National Conference on Opening up by Closing the Circle: Strengthening Open Access in India

           

OPEN ACCESS WEEK 2013 

National Conference

 on

Opening up by Closing the Circle:

Strengthening Open Access in India

UNESCO, in partnership with Central Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU),  and the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) is organizing a national conference on 'Opening up by Closing the Circle: Strengthening Open Access in India' on 21 October 2013 to mark the international Open Access Week.

The first international Open Access for Research Week was celebrated on 19–23 October 2009. Hundreds of leading academic and research sites in over 30 countries marked the week in unique ways, and expressed their support for the advancement of knowledge through free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research.

Ever since, Open Access Week has been observed internationally to help raise awareness of the potential benefits of Open Access (OA) for research, and to celebrate milestones in making OA a norm in the conduct of science and scholarship.

The one-day conference will focus on the need to create an enabling environment for OA in India, to promote and upscale existing OA initiatives, and to encourage the development of new OA programmes. This can be done by'closing the circle' or linking multiple stakeholder groups, namely researchers, librarians, archivists, publishers, technologists, and policymakers, taking into account their concerns and views and providing a platform for them to advocate for a common cause. The conference will provide a unique opportunity to stakeholders to pool their insights, identify and discuss key OA-related issues in the country, and create a roadmap for strengthening OA in India.

The specific objectives of the national conference are to:

• Build awareness among the stakeholder groups and student community about the importance of OA to scientific research
• Facilitate the exchange of experiences, knowledge and best practices of various institutions in the OA space
• Contribute towards the creation of an advocacy group that will promote OA at institutional and national levels
• Analyze current trends and pitfalls with regard to the OA landscape in India
• Develop policy recommendations for the creation of a national mandate to promote OA
• Promote partnerships and collaborations among interested stakeholders

Venue:

JNU Convention Centre
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
New Mehrauli Road
New Delhi 110067

The conference is open to all Library and Information Science professionals. The academicians/researchers interested in open access may also attend. There is no registration fee. Registration is restricted to only 100 participants on "first-cum-first serve basis". Registration can be sent by email at unescojnu@gmail.com with following information:

Name………………………………..
Institution ---------------------------------
Address -----------------------
Email address----------------
Mobile No-------------------
Any contributions in Open Access--------------

The last date for registration to the conference is October 18^th 2013.

Contacts:

Ms. Iskra Panevska
Advisor for Communication and Information for South Asia
UNESCO New Delhi 
Email: i.panevska@unesco.org

Dr. Ramesh C Gaur
PGDCA, MLISc,Ph.D. Fulbright Scholar (Virginia Tech, USA)
University Librarian
Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU)
New Meharuli Road, New Delhi - 110067
Tele +91-11-26742605, 26704551
Fax : +91-11-26741603
Email: rcgaur@mail.jnu.ac.in ;rcgaur66@gmail.com
URL: www.jnu.ac.in
Brief Profile: http://www.jnu.ac.in/Library/RameshCGaur.htm

Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, PhD
Director, CEMCA 13/14 Sarv Priya Vihar
New Delhi 110016
http://www.cemca.org.in

Mr. Anirban SarmaNational Programme Officer
Communication and Information sector
UNESCO New Delhi
Email: a.sarma@unesco.org