation.aspx 


* NARCIS: <http://www.narcis.nl/>www.narcis.nl

* Knowledge Bank for Universities of Applied 
Sciences. [HBO Kennisbank: <http://www.hbo-kennisbank.nl/>www.hbo-kennisbank.nl


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About SURF

SURF unites the Dutch research universities, 
universities of applied sciences, and research 
institutions in creating pioneering ICT 
innovations, thereby enabling them to make the 
best possible use of the opportunities afforded 
by ICT and to excel in their education and 
research efforts. SURF consists of three 
organisations: SURFfoundation, SURFnet and SURFdiensten.

Kind regards,
Annemiek van der Kuil

Annemiek van der Kuil | projectmanager SURFshare 
| ICT & Research | SURFfoundation | Graadt van 
Roggenweg 340 | PO Box 2290 | 3500 GG Utrecht, 
the Netherlands| T +31 30 234 66 42 | E 
<mailto:vanderkuil at surf.nl>vanderkuil at surf.nl W 
<http://www.surffoundation.nl/SURFshare>www.surffoundation.nl/SURFshare
   
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