New tools promote sharing of research (11 . 06 . 2008)

New tools promote wider sharing of research for scholars across disciplines

Washington, DC and Chicago - June 10, 2008 - The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) have released a new series of bookmarks in the Create Change campaign, which targets scholars in different disciplines with messages about the benefits of wider research sharing. Librarians can use these freely available files to enhance their efforts to engage faculty interest in changing the way scholarly information is shared.

The Create Change Web site emphasizes the rapid and irreversible changes occurring in the ways faculty share and use academic research results. The site outlines how the advancement of knowledge is fueled by accelerating and enhancing sharing - of journal articles, research data, simulations, syntheses, analyses and other findings. Create Change offers faculty practical ways to look out for their own interests as researchers and delivers the personal perspectives of scholars in 10 different disciplines, from music therapy to chemistry to microbiology, on the benefits of sharing. New interviews are added regularly.

The first bookmarks highlight comments from four researchers:

* Dr. Linda Hutcheon, Professor of English, University of Toronto
* Dr. David Morrison, Professor of Mathematics, University of
California, Santa Barbara
* Dr. Carolyn Kenny, Professor of Human Development, Antioch University
* Dr. Gary Ward, Professor of Microbiology, University of Vermont

Comments are drawn from full-length interviews published on the Create Change Web site at http://www.createchange.org and target the advantages of depositing works in a digital repository, the ways communication should change in the digital environment, the impact of Open Access and how to maximize scientific progress.

Libraries are invited to print directly from the Web site in the easy-to-use letter-size format or to download the bookmarks and modify them as needed for their campus. Insert your logo and contact information or add examples from your faculty and its disciplines.

For more details and to download, visit the Create Change Web site at http://www.createchange.org.

An initiative of the IUA Librarians

I think IReL is a huge joint achievement of the HEA, IUA & SFI and in particular the libraries of the institutions involved.
Dr Enda McGlynn, Dublin City University