There are many ways to get involved in the open movement!
Get Involved in an Open Project: The purpose of open is to invite collaboration and sharing of information to build new knowledge. There are lots of choices for projects in the arts, social sciences and sciences that you can contribute to with your time and know-how – here’s a few:
Check out Scientific American Citizen Science, Zooniverse or SciStarter for more ways to contribute to citizen science!
Explore Open Collections: From art to music to peer reviewed research, there are lots high-quality, curated collections of open content online. Here’s a few to get you started:
- Image and Data Resources from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- ccmixter (Creative Commons-licensed music)
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
- Digital Commons @ IWU
- Digital Commons Network (all Digital Commons sites, searchable)
Know Your Rights and Responsibilities: As an author or creator, you need to educate yourself about your rights for the content you create, but you also need to be aware of how to use others’ work ethically! Check out our Copyright Guide, and also read up on Creative Commons, which allows you to select a specific license so other authors know if and how they can use your work.
Get to Know More about Open: Check out The Ames Library’s Open Access guide online, or visit the SPARC site, or visit the Open Access Directory from Simmons College!
Questions? Contact Stephanie Davis-Kahl, Scholarly Communications Librarian or Karen Schmidt, University Librarian, at The Ames Library if you’d like to learn more!