Open Access Week is a global event held the week of October 24th, 2011, which the ECU Libraries will be celebrating for the third year in a row. It is our opportunity to promote the potential benefits of Open Access to the academic and research community at ECU.

So, what exactly is Open Access (OA)? It encompasses the free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research, and the right to use and re-use those results as needed. OA literature is digital, online, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. The ECU Libraries believe OA has the power to transform the way research and scientific inquiry are conducted and that it has direct and widespread implications for academia, medicine, science, industry, and for society as a whole.OA Week is an invaluable chance to connect the global momentum toward open sharing with the advancement of policy changes on the local level.

This year the Libraries will be sharing brief, energetic videos promoting the principles of OA, starring some of our own ECU faculty, and displaying posters on the “Cost of Research Today”. For more information on the global OA Week movement, check out http://www.openaccessweek.org/.