The purpose of Open Access Week is to raise awareness of the benefits of Open Access and to create an opportunity for discussion about issues related to Open Access.
What is Open Access? It is the literature resulting from scholarly work that can be accessed online and without a payment from the reader or the reader’s institution. Open Access journal articles can still be peer-reviewed and of the same quality as articles from journals which charge a fee. Open Access resources are important as they allow for greater access by researchers around the world.
Watch this short video for a quick explanation of how Open Access works, and then check out the resources below.
Open Access at UNB
The following Open Access resources were created right here at UNB by the library’s Electronic Text Centre and are now enjoyed by researchers from around the world—for free:
- Atlantic Canada Portal – Designed to support research relating to the Atlantic Provinces of Canada
- Atlantic Canada Virtual Archives – Features collections of digitized documents and images, accompanied by learning activities and commentary, of interest to a wide range of readers.
- The Loyalist Collection – Contains primary sources from c1760-1867, focusing specifically on the American Revolution and the early years of Loyalist resettlement in British North America.
- Maliseet – Passamaquoddy Dictionary – A searchable dictionary produced by the Micmac-Maliseet Institute at the University of New Brunswick.
- Visit the Electronic Text Centre’s website to see a complete list of their Open Access databases and journals.
More Open Access Resources
You’ll also find these and other Open Access resources through the UNB Libraries website:
- Atlas of Canada – Natural Resources Canada. Free geographic information including maps focused on the environment, topographic maps, freshwater maps, and historical maps.
- BioMed Central – An Open Access publisher of 206 peer-reviewed journals, from AIDS Research and Therapy to World of Surgical Oncology.
- The Canadian Encyclopedia – Includes The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Full-text free resource on Canadian people, issues, and events.
- CIA World Factbook – Flags and maps of the world, political maps, and information on “266 world entities.”
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online – Biographies of people who helped shape our nation.
- Directory of Open Access Journals – This searchable directory includes over 5500 scientific and scholarly Open Access journals.
- Health Encyclopedia – Drexel University College of Medicine produces this Open Access Health Encyclopedia searchable by symptom, disease, and more.
- The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy – Intended for healthcare professionals. Photographs, audio, and video materials as well as podcasts and text material.
- The Merck Manual of Medical Information – Second Home Edition – for patients and caregivers.
- Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection – A collection of maps mostly in the public domain and free to use and copy, including maps of current interest (Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan flood) and historical maps.
- PubMed Central – Archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. All articles in the database are free.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Contains updated, peer-reviewed entries about philosophy, including people, movements, theories, and more.
- Theses Canada Portal – Use this portal to find theses in Library and Archives Canada’s theses collection, many of which are available online.
Additional Information and Resources
Check out the following articles, videos, and directories to learn more about Open Access:
- A Very Brief Introduction to Open Access by Peter Suber
- the Wikipedia entry about the Open Access movement in academia (Wikipedia is Open Access, by the way)
- Videos on the Open Access Week website
- The Directory of Open Access Repositories – OpenDOAR: Access over 1700 Repositories from around the world.
- A list of Open Access Institutional Repositories at Canadian Universities