This year's Open Access Week theme is “Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge”. As the transition to a system for sharing knowledge that is open by default accelerates, the question “open for whom?” is essential - both to consider and to act upon. Whose interests are being prioritized in the actions we take and the platforms that we support? Are we supporting not only open access but also equitable participation in research communication? These questions will determine the extent to which emerging open systems for research will address inequities in the current system or replicate and reinforce them.
The Library joined the celebration to increase the interest of NU community in making scientific works, research ideas and other intellectual products freely available for anyone to use, adapt, distribute, translate and share with no or very minimal restrictions.
The debate teams expressed their opinion, that Open Access is not only about cost savings, but about the belief that the world’s knowledge is a public good and should be accessible to all.
We also adapted Escape Room game to promote Open Access and try to educate users with a fun interactive game when participants attempted to solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints, and strategies to “escape” the room. You can also test yourself by solving the puzzles.
Following tradition, the new voices supporting OA at NU were recorded in a video message:
The takeaway of the event: awareness and understanding of the importance of OA; knowing how to check the publisher’s policy and submit works to NU Repository. Participants noted that this event helped them to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the importance of Open Access.
In this video, Nazarbayev University academics are speaking about the importance of OA for studies and research.
Two teams from the NU Nomad debate club defended their ideas for and against Open Access movement. The debate was held in an open format, where every NU community member could listen to the arguments of the teams. As a result of the debate. The team which supported the idea of Open Access won.
