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<font face="Verdana" size=2>[Forwarding from SURF. --Peter
Suber.]<br><br>
<br>
<b>New Open Access website encourages exchange of research data<br><br>
</b><i>Website developed by SURF<br><br>
Utrecht, 20 October 2009 </i> SURF, the higher education and research
partnership for network services and ICT in the Netherlands, is launching
the website
</font><a href="http://www.openaccess.nl/">
<font face="Verdana" size=2 color="#800080">www.openaccess.nl</a></font>
<font face="Verdana" size=2>. The website has been developed on behalf of
the whole higher education sector and links up with international Open
Access week (19 to 23 October). <br><br>
The Open Access website provides structured information about Open Access
to research results and the advantages that Open Access has. Practical
examples are used to illustrate the possibilities opened up by the
Internet for innovations in scholarly communication. The website provides
researchers with information about how Open Access can give their work a
larger potential audience. Openaccess.nl shows the options that each
discipline has for making research results openly accessible. <br><br>
<b>Leading researchers<br><br>
</b>On the website, Robbert Dijkgraaf (President of the Royal Netherlands
Academy of Arts and Sciences, KNAW) explains why Open Access publication
is necessary: The starting point is that the maximum possible number of
people should be able to have access to the results of science and
scholarship. Ultimately, that will provide the greatest benefit for
science and scholarship. Other leading researchers, including a Nobel
Prize-winner, provide inspiration, including for administrators and
teachers. The English-language website is intended mainly for those
involved in higher education and research in the Netherlands. <br><br>
<b>Open Access week<br><br>
</b>The website will go online during international Open Access week,
when research universities, universities of applied sciences and research
institutes will be devoting extra attention to the importance of Open
Access to the results of research that has been financed with public
money. Many of the Dutch universities will be organising information
sessions to explain the advantages of Open Access publication to their
scholars. 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.<br><br>
The idea behind Open Access is a simple one: research that has been
financed with public funds should be accessible to everybody and not only
to institutions that can afford to pay for increasingly expensive
subscriptions. A recent economics study has shown that Open Access
publication can save the Netherlands up to 133 million euros each year.
This does not need to have a detrimental effect on the quality of
scientific and scholarly research; after all, there are many different
routes leading to Open Access. <br><br>
<b>Links</b>
<ul>
<li>Dutch Open Access website:
</font><a href="http://www.openaccess.nl/">
<font face="Verdana" size=2 color="#800080">www.openaccess.nl</a></font>
<font face="Verdana" size=2>
<li>National programme for Open Access week:
<a href="http://www.surffoundation.nl/openaccess">
www.surffoundation.nl/openaccess</a>
<li>International programme for Open Access week:
</font><a href="http://www.openaccessweek.org/">
<font face="Verdana" size=2 color="#800080">www.openaccessweek.org</a>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2>
<li><a name="_Hlt243728577"></a>SURF statement about the concept of
open:
<a href="http://www.surf.nl/open">www.surf.nl/open</a>
<a name="_Hlt243728577"></a>
<li>Economics study of savings through Open Access:
</font>
<a href="http://www.surffoundation.nl/en/publicaties/Pages/CostsandBenefitsofOpenAccessPublicationlTheDutchSituation.aspx">
<font face="Verdana" size=2 color="#800080">
www.surffoundation.nl/en/publicaties/Pages/CostsandBenefitsofOpenAccessPublicationlTheDutchSituation.aspx</a>
</font>
</ul><font face="Verdana" size=2><br><br>
<div align="center"><br><br>
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<br><br>
<b>About SURF<br><br>
</b>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.<br><br>
<b>For more information, go to:<br><br>
</b>SURF<br><br>
Annemiek van der Kuil<br>
T: +31 (0)30 234 6600<br>
E: vanderkuil(at)surf.nl<br><br>
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