Posted October 2, 2026 by Joanie Barnes
University Libraries is hosting a series of events aligned with International Open Access Week.
The 2026 theme, “The Cost of Knowledge,” addresses an important aspect of the open access movement: free access to high-quality information is a human right, yet the cost to access quality information continues to increase. One example of rising costs is the article processing charge paid by an author to a publisher to make research openly available. Another example is costs covered by libraries for read-and-publish agreements with various publishers.
Several avenues are available to UNL personnel for open-access publishing: Open Access publishing agreements and the Digital Commons institutional repository; SANDY (Nebraska’s Research Data Repository), and the consultations and resources available to instructors interested in using, adapting or creating open educational resources.
Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend UNL’s Open Access Week 2026 events to explore these issues and resources.
Oct. 20: Understanding Federal Requirements for Open-Access Publishing and Research Data Sharing
- 12 p.m.-1 p.m., virtual.
- Register now to receive the link.
- Presenters: Melissa Gomis, professor of practice and chair of collections strategy and open scholarship; and Leslie Delserone, professor of libraries.
The presenters will review the most recent federal guidance to assist scholars in making choices that comply with federal funders’ requirements.
Oct. 21: The Cost of Knowledge in the Classroom: An Introduction to Open Educational Resources and OER Grant Opportunities at UNL
- 11 a.m.-12 p.m., virtual.
- Register now to receive the link.
- Presenter: Catherine Fraser Riehle, associate professor of libraries.
During this interactive session, participants will explore what OERs are, how they can benefit students and instructors, and support available at UNL. The session will also introduce this year’s OER Grant Program and provide practical advice for developing a strong proposal ahead of the upcoming application deadline. Whether participants are exploring the possibility of an OER project or are ready to pursue one, they will gain ideas and resources.
Oct 21: Living Up to Openness: A Practical Workflow for Tracking and Demonstrating Research Impact
- 12 p.m.-1:15 p.m., in person or virtual.
- Love Library South, 1248 R St., Room 224 (Witt Room), or online. Register now for the in-person or virtual option.
- Presenter: Pei-Ying Chen, assistant professor of libraries.
As researchers face growing pressure to demonstrate the impact of their work and meet new requirements for research assessment, developing “metrics literacy” is essential not only as a form of documenting activities and outcomes but also as a means of empowering researchers to advocate for the responsible use of metrics within and beyond their institutions. This workshop introduces a practical workflow for tracking and demonstrating research impact that is grounded in open science principles and supported by open scholarly infrastructure, including ORCID, Zotero, OpenAlex and the Research Organization Registry.
Oct. 22: How to Publish Open Access for Little to No Cost
- 12 p.m.-1 p.m., virtual.
- Register now to receive the link.
- Presenters: Melissa Gomis, professor of practice and chair of collections strategy and open scholarship; and Sue Gardner, professor of libraries.
This workshop will address strategies for increasing the visibility and impact of research without paying high publication fees. Open access publishing helps scholarship reach readers around the world, but article processing charges can be costly. The Libraries can help UNL scholars leverage university agreements with publishers and other resources that may cover most, or even all, publishing costs. Participants will learn to make informed decisions about sharing their research, with topics including:
- How to determine whether a publication qualifies for article processing charge funding through library agreements;
- Strategies for publishing open access at low or no cost;
- How UNL’s institutional repository can expand access to and preserve scholars’ work; and
- Where to find support for navigating open access publishing options.
Oct. 23: Prepare Your Data for Openness
- 12 p.m.-1 p.m., virtual.
- Register now to receive the link.
- Presenter: Scout Calvert, associate professor of libraries and chair of research partnerships.
Adopting open data practices can improve collaboration, safeguard data and help researchers get ahead of data-sharing requirements from funders and publishers. Data sharing and transparency can benefit science and increase researcher impact. This presentation will provide strategies for meaningfully open data, offer choices in data sharing, describe some limitations of openness and help researchers get a jump start preparing data for openness.
