International Open Access Week this year runs from October 21–27. We celebrate it annually at the Dalhousie Libraries, but what is Open Access Week and why should it matter to Dalhousie students and faculty?

Open Access Week provides an opportunity for academics and researchers to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation that will make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research (from the Open Access Week website). The principles of Open Access are founded on ideas of public access to publicly funded research, author rights, availability of educational resources, and affordable access to materials for educational institutions. The Dalhousie Libraries is pleased to be using these principles to bring the research activities of Dalhousie to the world.

Here are some upcoming Open Access events you can check out:

Creative Commons: What, Where, Why, & How? (webinar)
Gain a basic understanding of the different types of Creative Commons licenses and how works can be reused. Learn strategies for finding and using Creative Commons-licensed material for use in your work. Part of the Scholarship @ Dal Libraries series. To register: https://dal.libcal.com/event/3519807
Friday, October 18, 12–1 p.m.

Open Science Workshop
This hands-on, day-long workshop hosted by the Center for Open Science will show you easy, practical steps to increase the reproducibility of your work. Graduate students, postdocs, and faculty across disciplines
are welcome to attend. Please bring a laptop to this free workshop. Co-sponsored by Dalhousie Libraries and SURGE. To register: Dalhousie-openscience.eventbrite.ca
Sunday, October 20, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

Open Educational Resources: Availability, Adaptability, and Affordability
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium — digital or otherwise — that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation, and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions. Led by Grant Potter, the e-Learning Coordinator, Teaching Learning and Technology at the University of Northern British Columbia; this workshop will explore OER in higher education; discuss copyright and open licensing; explore avenues for identifying existing OER that can be remixed and reused; cover updates on Canadian initiatives; and highlight the emergence of open educational practices in teaching and learning. To register: https://tinyurl.com/CLT-OERworkshop
Friday, October 25, 1–3 p.m.

Predatory (Deceptive) Publishers (webinar)
Learn the difference between Open Access and predatory (deceptive) publishers and how to protect your work. Part of the Scholarship @ Dal Libraries series. To register: https://dal.libcal.com/event/3519797
Friday, November 8, 12–1 p.m.

Introduction to OER (webinar)
What are Open Educational Resources, why should we use them, and where can you find them? Part of the Scholarship @ Dal Libraries series. To register: https://dal.libcal.com/event/3519795
Friday, November 15, 12–1 p.m.