SPARC Events
Explore SPARC's upcoming events below. Click here to view past events SPARC has hosted.
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August 06: OA 101 Session 1: OA Foundations
3pm ET / 12pm PT · Open AccessOpen Access (OA) is a well-established mode of distributing scholarly research that impacts academic libraries and librarians at every level. We all have a role to play in this rapidly evolving landscape. If you’re feeling unclear on foundational concepts, or want a refresher, this session is for you. We’ll cover the basics, including definitions, the development and aspirations of the OA movement, approaches, challenges, and what basic outreach might look like, as well as entry level resources for learning more. Zero previous experience is expected or required. This session is the anchor of a three-part series which also includes OA Case Studies and Emerging Issues in OA.
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August 20: OA 101 Session 2: OA Case Studies
3pm ET / 12pm PT · Open AccessThis session will deepen your understanding of Open Access by providing a set of specific case studies. We will discuss three major areas of work: supporting OA through licensing agreements and policies, empowering scholars with new literacies, and supporting access and discovery through repositories. Each area will be grounded in the work of specific institutions which run the gamut from large public R1s to smaller regional institutions. We will also invite you to share case studies from your own institution and those that inspire you. We hope you will leave with a clearer sense of what Open Access looks like on the ground and a set of compelling models for doing the work at a diverse set of institutions, including your own.
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September 10: OA 101 Session 3: Emerging Issues in OA
3pm ET / 12pm PT · Open AccessAs demonstrated in our earlier sessions, Open Access (OA) has gained traction over the last three decades, and its principles and practices are widely applied across scholarly disciplines. That application has surfaced a number of issues that have complicated the adoption of OA—particularly its effectiveness in advancing equity. As OA has evolved, so have the possible barriers to adoption and dilemmas in whose interests are prioritized. This session will explore some of the ways in which the aspirations and benefits of OA are complicated by the legal, technical, and sociocultural context in which we work.