Call to action: Sign the Berlin Declaration

North American Signatories to date (11/9/11)

Alliance for Information Science and Technology Innovation
Association of College and Research Libraries
Association of Research Libraries
Boston Library Consortium
Canadian Association of Research Libraries
Canadian Library Association
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Library and Archives
Concordia University
Duke University
Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library
Grand Valley State University
Harvard University
Kansas State University
Marine Biological Laboratory
Oberlin College
Open Society Institute
Oregon State University
Purdue University
Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)
Science Commons
The Oberlin Group: A Consortium of Liberal Arts College Libraries
Tulane University
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Université du Québec à Montréal
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Connecticut
University of Kansas
University of New Mexico
University of Oregon
University of Utah
Utah State University
Washington University in St. Louis
Wesleyan University
Wikimedia Foundation Inc.


 

 

 

The next installment of the prestigious, international Berlin Open Access Conference Series is set to take place in North America for the first time this November. Hosted annually since 2003, the conference series convenes leaders in the science, humanities, research, funding and policy communities around the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and the Humanities. Over 300 leading international research, scientific, and cultural institutions from around the world have signed the declaration. Despite the tremendous progress we’ve had in advancing Open Access in recent years, you’ll notice that the number of signatures from U.S. and Canadian institutions has remained quite small.

 

In anticipation of the meeting, please join us in recruiting signatures to the declaration from the leaders of your institutions and of the organizations to which you belong. University and college presidents, chancellors, or provosts, as well as the directors of museums, archives, and non-profit organizations, are encouraged to sign the declaration before the Berlin 9 Meeting convenes on November 9th, 2011. The goal is to clearly demonstrate strong support for the declaration in conjunction with the conference, which research funders, policymakers, and other influential communities are expected to attend in force.

The Declaration (available at http://oa.mpg.de/lang/en-uk/berlin-prozess/berliner-erklarung) builds on the significant progress of the Budapest Open Access Initiative, calling for Open Access to knowledge in the humanities as well as in the sciences. It also moves beyond the scope of primary literature, indicating, “open access contributions include original scientific research results, raw data and metadata, source materials, digital representations of pictorial and graphical materials and scholarly multimedia material.” Signatories commit to the principle of Open Access as well as to pursuing solutions that advance the Internet “as an emerging functional medium for distributing knowledge.” 

As ever, we have prepared background and talking points for your use in advancing these conversations. They are online at http://www.berlin9.org/about/sign. The Berlin 9 Web site also features a host of resources including an excellent roadmap painted by the University of Kansas plus slides and audio from recent events. 

To express your institution’s support for the principles of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and the Humanities, simply email praesident@gv.mpg.de.

Given the robust community awareness and support for Open Access and the growing level of faculty engagement on this side of the Atlantic, the time is ripe for U.S. and Canadian institutions to be more fully represented on this important and visible document. Please join us.


Save the Date

November 9-10, 2011 - Washington, DC - Pre-and Post-Conferences planned

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Contacts

Jennifer McLennan

SPARC
(202) 296-2296 ext. 121
jennifer [at] arl [dot] org
Washington, DC


Christoph Bruch

The Max Planck Society
+ 49 (30) 84 13 37 27
bruch [at] mpdl [dot] mpg [dot] de
Berlin


Andrea Early

Marine Biological Laboratory
(508) 289-7652
aearly [at] mbl [dot] edu
Woods Hole, ME