Sydney Open Textbooks: A Pilot

Open book to as symbol for Open Access Week

Are you passionate about open access and making education more affordable for your students? Would you like to publish an open textbook for your unit of study?

We are looking for expressions of interest from academics to participate in a pilot project that aims to publish an open textbook to support any discipline taught at the University of Sydney at undergraduate or postgraduate level.

How to get involved?

If you are interested in publishing an open textbook for your course, please submit a one-page proposal by 1 December 2017. We are particularly interested in proposals for original and previously unpublished projects with multidisciplinary appeal that would lend themselves to digital delivery and contain multimedia content.

Your submission should include the following:

  • Your contact details
  • Textbook title
  • Unit of study name and student enrolment numbers
  • Description of contents, including any multimedia
  • Table of contents with brief chapter descriptions
  • Estimated length of manuscript and delivery timeline.

To submit a proposal, and if you would like more information or have any further questions, please contact Agata Mrva-Montoya, Publishing Manager, Sydney University Press on 02 9114 1456 or agata.mrva-montoya@sydney.edu.au

Sydney University Press was re-established in 2005 as an initiative of the University of Sydney Library and is a not-for-profit scholarly publisher.

It’s all about the orange… Open Access Week 2017

Open Access badges in a bow on the table. The one in the middle says:

Join us for a series of events (with tea, coffee and cakes) celebrating Open Access Week 2017 at the University of Sydney Library!

What’s on?

We are holding talks, drop-in sessions and social events from 23 to 27 October celebrating open access good news stories at Sydney University, and also looking at the ways that open access impacts research, education and publishing.

We have lined up a number of speakers to discuss copyright, open access publishing, open data and open education. At the drop-in sessions you can ask for advice and set up your ORCID profile. We will also be holding an ‘orange’ themed morning tea! So dig out some orange clothing and join in.

Open in order to…

The theme for this year’s 10th International Open Access Week “Open in order to…” focuses on the benefits of open access for scholarship, education, policy and practice. So, what does “Open in order to…” conjure up in your mind? Why not come along to an event or two during Open Access Week and learn what we’re “Open to…

Date/Time/Location Event Presenters
Monday 23 Oct

10am–11am.

Fisher Library, Seminar Room 218

OA Good News Stories

Register for this event

Opening Access to Medicines – how open access can make drugs more accessible and how undergraduates and high school students can be involved in their discovery

Dr Kieron Rooney (Health Sciences) and Dr Alice Williamson (Science)
Monday 23 Oct

2pm–3pm

Fisher Library, Seminar Room 218

OA Good News Stories

Register for this event

Open-access publishing and preprint servers are growing in popularity among biologists. I will provide an overview of the different preprint servers that are available for the biological sciences, and the costs and options for open-access publishing for different types of research papers.

Prof. Simon Ho (Science) and

Dr Peter John Chen (Political Science)

Tuesday 24 Oct

10am–11am

Fisher Library, Exhibition Space, level 2

Copyright and Open Access

Register for this event

Kate and Brett will cover open access copyright considerations, Sydney’s Open Access Policy and ARC open access requirements.

Kate Stanton and Brett McCarthy (The University of Sydney Library)
Tuesday 24 Oct

2pm–3pm

Fisher Library, Exhibition Space, Level 2

OA Book Publishing: How, Why and Why Not?

Register for this event

Is an open access model right for your next book? Join us to explore the pros and cons of OA book publishing, and to find out what questions authors should ask when choosing a publishing path for their work.

