University Libraries, Distinguished Innovator In Residence Program Promote Open Access [Virginia Tech]

After next week, students performing research may find it easier to get it published at Virginia Tech. University Libraries and the Distinguished Innovator in Residence program are preparing to celebrate their first Open Access week, starting with keynote speaker Cameron Neylon. Neylon, the director of advocacy at the Public Library of Science, is going to be speaking to students and faculty from Monday until Wednesday about biology, physics and the importance of open access information.

Brian Mathews, the associate dean for Learning and Outreach and the leader of the Distinguished Innovator in Residence program, saw that Neylon would be a good fit for the program and the libraries. "It helps us, on the innovation side ... to think about how we might contribute to foster improvements," Mathews said.

While separate from the University Libraries, Mathews recognizes the use and potential of open access resources in the scholarly field, and how it can help to make connections that might have previously been slow or completely impossible...