[eIFLoa] Fwd: [SOAF] Student coalition for Open Access solidifies, now represents over 5 million students internationally

[Iryna Kuchma]

[forwarding from Jennifer McLennan via SPARC Open Access Forum]
For immediate release
October 15, 2009

For more information, contact:
Nick Shockey
(202) 296-2296 ext. 116
nick [at] arl [dot] org

STUDENT COALITION FOR OPEN ACCESS SOLIDIFIES,
NOW REPRESENTS OVER 5 MILLION STUDENTS INTERNATIONALLY

Washington DC – The student Right to Research Coalition, a group of
national, international, and local student associations that advocate for
governments, universities, and researchers to adopt Open Access practices,
has now grown to include some of the most prominent student organizations
from the United States and across the world. The recent addition of 8 new
organizations brings the number of students represented by the coalition to
over 5 million, demonstrating the broad, passionate support Open Access
enjoys from the student community.

Additions to the coalition since its launch this summer include: the United
States Student Association (USSA), the National Association of
Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS), the National Graduate Council of the
Canadian Federation of Students, the International Association of Political
Science Students, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Graduate Student
Council, the University of Minnesota Graduate and Professional Student
Assembly, the University of Nebraska - Lincoln Graduate Student Association,
and the Student Government Association of St. Olaf College.

“Our core mission is to protect and enhance students’ access to education,"
said Angela Peoples, USSA's Legislative Director, noting her organization’s
motivation for joining the coalition.  "We believe Open Access plays a
crucial role in ensuring that all students have access to the academic
research on which their education depends.”

The United States Student Association, the largest American student
organization, is already taking steps to tap its vast network of student
activists for this important cause.  Likewise, the National Association of
Graduate-Professional Students, the premier American graduate student
advocacy organization, has made Open Access a top legislative priority and
recently lobbied over two-dozen Congressional offices in support of the
Federal Research Public Access Act.

Julia Mortyakova, NAGPS president, said, “as an organization representing
students actively involved in contributing to research, NAGPS strongly
supports Open Access. We believe in enhancing the dissemination of knowledge
in order to maximize the access, usage, and impact of the latest research.”

The addition of international student groups reflects the global nature of
the wider Open Access movement. And, the growing group of student
governments that view ensuring access to research as part of their core
mission has resulted in increased activity on college and university
campuses.

“The purpose of research is wide dissemination and cultivation of knowledge.
With increasing journal subscription costs and decreasing library budgets,
we, as users and producers of scientific knowledge, are taking a stand to
support Open Access to scholarly research.  As a student government
concerned both locally and globally, we feel this is not only a
responsibility to our own constituency, but also to researchers and human
advancement worldwide,” said Kevin McComber, Vice President of MIT’s
Graduate Student Council.

"The incredible growth of the student interest in Open Access, especially
the depth of their commitment to advocacy, sends a strong signal that this
movement is here to stay," commented Heather Joseph, Executive Director of
SPARC. "We're looking forward to the energy, creativity, and passion that
these groups will surely bring to ensuring that scholarly research is
accessible to all."

Student organizations are invited to join the coalition at
http://www.righttoresearch.org/endorse.

For more information, visit the coalition’s Web site at
http://www.righttoresearch.org.

#

SPARC
SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), with SPARC
Europe and SPARC Japan, is an international alliance of more than 800
academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of
scholarly communication. SPARC has worked collaboratively with students to
introduce the Right to Research campaign, the Open Students Blog, and the
international Open Access Week (Oct. 19 – 23, 2009). SPARC is on the Web at
http://www.arl.org/sparc.



-------------------------------------
Jennifer McLennan
Director of Communications
SPARC
jennifer at arl.org
(202) 296-2296 x121
Fax: (202) 872-0884
*******************************
OPEN ACCESS WEEK 2009
October 19 - 23
www.openaccessweek.org
*******************************
http://www.arl.org/sparc





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