Prof. Nick Enfield (Linguistics)

Dr Agata Mrva-Montoya and Denise O’Dea (Sydney University Press)

Tuesday 24 Oct

12pm

Online

Data Publication: The Essentials

Register for this event

Jennifer McLean and Ryan Stoker (The University of Sydney Library)
Wednesday 25 Oct

12.15–12.45pm

Abercrombie Building Case Study Lecture Theatre 1050

Quick Bite: Thesis including Publication

Register for this event

Phillippa Bourke (The University of Sydney Library) and Charles Foster, PhD Candidate (Science)
Wednesday 25 Oct

3pm–5pm

Fisher Library, Seminar Room 218

Open Access Drop-in Session

Register for this event

Repository, Data and Copyright teams will be waiting to answer any OA questions
Thursday 26 Oct

10am–11am

Fisher Library, Exhibition Space, Level 2

Using Copyright Material & MOOCs

Register for this event

This talk covers the basics of copyright, tips on how to use creative commons material  and introduces the Sydney MOOCs Program and copyright compliance.

Brett McCarthy (The University of Sydney Library)
Thursday 26 Oct

12.15-12.45pm

Abercrombie Building Case Study Lecture Theatre 1070

Quick Bite: Converting your Thesis into a Book

Register for this event

Dr Minglu Chen (Department of Government and International Relations) and Kate Stanton (The University of Sydney Library)
Thursday 26 Oct

3pm–4pm

Fisher Library, Room 210 and 213

ORCID Drop-in Session

Register for this event

Anne Goodfellow (The University of Sydney Library)
Friday 27 Oct

10am–11.30am

Fisher Library, Seminar Room

Open Access Week Social! It’s All About the Orange …

Register for this event

Come and enjoy tea and cake and wear something orange.
Friday 27 Oct

2pm–3pm

Fisher Library, Seminar Room 218

The Future of OA

Register for this event

Repository Team (The University of Sydney Library)

Quick Bites: Open-everything? Transparency in peer review

Hot on the heels of our last offering on external engagement in the humanities, arts and social sciences comes this Quick Bite focused on the concept of transparency in peer review. Register below to secure your place and keep your eyes peeled for upcoming Quick Bites throughout Semester 2…

Open-everything? Transparency in peer review

Academic publishing is changing, and fast. In a landscape of increasingly open scholarship, open peer review is gaining momentum – inviting questions about what transparency actually means and how we can achieve it.

Coinciding with Peer Review Week, this Quick Bite talk will look at emerging trends in peer review, and offer guidance in evaluating journal editorial guidelines and processes.

Hosted by the University Library in collaboration with the DVC Research Portfolio, this interdisciplinary event is primarily targeted at HDR students and ECRs, although all academic and professional staff are invited to attend.

 

Presenters: Edward Luca, Academic Liaison Librarian, University Library
Muriel Swijghuisen Reigersberg, Research Development Manager (Strategy), DVC Research Portfolio
When:  Wednesday 20 September, 12:15pm-12:45pm
Where: New Law School Annex -Seminar Room 444
Register: http://usyd.libcal.com/event/3516409

 

This presentation will be recorded. Slides will be uploaded to the Library’s Quick Bites You Tube playlist approximately one week after the event.

Lunchtime ‘quick bites’ talks

Back by popular demand, the University Library will be offering a new program of ‘quick bite’ talks throughout October. These are chiefly targeted at Higher Degree Research students and Early Career Researchers, although all researchers and research support staff are invited to attend!

We welcome attendance in person and via video link (stay tuned for details). All talks will be recorded and uploaded to the University of Sydney Library’s You Tube Channel.

Increase your research impact: Extend your reach beyond the academy

What does impact mean in the context of university research? This session explores the shift from output to impact, identifies some key indicators of research impact, and considers strategies for increasing your impact outside academia.

Date: Friday, 7 October

Time: 12:15pm – 12:45pm

Location: Carslaw Lecture Room 351

 

Register

Smart social media: Bring your networking A-game to academic work

Twitter, and LinkedIn, and Research Gate – oh my! Are you being strategic in your use of social media to promote yourself and your research? This session looks at strategic approaches to social media, and provides some helpful tips for maximising your presence on networks.

