SPEC Kit 311: Public Access Policies · 17
The SPEC survey on Public Access Policies was designed by Cathy Sarli, Scholarly Communications
Specialist, Ellen Dubinsky, Librarian, Bob Engeszer, Associate Director, Translational Research Support,
and Ruth Lewis, Biology and Mathematics Librarian, Washington University in St. Louis. These results are
based on data submitted by 70 of the 123 ARL member libraries (57%) by the deadline of March 20, 2009. The
survey’s introductory text and questions are reproduced below, followed by the response data and selected
comments from the respondents.
The concept of a public access policy for research results is based on the premise that government-funded research results should
be freely available without barriers to taxpayers who provide support for the funding. With the recent enactment of the US National
Institutes of Health Public Access Policy and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Policy on Access to Research Outputs much
attention has been devoted to public access policies. Many academic and research libraries have developed resources and services
to support authors who are required to comply with these policies. What are the implications of public access policies for research
libraries? Are they poised to provide resources and services to support authors in meeting these policies? This survey is designed to
identify:
Resources and services developed to support author compliance with public access policies
Strategies used to disseminate resources and services to authors who are subject to public access policies
Who coordinates these resources and services
Resources used by library staff to learn about public access policies
Partnerships and collaborations outside the library related to public access policies
Service issues related to public access policy compliance
The results of this survey will highlight current practices related to public access policies, provide models for other libraries that are
considering implementing similar activities, and offer examples of resources and services.
Survey Questions and Responses
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