Open Access week begins

This week, thousands of scholars, faculty, and students in nearly 90 countries participate in events in support of open access (OA).

'The exciting opportunity we have with this year’s Open Access Week stems from the fact that open access is mature enough that good examples now exist of what you can do as a scholar in an open-access enabled world that you simply can’t do in a closed environment,' said Heather Joseph, executive director of SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition and organiser of OA Week).

She was speaking at the official 2010 Open Access Week Online Kick-off Event, which also features open-access advocate Harold Varmus, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who currently directs the U.S. National Cancer Institute;Mona Nemer, professor and vice-president for research at the University of Ottawa; Roger Wakimoto, director of the US National Center for Atmospheric Research; and a host of other leading researchers from around the globe. This event can be viewed online at www.vimeo.com/15881200 during OA Week.