It’s Open Access Week!

This year’s topic is “Designing Equitable Foundations for Open Knowledge”. It raises questions such as “How do we ensure sustainability models used for open access are not exclusionary? What are inequities that open systems can recreate or reinforce? Whose voices are prioritized? Who is excluded?”.

As institutions that have long provided the infrastructure for giving access to research knowledge, libraries are at the heart of these discussions. Given IFLA’s global membership, drawn from all types of libraries and all regions in the world, we’ll be producing a set of blog posts that will highlight why and how open access matters from many different perspectives.

As IFLA Secretary General Gerald Leitner pointed out:

IFLA’s Global Vision underlines how essential access to information is to the global library field. Open Access week is a time to celebrate this commitment, and – together – set a course to achieve our goals.

IFLA’s President Glòria Pérez-Salmerón underlined that:

The Open Access movement has put more ideas and research in front of more people than ever before, and I am proud that libraries are at the forefront. Though this work, and their support to learners and researchers, libraries are building a better world.

Don’t hesitate to follow what is going on during Open Access week around the world by looking at the hashtags #OAweek2018, #OAWeek, #OpenAccess and #OpenAccessWeek. Events are being organised all over the world. Check Open Access Week’s list of events on this map:  

In the meantime, have a look at SPARC’s handout on “what librarians can do to promote open access”.

See IFLA’s position on open access, adopted in 2011. Follow our policy and advocacy blog for our daily posts.