Open and Equitable Access to Information Working Group

Mission

The Open and Equitable Access to Scholarship members share a belief that scholarship and data should be open and equitably accessible and equally available to scholars and readers worldwide. As leaders, we are committed to working towards this goal through a range of actions in order to make resources as open as possible and facilitate scholarship, teaching, and learning both within and outside of our group.

  1. Communicate, as a group or individually, commitments or statements in support of projects that advance open access, open data, open educational resources, and open publishing.
  2. Contribute our unique liberal arts academic library perspective as a group or individually to national organizations or projects that are working towards these goals.
  3. Provide a forum for our members to discuss and initiate new projects in support of openness, recognizing that not all of our members may be able to provide financial support to such projects.
  4. Initiate and host discussions for our member libraries so that we can share institution-specific ways that we are individually supporting open and equitable access to scholarship.

Current Projects

Communities of Interest (COI)

COIs bring people together to connect and learn. COIs openly welcome new members. Please contact any of the facilitators for information about the COI or to drop in on a meeting.

Open Textbook Survey

During the Fall 2022 semester, 11 Oberlin Group institutions conducted a student textbook survey adapted from the 2016 Florida Virtual Campus survey and the 2019 Gettysburg College survey. The goal of the project was to gain a better understanding of how the costs of course materials impact our students. The presentation of these findings was delivered to the Oberlin Group of libraries on March 23, 2023. An accompanying poster highlights some of those results as well as actions faculty members can take to better support students. At the 2023 ACRL Conference, we presented a round table discussion regarding how to run these types of surveys (see handout). We encourage all Oberlin Group libraries to use these data points when advocating for textbook affordability and OER adoption on their campuses. Project leads: Krystie Wilfong, Bates College, and Jenelle Wertzberger, Gettysburg College.

Past Projects 

  • A speaker series entitled Open and Equitable Scholarship in the Liberal Arts invited nationally recognized leaders in open and equitable scholarship to share information about their thoughts and initiatives via webinars. See Links to recordings.
  • Unconference was held online on April 14, 2023. Expressions of interest from this Unconference informed the creation of the COIs. See the conference program. 
  • Annual Reports

Upcoming Meetings 

  • The Steering Committee of the Open and Equitable Access Working Group meets quarterly. 
  • COI schedules are determined by its members. Contact the COI facilitators to find out about their meeting schedule.

Join Us

  • Steering Committee: The Steering Committee of the Open and Equitable Access Working Group meets quarterly to establish goals and priorities, to check in on the health of the Communities of Interest, and to allocate our budget in support of our mission. Expectations of a steering committee member include attending and participating in quarterly meetings, and volunteering to support the initiatives of the Working Group (e.g. serving as a liaison to a COI). Terms are variable in duration, beginning in September. To express interest in joining, please contact the Steering Committee Co-Chairs.
  • COIs: Contact any of the COI facilitators for information about the COI or to drop in on a meeting.

Steering Committee Members

  • Martin Garnar (Co-Chair), Amherst College
  • Jill Livingston (Co-Chair), Wesleyan University
  • Megan Brooks, (Board Liaison), Wheaton College
  • Jessika Drmacich, Williams College
  • Josh Finnell, Colgate University 
  • Kayla Reed, Grinnell College
  • Mike Roy, (Past Co-Chair), Middlebury College
  • Jessica Ryan, Smith College
  • Louann Terveer, Macalester College

Past Members of the Steering Committee 

  • Hilary Baribeau (Co-Chair) Colby College
  • Anne Houston, (Past Board Liaison), Lafayette College
  • David McCaslin, Whittier College 
  • Kevin Mulroy, Occidental College 
  • Adam Mazel, Union College 
  • Loretta Parham, AUC Woodruff Library 
  • K.T. Vaughn, Washington & Lee University
  • Jenelle Wertzberger, Gettysburg College 
  • Krystie Wilfong, Bates College