Date: Wednesday, 12 October

Time: 12:15pm – 12:45pm

Location: Carslaw Lecture Room 351

 

Register

Building your research profile: What’s in a name? Get credit for your research from the outset

If you’re a debutante on the research scene, it’s crucial that your research identity is well-maintained. This session will provide an overview of the different types of researcher profiles out there, and introduce you to ORCID IDs.

Date: Friday, 14 October

Time: 12:15pm – 12:45pm

Location: Carslaw Lecture Room 351

 

Register

Copyright and your thesis: Understand Intellectual Property policy and the legal use of third party material

Who owns the copyright on your thesis? How can you use third-party material legally and ethically? What are the copyright implications of thesis-by-publication? Sometimes copyright issues can seem like a headache – so this session is designed to make them much easier to understand.

Date: Friday, 21 October

Time: 12:15pm – 12:45pm

Location: Carslaw Lecture Room 351

 

Register

Authors’ rights and Open Access: Don’t just click ‘agree’ – know what you’re signing!

Don’t fall prey to common publishing pitfalls – know what to consider when signing publisher contracts and understand how Open Access publishing maximises exposure to your research.

Date: Wednesday, 26 October

Time: 10:40am – 11:10am

Location: Seminar Room (218), Fisher Library

 

Register

Open Educational Resources: Find out about learning material for use in the public domain

A quick bite that would appeal to educators! Heard of the term ‘OER’, but unsure what it means? Let us introduce you to the world of Open Educational Resources! This session will explain how to embed learning material from the public domain in your teaching.

Date: Friday, 28 October

Time: 12:15pm – 12:45pm

Location: Carslaw Lecture Room 351

 

Register

Translate your research for industry: Fast track the process of finding industry collaborators

We all know that research doesn’t exist in isolation – it has real-world implications. But have you considered how to pitch your research so that it can be understood by people outside of academia? This session will provide you with some tips and tricks for doing just that!

Date: Monday, 31 October

Time: 12:15pm – 12:45pm

Location: Carslaw Lecture Room 351

 

Register

 

Please direct all enquiries to Pat Norman: pat.norman@sydney.edu.au

Sharing made easy: a new sidebar for the Sydney eScholarship Repository

15/06/2016flyout

Did you know that you can now easily share articles from the Sydney eScholarship Repository?

By Gary Browne

Recently, our Library IT team has added a social sharing widget, using AddThis, to the repository of open access articles produced by researchers from the University of Sydney. The widget is implemented as a flyout sidebar on the left side of all the pages of the repository. So now, you can easily share the home page, community or collection pages and, of course, individual articles. In this way, you can effectively disseminate links to increase exposure of your work.

The sidebar is setup to display five social media options for sharing, which will vary depending on recent user behaviour. The sixth “plus” button opens a window with many more social media sharing options. The visible buttons will display number of shares for a specific page. But that’s not all. Through AddThis we can now generate reports of sharing activity, with graphs of top services, top content and more. So wait no longer and start sharing!

Open Access – 4 Common Myths Dispelled

http://openaccess.be/2012/10/24/yes-i-told-you-an-open-access-cartoon/
“Yes I told you” Patrick Hochstenbach (author)

By Charlotte Jarabak

1. OA journals are of poorer quality than traditional journals

Majority of OA journals are peer reviewed and have high impact factors. In fact, there are 1,313 OA journals indexed in Web of Science and 4,240 OA journals in Scopus. The highest Impact Factor of OA journal in WOS “Living Reviews in Relativity” is 19.25.

2. OA journals charge publication fees

Whilst predatory publishers are a problem, most OA journals charge no fees.

3. My research is on my website – so I don’t need to put it in a repository

Publishing in an OA journal or repository makes your work much easier to find, resulting in increased citation rates.

4. Publishing in a conventional journal does not allow open access

An increasing number of traditional journals now give permissions to publish in OA publications. You can check publisher’s position in Sherpa RoMEO database of publisher copyright policies.

 

Need more information or support?

Please contact your Academic Liaison Librarian:

http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/contacts/subjectcontacts.html

#oaweek