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Between 22-28 October 2012, the National Documentation Centre of Greece (EKT) joined the celebrations for the International Open Access Week - a global event which takes place all over the world every year and provides an opportunity for the academic community to meet and learn about open access initiatives taking place locally and worldwide. This year’s theme (2012) was "Set the default to open access" and EKT participated in the Open Access Week with a series of events - informative sessions and a seminar - which aimed to  raise awareness and broaden understanding of open access issues.

Given that supporters of open access are rising in numbers (funders, institutes, tutors, academics, students etc.), the 2012 events aimed to inspire the wider participation of researchers in actions which promote open access in the academic world. The National Documentation Centre (EKT) has been at the forefront in supporting the open access movement and the free availability of scientific publications in the country. It was the first Greek organization to sign the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities in 2003 and, since then, has continued to support all open access Initiatives.

The "Seminar for Open Access and the Helios Repository" was the core event organized to inspire participation in the institution's open access strategies. It addressed principally all researchers at the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF). Throughout the week, researchers could also attend a number of complementary informative sessions. The Seminar was held on Thursday 25/10 (11.00-13.00) at the "Leonidas Zerbas" auditorium.

The first part of the Seminar focused on the current developments in the field of open access. Dr Evi Sachini pointed to the benefits of open access and demonstrated how EKT implements open access procedures and how these activities and policies are placed into a wider international landscape. In the second part, Dr. Nikos Houssos presented the institutional repository Helios (NHRF's repository) and explained how NHRF researchers can publish their work online following self-archiving procedures, and how they may exploit a series of software tools which allow them to share and promote their work within the international research community. In the Seminar’s third part, EKT representatives led the discussion and answered key questions related to EKT's open access policies. 

At another level, EKT organized a series of sessions based on three core themes: Learn, Listen and Ask. Sessions took place at the Digital Library of Science and Technology where visitors obtained informational materials with further information on open access activities and the organization’s initiatives. Those who wished to learn more about open access had the opportunity to attend short presentations (15 minutes) on Tuesday 23/10, Wednesday 24/10 and Friday 26/10 at 11.00 in the Library's Electronic Reading Room. Throughout the week, EKT personnel were available to provide specialised training sessions on the Helios repository and to answer all relevant issues on open access and implementation policies.

In the digital era, open access to scientific research data can provide an alternative paradigm to the way that research is carried out and distributed, with direct benefits for scientific research, industry, medicine and society as a whole. The National Documentation Centre contributes to these efforts for the open exploitation of research data and undertakes a variety of activities and tasks (open access repositories, research infrastructures, open software development, awareness-raising activities, coordination of policies in the Mediterranean, e-publishing activities, etc.).

Invitation to the"Seminar for Open Access and Helios Repository"