"The University of Cape Town (UCT) Press was established in 1994 and is one of four university presses currently operating in South Africa. The modern-day university press presents an interesting mix of challenges and conflicting agendas, and the OpeningScholarship project chose UCT Press as a subje
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ct for case study in the hope that an examination of the operations and dynamics of such a press would throw some light on the tensions inherent in the academic publishing exercise. It should be noted at the outset that UCT Press is unique among South African university presses in that it is owned by a private company – namely, Juta and Company Ltd. Private ownership of a university press which enjoys a close, synergistic relationship with its parent institution is not unique in the global academic context, but it does present interesting challenges in terms of commercial and non-commercial entities working side by side, often with very different markers of success." (Introduction)
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Studies and reviews briefly some of the key editorial decisions that involve the distribution of academic publications policy in Chile, including its access and use of the general public, academic and scientific community in particular.
"Many nonprofits spend considerable time and resources producing studies to advance their issues, only to have them gather dust on the shelf of some academic or government office. Why? Invariably, it’s because the report received little to no media coverage. The good news is, it doesn’t have to
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be this way. This guide offers 10 tips for turning your report into a morning headline or a segment on the evening news. No matter what your issue is or what type of research you’re releasing — from scientific data to a public opinion survey — these tried and true tips can help you insert your hard work into the news cycle." (Introduction)
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"A community research partnership is ideally part of a larger collaboration that includes the interests of each partner and spans a wide range of activities. Often a neglected afterthought in busy research schedules, the dissemination of key findings upon project completion is a crucial step in comm
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unity-based research. In fact, we believe that researchers have an ethical obligation to ensure that research findings are disseminated to research participants, as well as other individuals and institutions in the communities in which we work. In an effort to increase ease and efficiency, this document provides key strategies for dissemination, including practical advice and specific templates you can adapt for your use. Through this strategic dissemination approach, CARE (Community Alliance for Research and Engagement) intends to distribute salient findings to affected communities, participant agencies, health departments, researchers, policy makers, and health advocacy groups." (Page 1)
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"The main findings of the review are: 1. General consensus on the importance of research communication among the donors interviewed, and wide interest in developing appropriate programmes and mechanisms. 2. Little evidence of a strategic approach within individual agencies, with research communicati
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on generally dispersed within the organisation. 3. Emphasis continues to be on the supply side of research, with a weak understanding of and capacity to support the demand side of research communication. 4. Many examples of good practice and of innovative initiatives, also related to engaging users and other stakeholders in the research communication process. 5. Several donors are placing a priority on being a learning organisation, with research communication contributing to internal knowledge management. 6. No comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation systems in place to assess the effectiveness and relevance of various research communication approaches, and to feed this information back into research communication policy and investment decisions. 7. Most donors maintain their own web portals / archives of research findings. 8. There is a strong interest among donors to explore and expand open access to funded research findings. 9. Most donors would welcome strengthening networking and linkages between donors interested in research communication to improve efficiency and effectiveness, for shared learning and for greater impact. 10. DFID is recognized and valued as one of the leaders in the field of research communication." (Summary)
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"Using African Journals Online (AJOL) as a case study – recently expanded to offer full text online and, with over 350 partner titles, now the world’s largest online collection of African journals – the author argues that increasing accessibility of African research outputs through open access
