OPEN ACCESS - KNOWLEDGE FOR ALL | HOME PAGE

Between 22 – 28 October, the National Documentation Centre of Greece (EKT)  will join 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 is "Set the default to open access" and EKT participates in the Open Access Week with a series of events -informative sessions and seminar- which aim to broaden understanding and raise awareness of open access issues.

Given that supporters of open access are rising in numbers (funders, institutes, tutors, academics, students etc.), this year’s events aim to inspire the wider participation of researchers to 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" is the core event organized to inspire participation in the institution's open access strategies. It addresses all researchers at the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF). Throughout the week, EKT will also run a number of complementary informative sessions. The Seminar will be held on Thursday 25/10 (11.00-13.00) at the "Leonidas Zerbas" auditorium.

The first part of the Seminar will focus on the current developments in the field of open access. Dr Evi Sachini will point to the benefits of open access and will demonstrate how EKT implements open access procedures and how these activities and policies fit into the wider international landscape. In the second part, Dr. Nikos Houssos will present the institutional repository Helios (NHRF's repository) and explain how NHRF researchers can publish their work online with 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 will be hosting a forum to answer questions you might have about EKT’s current activities and open access strategies.

At another level, EKT is organizing a series of sessions based on on three core themes: Learn, Listen and Ask. Sessions will take place at the Digital Library of Science and Technology where visitors can obtain informational materials with further information on open access activities and the organization’s initiatives. Those who want to learn more about open access may attend short presentations (15 minutes) which will be taking place 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 will be available to provide specialised training sessions on the Helios repository as well as answers to issues related with open access, policies and its implementation.

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 by undertaking a variety of activities and tasks in this field (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"