University of Nebraska-Lincoln Faculty Senate Endorses Open Access

"On April 6, 2010, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Faculty Senate approved a "Resolution on Digital Commons Institutional Repository," formally endorsing the open-access online archive for faculty scholarship and research managed by the UNL Libraries’ Office of Scholarly Communications....While many universities have resorted to “mandates” that require faculty to put works into their repositories, the UNL Digital Commons has successfully developed on a strictly voluntary approach. [It's "the second largest institutional repository for faculty research in the United States (trailing only Michigan’s Deep Blue)."] The ease of participation, the expanded dissemination offered by open access, and the added gratification of getting reports on readership have helped build faculty participation to unprecedented levels. Comments [Paul Royster, UNL Libraries Coordinator of Scholarly Communications and manager of the UNL Digital Commons], “Word of mouth has become our best recruitment tool—faculty telling other faculty this is something they ought to do.” To this end, the Faculty Senate resolution marks an important step: it is an endorsement and an encouragement, but not a mandated requirement...."