Knowledge Unlatched Pilot is given Department for Employment and Learning backing
Knowledge Unlatched (KU) is pleased to announce that the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) has agreed to make a grant of up to £550 to universities in Northern Ireland who participate in the KU Pilot.
This grant contribution will be used to reduce the participation fee paid by university libraries in Northern Ireland by 50%.
Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry said: “We are pleased to support this new and timely model. It is essential that the Department supports innovation in scholarly communication as part of our wider aim to maximise the dissemination of publicly funded research. This project is a good example of how we might move forward to sustainable academic publishing and open access.”
The financial backing from DEL will enable university libraries in Northern Ireland to secure the benefits of participating in the KU Pilot. Full details of how to pledge can be viewed on the Jisc Collections website where universities are invited to sign up.
Frances Pinter, Executive Director of KU, added: “We’re delighted to see this support coming from Northern Ireland with DELNI enabling university libraries to participate in facilitating open access for books.”
This grant will be available to higher education institutions in Northern Ireland who sign up to the KU Pilot Collection. The deadline for signing up is 28 February 2014.
Notes to editors:
1. The Department for Employment and Learning aims to promote learning and skills, to prepare people for work and to support the economy. Further information on Department and its programmes can be found at: http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/skills-to-succeed or http://www.delni.gov.uk/
2. Jisc Collections supports the procurement of digital content for education and research in the UK. Jisc is managing the pledging process of the KU Pilot for UK participants.
3. Knowledge Unlatched is committed to changing the current business model for publishing to one with libraries sharing the costs of scholarly books. Knowledge Unlatched believes that by working together libraries and publishers can create a sustainable route to Open Access for scholarly books and secure long-term cost savings for their own institutions by sharing the costs of making HSS monographs available on a Creative Commons licence.
