Have You Already Picked Your Way to Participate in the Open Access Week?

Sometimes, the simplest idea can prove most effective!

If you don’t know the plan yet, it is to make Open Access Week bigger than ever this year. International Open Access Week lasts from October 24th through the 31st and “students are its driving force, pushing Open Access forward,” as announced at the Right to Research website by Nick Shockey, director of student advocacy at SPARC, and director manager of the Right to Research Coalition. The Coalition has just rolled out:

• Open Access Week student action guide
• 2 Student Webcasts for the Open Access Week

The webcast will feature speakers such as John Wilbanks (Open Science), Goldis Chami (University of British Columbia, Canada), and Heather Joseph (SPARC). Each webcast will have a live questions and answers session for students to delve deeper into topics, and get advice. The first webcast will be broadcast on Monday, October 24th at 8:00pm EDT (12:00am GMT). The second will be broadcast at 12:00pm EDT (4:00pm GMT) on Wednesday, October 26th. While including webcasts in your own program is a good idea, it can help you put together a panel.

The Coalition invites students to join the promotion of Open Access with both ambitious projects and simplest actions such as writing an article or raising awareness of Open Access through Facebook and Twitter (follow Right to Research on Twitter (@R2RC) and while you tweet about why Open Access matters to you, be sure to use the #OAWeek hashtag).

Sometimes, the simplest idea will prove most effective, such as dressing up a prominent statute on campus in an Open Access swag like George Mason University did last year (see the image). “The guide has all kinds of ideas, and there’s something for everyone,” Shockey says. If you’re a student or interested in working with students during this year’s Open Access Week, go to openaccessweek.org, set up a profile, and join the Student Open Access Week Organizers group. There you can post your plans for the week to inspire others, ask questions, and get help to make your Open Access Week plans as successful as possible. Remember, bigger than ever, plans!