Walking the Walk: A Path to Support Open Access Publishing [Poster]

Scholarly communication is the lifeblood of universities. Threats to the free flow of research and ideas continue to jeopardize the entire academy; however administrators, scholars, and librarians are now pursuing options to reclaim research produced in the academy's domain. One way to do this is with Open Access. Open Access has been a topic of interest and intense depabe for academic librarians. Ways to create awareness about and encourage publication in Open Access journals have been discussed at library conferences for the better part of the decade. But what is the next step? What happens when the library's promotion pays off and teaching faculty seek support for their open access endeavors? This poster describes the steps taken to create a pilot program for an open access support fund at a Research I university. The program is one way to "walk the walk" of open access promotion by offering to subsidize costs associated with some open access publications. The poster includes practical information and tips such as: steps that can be taken to create a similar program; library and academic positions which may be involved; and opportunities and barriers that exist. Program documents, statistics and general impressions are provided.