Access: Open Resources, Open Stacks
Because we were not able to publish a winter edition of the Forum, I am extending the previous call for submissions in conjunction with a new topic for a spring issue with the theme of Access: Open Resources and Open Stacks.
Open Resources
The 2010 Provost’s Conference affirmed DU’s commitment to open educational resources (OER), and promoting OER is one of the Faculty Senate’s agenda priorities for 2010-2011. We invite articles from faculty across campus about open access scholarship and open educational resources. Do you publish your research in open access forums? Why or why not? What are the benefits and challenges of open access and/or digital scholarship in your field? What types of open resources do you use in your classes and how do you deliver course content to students? How can DU and the Faculty Senate work toward greater acceptance of and innovation in open access scholarship and pedagogy?
Open Stacks
As we look forward to the library renovation scheduled to begin this summer, there has been some debate about plans for the space, particularly about the decision to remove 80% of the library’s collections to offsite storage. Based on faculty and student response to the plan, the administration will be holding discussions to determine how to configure the remaining collections and will revise the percentage of books available on site if needed. We invite faculty articles in response to this plan and other aspects of the library renovation. There will, no doubt, be lively discussion of the decision process, which should be informed by last year's discussion of shared governance (see Faculty Forum XXIV.2-3). But we would also like to hear about how you and your students use the library and what features are most important to you. How will planned renovations and reduction of open stacks affect your scholarship and teaching? How should an academic library balance demands for access to traditional text formats and digital formats? What are you most looking forward to about the new Academic Commons?
Please send queries, abstracts, or article drafts to Jennifer Campbell (Jennifer. Campbell@du.edu). The new blog format for the faculty forum allows us to publish articles as they come in, rather than only sharing submissions on a quarterly basis.
