Open Access Week: Share, Watch, Celebrate, Learn.

Open Access Week 2010 at the University of Utah

October 18-22, 2010

Open Access Week, now in its second year at the University of Utah, is an opportunity for the campus and community to learn about the benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping make Open Access a new norm in scholarly and creative works. Open Access scholarship is digital, online and free of charge to readers and viewers. In many cases, it is free of most copyright and licensing restrictions, and can therefore be re-used in a variety of ways. It is a dissemination strategy that promotes rather than restricts access. Come share, watch, celebrate, and learn.

Free and Open to the Public.

Share.

The Internet, according to John Wilbanks, has democratized creative culture. Science lags far behind. “The vast majority of science is actually a secret,” Wilbanks says. “It’s hidden in labs until it gets published, or it’s thrown in the autoclave if it’s not thought to be worth publishing, or it sits in a fridge because no one knows how to make it available. The fragments never come back together because too many different people have to give permission, and no one can put all the pieces together to ask interesting questions.” Wilbanks heads the four-year-old nonprofit Science Commons, an offshoot of Creative Commons. Like its parent, Science Commons is dedicated to creating an open web culture in which users — in this case scientists — can easily share their work.

Watch.

Open Access Film Festival

The Open Access Film Festival seeks to promote the idea of shared culture by bringing free-to-share films to the attention of local audiences. The event is organized by the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. All screenings are free and open to the public.

In RiP: A remix manifesto, Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers.

Wednesday, October 20, 5 pm

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning is a feature-length sci-fi parody, seven years in the making. It is the product of a core group of five Finns, and over 300 extras, assistants and supporters. The film combines world-class visual effects, a rough-and-ready sense of humour, and a passion that provide the basis for the first-ever Finnish science fiction adventure.

Thursday, October 21, 4 pm

Babajaga – Witches in updraft is a film about women united by the all-consuming passion for flying without engine power. It’s about true friendship between sports-women, even across the frontiers of the cold war, and their tireless dedication to get their own Woman World Championship after 33 years of struggle.

Celebrate.

USpace Celebration!

USpace is celebrating five years of providing public access to University of Utah scholarship. Come learn more about USpace and celebrate with free cupcakes!

Learn.

Publishing SMART

Authors want their scholarly articles to be seen, cited and utilized. This class provides opportunities for researchers to increase their visibility by exploring various publishing and archiving choices. Tools for evaluating journal impact factors, online usage, local online availability, retaining copyrights, and submission to online archives are covered.