Partnership (new open access LIS journal)

Partnership, the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, launched its first issue this week! From the website, simply click on CURRENT to view the Table of Contents.

Among the Open Access related items:

The Welcome Message from Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Richards, outlining our philosophy of open access and high standards for rigorous peer review;

Open Access Initiatives in India - an Evaluation, by Leila Fernandez

Libre accès à la recherche scientifique : opinions et pratiques des chercheurs au Québec, by Kumiko Vézina. [This research was presented last summer in English at the Canadian Library Association - the presentation is available in E-LIS]. In brief, researchers in biology and life sciences at 6 major universities in Quebec were surveyed about their knowledge and practice of open access. Vézina's study confirms the findings of Swan and Brown, that if authors were required to self-archive, over 80% would do so willingly. One surprise of this study is that about a third of the researchers reported having already published in an open access journal.

Beyond the Patriot Act: Rulings from the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) and their Effects on Canadian Libraries, by Andrew Waller, is highly recommended, as it addresses important issues in scholarly communications, even though it is not directly on open access.

Under News and Announcements:
First International PKP Scholarly Publishing Conference
Depositing Your Work in E-LIS: the Open Archive for Library and Information Science

There are many other articles that will be of interest to librarians - from video streaming to e-learning, to professional development, to profiles of librarians and news from all the provincial library associations which form the Partnership.

Disclosure: there is a close relationship between OA Librarian and Partnership! I am the BCLA rep, and Editor, Theory / Research. Two of the OA Librarian team, Kumiko Vézina and Andrew Waller, are among the authors of the first issue. Many thanks to the Partnership of library associations across Canada for their support for this venture, and to Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Richards.

The deadline for submissions to the peer-reviewed sections (Innovations in Practice, Theory and Research, Conference Spotlight) for the Spring issue is February 28, 2007. International submissions are welcome.

This post reflects my personal opinion only and does not represent the opinions or policy of the BC Electronic Library Network or the Simon Fraser University Library.