During Open Access Week, Oct. 19-23, academic institutions around the globe explore open access – the ideal of free, full-text, immediate, online access to peer-reviewed scholarship so new ideas and information can be obtained rapidly and freely by everyone. The open access movement seeks to address the untenable situation that scholars, students and society face as the skyrocketing cost of journal subscriptions jeopardizes access to scholarly works. The movement supports removing price and permission barriers so that scholarly works can have greater impact because they will be easier to find, reach a greater audience and accelerate the pace of research. Open access embraces new forms of scholarship that a networked electronic environment are making possible, including peer-reviewed e-journals, e-books, virtual communities of scholars, thematic research collections and peer-reviewed encyclopedias.

The University Libraries will be hosting two lectures featuring nationally known scholars during its celebration of Open Access Week.

David Shulenberger will give a lecture titled "The Research University Imperative to Distribute Scholarly Materials" on Oct. 20, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Union Memorial Center Kiva Room. Shulenberger is the first vice president for academic affairs at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and his research focuses on the economics of scholarly communications and universities.

David Wiley will explore "The Broader Impacts of Openness on Education" on Oct. 23 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Room A313/314 of the Main Library. Wiley is associate professor of instructional psychology and technology at Brigham Young University, chief openness officer of Flat World Knowledge and founder of the Open High School of Utah.

For more information on the students' right to research, please visit the Open Students Web site

More information, on Open Access Week is also availble online.