University of Michigan Press Director Discusses Open Access Monographs in Couper PBK Lecture - Hamilton College

"Hamilton welcomed Charles Watkinson as its speaker for the Couper Phi Beta Kappa Lecture on Oct. 20. Watkins is the director of University of Michigan Press and associate university librarian for publishing at University of Michigan Library. His talk, titled “Open Access Monographs: Why Should Authors, Librarians, and Administrators Care?” explored the impact of the emerging open access movement on scholarly publishing. Watkinson began his lecture on Open Access with an anecdote from his days as an archaeology student. When his professor had asked him to consult a rare manuscript available at the New York Public Library Watkinson was pleasantly surprised that, thanks to the efficiency of the NY Library system and the priorities of Dick Couper as its president, he gained access to the materials he sought within only two hours. The preservation, discoverability, and access of the public to rare materials are all priorities of the Open Access movement about which he went on to speak. Watkinson provided an overview of the University of Michigan’s unique publishing model ..."