EOS: New worldwide organization for universities promoting open access

[Stevan Harnad]

** Cross-Posted **

Professor Bernard Rentier, Rector of the University of Liège, in
collaboration with Dr. Alma Swan of Key Perspectives and University of
Southampton, has just launched EOS (Enabling Open Scholarship):

What is Enabling Open Scholarship (EOS)?
http://www.openscholarship.org/

Enabling Open Scholarship (EOS) is a membership organisation for
universities and research institutions. The organisation is a forum
for raising and discussing issues around the mission of modern
universities, particularly with regard to the creation, dissemination
and preservation of research findings.

The context for the establishment of the EOS forum has been:

• the findings of the ‘Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution
of Scientific Publications Markets in Europe’ (European  Commission,
DG Research, project report, January 2006)
http://www.openscholarship.org/jcms/j_6/home

• the subsequent major conference in Brussels in February 2007 held
jointly by the European Commission’s DG Research and DG Information
and Media, ‘Scientific Publishing in the Digital Age’
http://bit.ly/101yNF

• the outstanding success of the research community’s petition on Open
Access to Scientific Information to the European Commissioner for
Research (summary of petition and its presentation)
http://www.ec-petition.eu/

• the recommendations on Open Access of the European Research Advisory
Board (EURAB)
http://bit.ly/hBQ1D

• the mandatory policy on Open Access to research it funds under the
Seventh Framework Programme from the European Research Council
http://bit.ly/LLCku

• the European University Association recommendations on Open Access
adopted by the EUA Council in March 2008
http://bit.ly/kuVKB

Our first meeting was held at the University of Liege on 18 October
2007 (The Liege Convention). http://recteur.blogs.ulg.ac.be/?p=151
We reconvened at the University of Southampton on 4 April 2008 during
the Open Repositories 08 (OR08) conference.
http://or08.ecs.soton.ac.uk/euro.html
Our next general meeting will be in Geneva in June 2009.

This website will report on developments of relevance to the mission
of Enabling Open Scholarship and will provide members with news and
details of forthcoming meetings, briefings and discussion sessions.

Anyone who is interested in enrolling their institution as a member,
or in attending an EOS meeting or briefing session, is invited to
email the convenor of the group, Dr Alma Swan (contact details).
http://www.openscholarship.org/jcms/c_5416/contact