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, and sustained commitment to building partnerships, collaborations and networks amongst African stakeholders, with linkages between these and their overseas counterparts, are two pivotal and necessary conditions to move Africa away from the global knowledge periphery. In her conclusions she states “bibliographies, whether in print, or online, are also tools to allow access to information. It is the pro-active, systemic, organized and strategic use of these tools that will determine the future of Africa’s moving closer to the centre of the global knowledge system. To be accessible in the information age, African journals must ensure they are available, visible and usable on the internet, most particularly through striving towards open access of African-published materials, such that Africans themselves can read context-specific, relevant work from their own continent. Role-players in the continent’s system of knowledge generation and dissemination hold the ultimate responsibility and moral burden to build on existing capacity through cooperation and collaboration. It is only by addressing the complex and multiple requirements at all levels that optimal use of opportunities will be attained and the African continent will be brought to prominence in the global knowledge system." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2566)
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"This publication has its genesis in the recommendations and proceedings of UNESCO-supported th international conferences and workshops including the 4 International Conference of Asian Digital Libraries (ICADL2001, Bangalore); the International Conferences on Digital Libraries (ICDL2004 & ICDL2006,
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New Delhi); and the International Workshop on Greenstone Digital Library software (2006, Kozhikode), where many information professionals of this sub-region demonstrated their Digital Library and Open Access Initiatives. It discusses successful activities in the South Asia subregion bringing closer to the worldwide audience, the subject of access to scholarly literature and documentary heritage. This may thus be considered an authoritative source-book on Open Access Development in this sub-region." (Foreword)
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"Viele Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler üben im Umgang mit den Medien Zurückhaltung, sei es, weil sie unsicher sind oder weil sie die Chancen erfolgreicher Medienarbeit unterschätzen. Ihnen vermittelt dieses Buch das »Handwerk« des Umgangs mit Presse, Radio, Fernsehen und Internet. Zur
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Vorbereitung auf Interviews werden alle Schritte, vom ersten Kontakt mit dem Journalisten bis zur Evaluation, vorgestellt. Praktische Übungen zu Atmung, Stimme und Haltung ergänzen diese Tipps; Checklisten helfen bei der Vor- und Nachbereitung. Die Berichte von Redakteuren über ihre Erfahrungen und Wünsche bei der Zusammenarbeit mit Wissenschaftlern runden diese Informationen ab. Das Autorenteam wendet sich an Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler aller Disziplinen, die ihren Kontakt mit den Medien aktiv und zielgerichtet gestalten möchten." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Zunächst erfolgt ein Überblick über den Forschungsstand und die Quellenlage zum Thema Open Access, anschließend eine Begriffsdefinition. Daraufhin werden die Hintergründe der Open-Access-Bewegung aufgezeigt: Was sind die Ursachen und Ziele? Wie hat sich die Bewegung entwickelt? Außerdem werde
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n wichtige aktuelle Initiativen und Projekte vorgestellt. Im Anschluss daran werden Veröffentlichungsformen des Open-Access-Modells aufgezeigt und durch Beispiele veranschaulicht sowie Bekanntheitsgrad und Nutzung dieser alternativen Publikationsmöglichkeiten untersucht. Weiterhin werden die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen Urheberrecht, Verlagsvertrag und Lizenzen erläutert. Auf die häufig gestellte Frage „Wer bezahlt?“ wird im darauf folgenden Kapitel näher eingegangen. Finanzierungsmöglichkeiten und bestehende Geschäftsmodelle als Beispiele hierfür werden dargestellt. Abschließend erfolgt ein Überblick über Vorteile und Probleme von Open-Access-Veröffentlichungen sowie Reaktionen traditioneller Verlage." (Einleitung, Seite 7)
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"The academic publishing sector in South Africa is facing many changes and challenges in the post-1994 democracy, with most of the changes brought about by the Higher Education Act No. 101 of 1997. A recent challenge, or threat, to commercial publishers is the phenomenon, and proliferation, of self-
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publishing. Although not a trend commonly associated with academic textbook publishing, self-publishing has in recent years increased in frequency and to some extent influences the prospects of new business and profits by South African commercial publishers, especially when academic self-publishers of textbooks prescribe their self-published textbooks to their students for particular courses. This study aims to show that self-publishing exists within the South African academic community for a variety of reasons, and does in fact impact adversely on the market share of academic publishers." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2536)
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"These guidelines on digital publishing are targeted primarily at small organizations with limited resources in developing countries, in order to facilitate decision-making on how to publish and disseminate their information. The Guidelines are based on the years of experience of the Network of Aqua
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culture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) and its partners. The approach is practical in orientation, covering topics including: (a) planning, building and maintaining a sustainable digital publishing system, focusing on a common scenario of setting up a Web site as a digital publishing platform; (b) producing user-friendly digital publications and making them accessible; (c) some recent international developments in digital publishing; and (d) recommended software tools and technical resources for further reading." (Abstract)
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