Random Ramblings: Barriers in Higher Education to Open Access and Institutional Repositories

Abstract

In the legitimate push to change the mechanisms for distributing faculty research, librarians seem to have most often underestimated the complicity of higher education in the current scholarly communication system, however dysfunctional it might be. The scholarly communication system can be compared to book distribution where all parties agree that fundamental change is needed, but nothing happens because the players are not willing to give up any advantages provided by the present system. The current economic crisis, whose effects have not yet hit higher education and libraries very hard, may turn out to be the catalyst. This article discusses some of the barriers, both hidden and obvious, in higher education to implementing an open access model including persuading or requiring faculty to deposit their research in institutional repositories. Among the many factors are the tenure and promotion system, institutional prestige, and copyright. Adapted from the source document.