Webinar 75 – Open access and rights retention policy

Share a little copyright love this Valentine’s Day by joining us at 11.00am-12pm (1 hour) on February 14th, 2025 for our latest webinar.

We are delighted that Ami Pendergrass of the University of Plymouth will be joining us to speak about her thesis on open access and rights retention policies. Drawing on her findings and 20 years of experience in policy development and change management, she will provide tips and strategies to support library professionals in improving both current and future policy development and implementation.

Background: In order to put controls over the rampant rise in higher education subscription costs, the Open Access movement was founded on the principles of unrestricted and open use of academic research that protects an author’s right to retain their copyright. A decade later, funders, led by cOAlition S, introduced rights retention strategy as the latest tool to tackle the ongoing issues of rampant costs and ‘less than open’ access. UK higher education institutions are currently implementing institutional rights retention policies to provide guidance and support on achieving these aims.

Ami’s thesis analysed the content of 29 implemented UK institutional rights retention policies in order to identify and understand whether these policies align with the original intent of rights retention in a clear, effective, and usable way to address the challenges rights retention was designed to fix. Her study uncovers a disconnect between the original purpose and proposed function and current institutional rights retention policies and raises questions to be investigated further on the effectiveness and viability of this method in addressing current challenges.

Biography: Ami Pendergrass has recently joined the staff at the University of Plymouth as an Information Specialist, supporting the Colleges of Nursing, Midwifery, and Psychology. A recent graduate of the Master’s in Library and Information Science programme at City, University of London, Ami previously worked for two years with Northamptonshire public libraries and the Delapré Abbey Heritage site on special collections management and strategy projects.

Prior to transitioning into the field of information science, she built a distinguished career as a lawyer and HR/operational lead. She hopes to continue her academic and professional career exploring the fascinating intersection of library science, legal and commercial change, and technological innovation that is bringing new challenges and opportunities to the sector.

Update: The recording is now available: Rights Retention Strategies in UK Institutions. View Recording on YouTube | View Recording on Blackboard Collaborate | View Ami’s Slides | View Slides from Chris and Jane