Post on 11-Nov-2014
description
Putting South African
Research on the Map
Open Access DayUniversity of the Western
Cape 21 October 2009
Eve Gray
QuickTime and aﾪBMP decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Photo: Kudumomo
Open Access as a tool for
researchers
Eve GrayHonorary Research Associate
Centre for Educational Technology University of Cape
Townhttp://blogs.uct.ac.za/blog/gray-
area
The aim in Open Access week -
African knowledge, for Africa, from Africa, widely accessible...
QuickTime and aﾪBMP decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Is this the case now?
Are we stuck in an outdated paradigm?
“Over the last few decades, some things have not changed. There’s been no significant break in relations of knowledge production between the colonial and post-colonial eras. African universities are essentially consumers of knowledge produced in developed countries.”Blade Nzimande, UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education 2009
Science Research - articles Science Research - articles publishedpublishedhttp://www.worldmapper.org
© Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).
Unequal global knowledge relations•Africa produces around 3% of
books published, but consumes around 12%.
•Africa produced 0.4% of online content in 2002 – if South Africa is excluded, 0.02%.
•Does this really mean that African research has nothing to say?
... What we do have a lot of is
poverty
http://www.worldmapper.org © Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).
Human povertyHuman poverty
The dilemma for researchers -
scholar or public intellectual?
Photo: Kudumomo
Right now we are driven by reward systems linked to
‘publication counts’.... citation
counts,
... behind this is a ... behind this is a commercial system commercial system
seeking ever-seeking ever-stronger IP to stronger IP to
ensure control over ensure control over content for content for
maximum profits..maximum profits...
Our universities, in particular, should be Our universities, in particular, should be directing their research focus to address the directing their research focus to address the development and social needs of our development and social needs of our communities. The impact of their research communities. The impact of their research should be measured by how much difference should be measured by how much difference it makes to the needs of our communities, it makes to the needs of our communities, rather than by just how many international rather than by just how many international citations researchers receive in their citations researchers receive in their publications.publications.
Speech at the Women in Science Awards, August 2009
[There is] the need for an education and training system that fosters the values of social solidarity and caring, in order to confront the ideological companion of neo-liberalism, that of promoting greed and selfishness...
Can Open Access help
achieve these goals?
QuickTime and aﾪBMP decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
•Builds on collaboration and a tradition of collegiality
•Depends upon sharing rather than proprietorship, access rather than protection
•Efficiencies and economies of collaborative development Networked rather than hierarchical structures
•Networked rather than hierarchical structures
The ethos of OA
Information on Open Access
What is Open Access?
•Free and immediate availability on the Internet
•Allowing users to read, download, copy, distribute, print....
•Without unnecessary financial, legal, technical barriers
•But with author control of the integrity of work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited
Advantages of Open Access
• Substantial increase in reach and impact, particularly for developing country publications
• Openness decreases the risk of duplication, removal of competition makes science less wasteful
• Science made faster, speeds up the solution of urgent development needs
• Wider reach of research, better returns for research investment
• Better monitoring, assessment and management of research
How does Open Access work?
Open Access repositories
•Digital collections of the outputs created within a university or research institution
•Can be subject based or institutional
•Used to enhance the profile of the institution and individual researchers
How to have your cake and eat it...
The ‘green route’
The benefits for the researcher
•Much wider access to journal articles, removal of cost barriers
•Higher levels of access, leading to higher citations, more impact
•Still linked to the prestige of major journals
Using repositories to profile a wider range of
research
Profiling authors
Open access journals
4,000 open access journals listed, all peer reviewed and quality controlled
... and listed in the citation indexes..
OA journals part of SA national policy
Open Access for institutional
profiling
QuickTime and aﾪBMP decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
This approach has proved very effective in
profiling HSRC research
worldwide
Can we conquer the world and create our own vision of what
excellence means in South African
research?