Award for outstanding achievements within the enhancement of Open Access
The initiative „Open Library Badge“, in which also Chemnitz University Library is engaged, was honored with the first-time-awarded „Open Access Enter Award“ in the category „cooperation“
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Ute Blumtritt (l.) received jointly with Charlotte Meixner (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg) the „Open Access Enter Award“ for the initiative „Open Library Badge“ in the category „cooperation“. Photo: Daniel Buss
The University Library (UL) of Chemnitz University of Technology offers to its users an excellent range of services for providing open access to knowledge – and this literally because the initiative „Open Library Badge“, in which also the UL is engaged, was honored with the „Open Access Enter Award“ in the category „cooperation“ on July 3, 2024 at Berlin. This award, funded for the first time by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research and endowed with 1.000 Euro in 5 categories respectively, is dedicated to the enhancement of open access to academic publications and other materials in the web as well as to the promotion of an open and collaborative culture in education, science and learning in Germany.
„The objective of our award-winning ‚Open Library Badge‘-initiative consists on establishing a trans-university and -library system of incentives for libraries dedicated to the implementation of the concept of openness in multiple ways. It is always of crucial importance that knowledge is provided and may be found free of barriers“ explains Ute Blumtritt, UL-staff member, who strongly engages in this field since many years. Thus, it is no wonder that she also made it to the longlist of the 5 best submissions in another category („Pioneering achievements“) of the „Open Access Enter Award“. Hereby, particularly the engagement of Blumtritt for Open Access over 25 years was honored.
„The fact of reaching excellent placements in two of five categories of a national award proves once more that Chemnitz University Library contributes significantly to the promotion of Open Access within the University but also externally. In 2023 alone, nearly 50 percent of the publications of Chemnitz University of Technology were edited Open Access. This motivates us strongly to further enhance and enlarge our innovative offers and initiatives for more openness in science“ comments Angela Malz, Director of Chemnitz University Library, who is very pleased about the public recognition of the work of the UL.
Background: Open Access to academic knowledge
Large German scientific organizations as well as leading international academic and cultural institutions demand that scientific articles should directly be published Open Access – meaning openly accessible. In their „Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge“, they send out a clear signal for a charge-free access to textual publications as well as to research data, images and multimedia objects as well as for their comprehensive subsequent usage already in 2003. Since then, the declaration was signed by 794 institutions and organizations world-wide. Since June 2015, also Chemnitz University of Technology counts among them. For many years, Chemnitz University Library strongly supports the global Open Access-initiative. In 2016 and 2020, it was awarded the „Open Library Badge“ honoring its library engagement for more openness in science and society. As examples shall be mentioned the Open Access publishing and the application of Open Source software such as for the University Bibliography or the online-catalog.
Pool of information of the University Library regarding „Open Access“: https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/ub/publizieren/openaccess/index.html.en
Contact to the Open-Access-Team of Chemnitz University Library: Ute Blumtritt, phone +49 (0)371 531-31290, email oa@bibliothek.tu-chemnitz.de
Mario Steinebach
16.07.2024
