3.8 Major OA Networks, Facilitators, Coalitions and Initiatives
3.8.1 INASP
INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications), was established by the International Council for Science (ICSU) in 1992. INASP works with a global network of partners to improve access, production and use of research information and knowledge, so that countries are equipped to solve their development challenges. The network aims to strengthen access to, production and use of knowledge and evidence in Africa, Asia and Latin America.[www.inasp.info]
3.8.2 JISC
Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) is simply known as JISC. Jiscis an Open access facilitator that supports many OA initiatives, workshops and projects. it also hosts valuable resources to fostering OA such as the Open Mirror platform.[www.jisc.ac.uk]
3.8.3 SPARC
The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Research Coalition. Sparc is an international alliance of research and academic libraries, an endeavour to create a more open system for scholarly communications. Sparc supports advocacy for open access. Sparc assigns priority to advancing the understanding and implementation of policies and practices that ensure Open Access to scholarly research outputs. SPARC’s primary focus is on journal literature, but its strategy has evolved to reflect an increasing focus on Open Access to research outputs of diverse kinds – including digital data and open educational resources (OER). [www.sparc.arl.org]
3.8.4 SHERPA Project
SHERPA Project, UK [http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/about.html] emerged from a research-led universities with an active interest in establishing an example open access institutional repository in 2002. Sherpa now has 34 partners and affiliates overall, consisting of 32 higher education institutions. Sherpa is investigating issues in the future of scholarly communication. It is developing open-access institutional repositories in universities to facilitate the rapid and efficient worldwide dissemination of research.
3.8.5 Global OA Portal -UNESCO
UNESCO hosts Global Open Access Portal (GOAP), that presents a current snapshot of the status of Open Access (OA) to scientific information around the world. The portal provides a high-level view of the Open Access environment. The primary target audience includes policy-makers, advocates, and delegates from national, regional, and non-governmental organizations as well as members of the OA community. The portal provides an overview of the framework surrounding Open Access in UNESCO Member States by focusing on: [http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/portals-and-platforms/goap/]
- the critical success factors for effectively implementing Open Access
- each country’s strengths and opportunities for further developments
- where mandates for institutional deposits and funding organization have been put into place
- potential partners at the national and regional level and
- funding, advocacy, and support organizations throughout the world.
3.8.6 OpenAIRE
OpenAIRE which is a European commission FP7 project aimed to support the implementation of Open Access in Europe. It provides the means to promote and realize the widespread adoption of the Open Access Policy, as set out by the ERC Scientific Council Guidelines for Open Access and the Open Access pilot launched by the European Commission.[www.openaire.eu]
OpenAIREplus is the next version of the openaire that aimed at linking the aggregated research publications to the accompanying research and project information, datasets and author information. Research output, whether it is publications, datasets or project information is accessible through the OpenAIRE portal. Extra functionalities are also offered, such as statistics, reporting tools and widgets that make OpenAIRE a useful support service for researchers, coordinators and project managers.
3.8.7 COAR
COAR is an association which unites organizations from across the world. Its core mission is to enhance greater visibility and application of research outputs through global networks of Open Access digital repositories. COAR aims to enable every citizen in the world to get access to – and be able to benefit from – knowledge produced from publicly-funded research.[www.coar-repositories.org]
3.8.8 EOS
EnablingOpenScholarship (EOS) [http://www.openscholarship.org] is an organization for universities and research institutions worldwide. The organization is both an information service and a forum for raising and discussing issues around the mission of modern universities and research institutions, particularly with regard to the creation, dissemination and preservation of research findings. The stated aim of EOS is to further the opening up of scholarship and research that is visible through the growing open access, open education, open science and open innovation movements.
3.8.9 NDLTD[www.ndltd.org]
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination, and preservation of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). It supports electronic publishing and open access to scholarship in order to enhance the sharing of knowledge worldwide.