Open Access Week 2020 runs from October 19 to 26, and this year's theme is Open with Purpose: Taking Action to Build Structural Equity and Inclusion. Nick Shockey of SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) contextualizes this year's theme on the Open Access Week website, stating:
"Openness can be a powerful tool for building more equitable systems of sharing knowledge. Rebuilding research and scholarship to be open by default presents a unique opportunity to construct a foundation that is fundamentally more equitable. Yet today, structural racism, discrimination, and exclusion are present and persistent in places where openness is a core value. As a global community, it is important to understand that the systems and spaces of the present are often built upon legacies of historic injustice and that addressing these inequities is a necessity.
We need to examine who these spaces and systems are designed for, who is missing, who is excluded by the business models we use, and whose interests are prioritized. As we work together to rebuild these structures, we need to commit to moving from conversations to concrete commitments and to hold one another accountable for making real progress."
We're going to take a different approach to celebrating Open Access week this year, to take into account the many folks on the Open Scholarship Committee whose roles are focused on supporting instructors and students keep up with the many changes in place because of COVID19. We'll focus on directing you to virtual presentations, as well as some readings related to equity, diversity and inclusion in the scholarly communications landscape. That said, we'll have at least one synchronous talk, from Jordan Hale, Digital Repositories Librarian, discussing their knowledge of the scholarly publishing landscape as it relates to complying with funder open access policies.