Knowledge Foundation supports Open Access in Sweden
Raise of support level for development efforts and boosting interest in OA among researchers and business circles
The Swedish national library, Kungliga Biblioteket, has launched an R&D programme in open access under the title OpenAccess.se. The programme has three elements in its 2007 call for proposals:
- The contents of open archives in universities and university colleges. This has two elements to it: a) Creating critical mass in the free availability of scientific publications, and b) Expanding the contents of open archives with new types of material.
- Promoting the use of material in open archives and OA journals.
- Quality issues - towards determining the framework for certifying open archives in Sweden and such issues as the services to be offered etc.
The Knowledge Foundation (Stiftelsen för kunskaps- och kompetensutveckling / KK-stiftelsen) is contributing SEK 2.5 million (approx. £183,000 or $371,000) to the programme for 2008-2009. The programme is supported with focus specifically on the access to digital education resources within the universities. An active role will also be played in the programme board.
Jan Hagerlid, the Programme Co-ordinator of OpenAccess.se:
The support from the Knowledge Foundation to our programme comes with a request that SEK 1.5 million of the 2.5 million should be used to promote access to digital learning resources created within universities. So the part of the call about expanding content in Open Archives includes both research data and learning resources.
Personally I think this is a logical development. You would have the whole life-cycle from research data to publications up to learning resources within the same repository, perhaps with different points of access.
The support from the Knowledge Foundation is very positive in several respects. We can raise the level of support for development efforts and it will boost the interest for the programme and the issue of Open Access in general among Swedish researchers and in business circles.
Since the Knowledge Foundation was formed in 1994, they have invested more than SEK 6 billion in establishing research environments with distinctive profiles at Sweden's new universities and other higher education institutions. They have worked to promote the exchange of knowledge and skills between higher education and the business sector, and the use of IT in such sectors as education, teacher training and healthcare.
Read more at www.kks.se and www.openaccess.se
Author: Jan Hagerlid and Gitte Krejbich
Date: 26 September 2007
