Anna Wałek, Kamila Kokot-Kanikuła

Untying a tight knot - Database of Copyright and Open Access Self-Archiving Policies of Polish Scientific Journals

Open-Access-Tage 2020

September 15-17, 2020, Bielefeld online

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4018894

About: Only 79 publishers from Poland and only 319 policies of Polish journals are registered in the Sherpa/RoMEO database which shows copyright and Open Access self-archiving policies. At the same time, there are over 4,500 journals published in Poland. Not only do Polish authors have problems finding information about the policies of the other journals. This is often a big challenge for foreign authors. Lack of information or difficulty in accessing it also present problems for librarians who manage institutional repositories. Hence the idea of creating Database of Copyright and Open Access Self-Archiving Policies of Polish Scientific Journals which is to serve as a tool for authors and librarians. The database is also to supply the Sherpa/RoMEO database with current data.

Since the 2016 Gdańsk University of Technology implements a project called Multidisciplinary Open System Transferring Knowledge - the Bridge of Knowledge (pol. MOST Wiedzy). An essential part of the platform is the open repository of scientific publications, currently being developed towards a research data repository, as a part of the second stage of the project called The Bridge of Data. As part of the project, additional services are also created to support the sharing of scientific resources. The result of this project is a platform of the same name, whose aim is to provide free access to the resources created and gathered at the University. The objective of the platform is to promote the research and educational potential of the University widely. The platform is also available to other universities in the region of Pomerania, to create shared scientific resources.

Kamila Kokot-Kanikuła, Natalia Wysmyk

Academic library and NGOs alliance – successful partnership for open educational resources

Open Science FAIR 

September 25-27, 2023, Madrid

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8397914

Academic libraries are actively promoting open educational resources to researchers and students. However, OERs offer resources and tools that are useful to many user groups that are not necessarily related to science or faculty.
To counteract educational exclusion Gdansk University of Technology Library partnered with non-governmental organizations that promote digital cultural heritage, digital knowledge society and support the professional path of librarians in Poland on a daily basis. The partnership included the following institutions: City Culture Institute in Gdansk, an organization working among the local community, which has a series of events promoting the region's cultural heritage and provides training for cultural, information and science professionals. At the national level, there are two more institutions: Digital Center Poland, whose main tasks include broad promotion of digital skills, conscious and legal use of Internet resources, and the Polish Librarians' Association, which brings together employees of different types of libraries. Colaborating with NGOs, librarians shared with their knowledge, experience and teaching skills. Whereas NGOs provided funds, materials and platforms through which it was possible to organize and promote events.
The aim of this collaboration was:
- to expand the audience that can benefit from OER
- knowing the needs of different groups of users.
- creating various offer to potential users.
 This goals were in line with those announced in the 2019 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Education Resources, particularly related to the 3rd area of action "Encouraging effective, inclusive and equitable access to quality OER".
The result of cooperation was:
- open webinars for the local community on OER and opportunities for their reuse, organized in 2021 together with the City Culture Institute in Gdansk.
- a publication for librarians published in 2022 containing a set of open educational tools and materials, including scenarios for cultural and scientific events, meetings activating the most excluded social groups, such as seniors or national minorities. The publication is available in both digital and analog versions with additional QR codes linking to the cited educational tools and resources. The project was led by Digital Center Poland, while Gdansk University of Technology Library was invited to cooperate as an institutional partner.
- a survey, which was conducted in 2022 among librarians working in public libraries (municipal and provincial) in Pomerania, on the initiative of the Gdansk University of Technology Library in cooperation with the Polish Librarians' Association - Pomerania Region Division. The survey was designed to determine the degree of familiarity with OER among librarians and the training needs of the community. On the basis of the responses, training courses are currently being designed. Training sessions among librarians are planned for late 2023 and early 2024.
The poster is designed to showcase the activities undertaken, their impact and benefits to society and should give a boost to other libraries to come into a partnership with NGOs, because with the influence of NGOs, libraries can gain a wider audience and new ways of promoting.

Kamila Kokot-Kanikuła, Agnieszka Szymik

Insight the database for Polish scientific journals' copyright and open access policies – its 5-year story

LIBER Conference

July 3-5, 2024, Limassol

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12699699

The poster concerns the initiative undertaken by Gdańsk University of Technology Library on behalf of supporting the movement and premise of Open Science. Our work aims to present the database concerning the publishing policies of Polish scientific journals. The database gathers and analyses information about publishing policies and provides free access to the information about authors' rights in particular journals. The database provides a coherent framework and guide for all authors by presenting adequate information on where to publish scientific articles and how to make them open to the public. The profile of each Polish journal consists of the most essential information, such as publishing model, journal metrics, type of licence, and self-archiving conditions. All presented data meet the new requirements set out by the most important funding institutions in Poland (e.g. National Science Centre, Ministry of Science and Higher Education).

However, the main aim of our poster is to demonstrate the benefits of creating and using a database for Polish scientific journals' copyright and open access policies for different stakeholders, such as publishers, editors, librarians, and researchers. After 5 years of activity, the database is actively used by authors who want to select the most suitable journal for publication of an article or go through the green open access route because the database contains verified data regarding publishing practices. It also helps librarians in supporting researchers with relevant information from various sources. For publishers and editors, the database becomes a platform which easily presents their journals in a broader context. 

Moreover, the poster focuses on what we have achieved during 2019-2024 - our most significant challenges and the project milestones. The need for more information on publishing practices was a starting point for our initiative. Before we launched the database, only 79 publishers from Poland and 319 journal policies were registered in the Sherpa/RoMEO. At the same time, in contrast, almost 3000 scientific journals have been published in Poland. Currently, approximately 1700 journals are indexed in our database, meaning all those titles have comprehensive and verified publishing policy data. The number of registered journals was achieved thanks to the involvement of the academic community, i.e., both the librarians setting up the database and the journal editors who saw the need to organise the publishing rules and present them in an open way.