Month: November 2012

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OA sessions @ the CUNY IT Conference

Like many of us I’m attending the CUNY IT Conference tomorrow and Friday. Perusing the schedule of sessions I was delighted to see lots of presentations about open access issues and projects. Whether you’re an OA newbie or a seasoned OA advocate, come lend your support to your colleagues in these sessions!

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2:15-3:15PM:

The Online Journal System: Implications for Scholarly Publishing in CUNY

A dozen CUNY journals are being published using the Open Journal Systems (OJS). The Urban Library Journal has migrated from print and subscription-based to an open access, online-only journal through OJS. The change has increased visibility of the title and streamlined the process of publishing. Learn about the system back-end, how to produce an issue and how to archive issues using OJS. Implications for journal publishing in an online-only environment will be discussed.

Monica Berger, Associate Professor, Library, New York City College of Technology
Jill Cirasella, Assistant Professor, Library, Brooklyn College
Beth Evans, Associate Professor, Library, Brooklyn College
Steven Ovadia, Associate Professor, Library Media Resources Center, LaGuardia Community College

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 9:30-10:30AM:

An Open Access Repository for CUNY: Why We Need It and How You Could Use It

CUNY’s University Faculty Senate recently voted to create an open access institutional repository (IR), which would allow faculty and staff to share scholarly writings, instructional materials, college documents and more. This session will provide an overview of open access, IRs and emerging best practices, as well as a report on possibilities for and progress toward a CUNY IR. Come learn why IRs are important and share how you might use an IR.

Jill Cirasella, Assistant Professor, Library, Brooklyn College
Matthew K. Gold, Associate Professor, English, New York City College of Technology / Director, CUNY Academic Commons
Stephen Klein, Systems Librarian, Graduate Center
Polly Thistlethwaite, Chief Librarian, Graduate Center

Challenges in Founding the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy

Members of the Editorial Collective of JITP reflect on the challenges faced in establishing a new online and open access scholarly journal. These include the difficulty of ensuring that the journal is truly interdisciplinary; how an 18-member “collective” makes decisions; the journal’s attempts to create a space for new modes of scholarly writing and peer review; and the problems faced in working in and transitioning across platforms such as Open Journal Systems and WordPress.

Steve Brier, Interactive Technology and Pedagogy Certificate Program Coordinator and Professor, Graduate Center
Sarah Ruth Jacobs, Communication Fellow, Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute, Baruch College
Kimon Keramidas, Assistant Director of the Digital Media Lab, Bard Graduate Center
Benjamin Miller, Macaulay Instructional Technology Fellow, Baruch College
Luke Waltzer, Assistant Director for Educational Technology, Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute, Baruch College

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1:00-2:00PM:

What’s Price Got To Do with It? Open Access Course Materials at CUNY

Despite dramatic changes in how educational content is created and accessed, textbook publishers appear reluctant to change their existing pricing models. Recent years have seen the proliferation of Open Access (OA) curricular materials, yet while a clear demand exists for these materials from budget-constrained students and colleges, wide adoption has lagged. How might CUNY create its own infrastructure to coordinate and share the intellectual and pedagogical OA resources that exist at various colleges?

Susan Amper, Professor, English, Bronx Community College
Mark McBeth, Associate Professor, English, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Graduate Center
Philip A. Pecorino, Professor, Philosophy, Queensborough Community College and School of Professional Studies
Johannah Rodgers, Assistant Professor, English, New York City College of Technology
Maura A. Smale, Associate Professor, Library, New York City College of Technology

Photo by Matt Katzenberger

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OA Week Wrap Up: Double Feature @ the Grad Center

To finish off Open Access Week @ CUNY we had a fantastic, well-attended day of presentation and conversation at the Graduate Center on October 26th. If you couldn’t make it, please feel free to browse through the presentations and handouts below!

We started off the morning with an Authors’ Rights Workshop (and great discussion!) led by Stephen Francoeur (Library, Baruch), Ann Matsuuchi (Library, LaGuardia), and Maura Smale (Library, City Tech). Here’s the presentation and handout from that session.

Our second morning session was a terrific panel on Progress Toward a CUNY Institutional Repository, with Jill Cirasella (Library, Brooklyn), Stephen Klein (Library, Grad Center), and Polly Thistlethwaite (Library, Grad Center). Here’s the presentation from that panel.

After breaking for lunch, we returned to hear two afternoon sessions on open educational materials. First we learned about Temple University Library’s Ditch That Textbook Project from Kristina Baumli (English, Temple University). Then we pivoted to hear about open access textbooks and educational materials from four CUNY faculty:

Susan Amper (English, Bronx)
James DiGiovanna (Philosophy, John Jay)
Philip Pecorino (Philosophy, Queensborough and SPS)
Michael Waldman (Library, Baruch)

Many thanks to those who presented and attended!

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OA Week Wrap-up: John Jay and City Tech

We’re finally recovered from Open Access Week and are happy to share the great materials from events that happened across CUNY that week!

On October 22nd and 25th, John Jay College hosted an Authors’ Rights Workshop. Check out their presentation and handout, and peruse the article from Anthropology News about the American Anthropological Association’s publishing program that was discussed. There was also a great Open Access Week display at the library! (see photo at left)

City Tech also hosted an Authors’ Rights Workshop on October 23rd, and you can check out the presentation and handout on the library’s blog.