[OAI-eprints] Press Release: University of Southampton to provide open access to academic research online

[Stevan Harnad]

        ** Apologies for Cross-Posting **

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 16:20:45 -0000
From: Lewis J.K. <J.K.Lewis at soton.ac.uk>
Subject: University of Southampton to provide free access to academic
    research online

Ref:	04/199					15 December 2004

The University of Southampton is to make all its academic and scientific
research output freely available.

A decision by the University to provide core funding for its
Institutional Repository establishes it as a central part of its research
infrastructure, marking a new era for Open Access to academic research
in the UK.

Until now, the databases used by universities to collect and disseminate
their research output have been funded on an experimental basis by JISC
(the Joint Information Systems Committee). The University of Southampton
is the first in the UK to announce that it is transitioning its repository
from the status of an experiment to an integral part of the research
infrastructure of the institution.

'This decision by the University marks a real milestone in the Open Access
initiative,' says Dr Leslie Carr. 'At Southampton we have a significant
headstart since we created the EPrints software that is used by many UK
universities, but we expect and indeed hope that others will soon give
similar status to their own archives.' Dr Carr is Technical Director of
the open source EPrints.org software, which is now used by around 150
repositories worldwide.

Southampton established its repository (http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/) in
2002 as part of the JISC TARDis project (Targeting Academic Research for
Deposit and Disclosure), to explore issues surrounding the Open Access
paradigm. The repository provides a publications database with full text,
multimedia and research data.

'We see our Institutional Repository as a key tool for the stewardship
of the University's digital research assets,' said Professor Paul Curran,
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University. 'It will provide greater access
to our research, as well as offering a valuable mechanism for reporting
and recording it.

'The University has been committed to Open Access for many years. The
fact that we are now supporting it with core funding is another tangible
step towards its full achievement.'

The Southampton repository will now become a service of the University
Library in partnership with the University's Information Systems
Services and its School of Electronics and Computer Science (who host
the JISC-funded software development team).

Acknowledging the success of the partnership between the Library,
Information Systems Services and the Schools, the Librarian, Dr Mark
Brown, said: 'Collaboration between services and academic groups has
been the key element in the success of the project. The Institutional
Repository will now become an integral part of the electronic library
service at Southampton.'

Ends
Notes for Editors:
1. For further information on E-prints, Open Access and the digital
libraries project, see http://www.eprints.org, for further information
on the Southampton repository, see http://eprints.soton.ac.uk

2. Professor Stevan Harnad, regarded by many as the founder of the
Open Access movement, has been successfully leading the debate from the
University's School of Electronics and Computer Science over a number
of years, and has argued forcefully for its adoption by the academic
community worldwide. The School of Electronics and Computer Science
already has the most populated online institutional archive in the UK.

3. The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research
institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and
scholarship. The University has over 20,000 students and over 5000
staff. Its annual turnover is in the region of £270 million.

For further information: Dr Mark Brown, Librarian, University of
Southampton (tel.023 8059 2677; email mlb at soton.ac.uk)

Dr Les Carr, School of Electronics and Computer Science (tel.023 8059 4479)

Joyce Lewis, Communications Manager, School of Electronics and Computer
Science (tel.023 8059 5453, email j.k.lewis at ecs.soton.ac.uk)

-------------------------------------
Sarah Watts
Media Relations Manager
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton SO17 1BJ
Tel. +44(0)23 8059 3807
Email S.A.Watts at soton.ac.uk