CARL and SPARC Announce Create Change Canada

Popular Web Site Adapted to Help Canadian Scholars Widen Exposure for Their Research

Ottawa ON & Washington DC—CARL (the Canadian Association of Research Libraries) and SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) today announced the launch of Create Change Canada, a Canadian version of the popular researcher-focused Web resource on scholarly communication. The original Create Change Web site was developed by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and SPARC with support from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).

The Create Change Web site focuses on the fact that the ways faculty share and use academic research results are changing rapidly and irreversibly. The site outlines how faster and wider sharing of journal articles, research data, simulations, syntheses, analyses, and other findings fuels the advance of knowledge. It offers practical ways faculty can look out for their own interests as researchers. Create Change Canada introduces the Canadian voice on policy issues and highlights Canadian researcher experiences in English and in French.

“Create Change Canada is a timely resource for Canadian researchers,” stated Carolynne Presser, Chair of the CARL Scholarly Communication Committee. “It will keep authors informed of emerging international trends and help them enjoy the greatest impact and visibility for their publications. CARL appreciates the invaluable help of SPARC in designing and building the site.”

“The introduction of national public access policies to publicly funded research is another reason why researchers are thinking carefully about their rights and opportunities for greater exposure,” said SPARC Executive Director Heather Joseph. “Create Change Canada will provide much-needed resources and support for the research community.”

Karla Hahn, Director of the ARL Office of Scholarly Communication, commended the new site: “By tailoring the Create Change model to the Canadian environment and perspective and by building on the original site’s success, CARL has taken an important step in expanding the message to new audiences.”

The Create Change Canada Web site includes sections on digital scholarship and new modes of communication, examples of change in diverse fields, and ways to stay informed of new developments. It offers tailored guidance for researchers who play many roles in their professional lives—as researcher, author, reviewer, editor, editorial board member, society member, faculty member, or teacher. The site features selected news items, an ongoing series of interviews with scholars from different disciplines, and scores of links to other Web sites and resources.

For more information, visit http://www.createchangecanada.ca/.

CARL

CARL is the leadership organization for the Canadian research library community. CARL’s members represent Canada’s 27 major academic research libraries, Library and Archives Canada, the Library of Parliament and the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI). For more information see http://www.carl-abrc.ca/.

SPARC

SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), with SPARC Europe and SPARC Japan, is an international alliance of more than 800 academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly communication. SPARC’s advocacy, educational, and publisher partnership programs encourage expanded dissemination of research. SPARC is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/sparc/.

ARL

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 123 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is located on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.