The MIT Libraries now have a half-time position supporting MIT faculty and researchers who have questions about their options and rights in the world of scholarly publishing, which has evolved dramatically with the advent of the digital age. This position has been made possible with support from the Provost’s office.

In what ways would a faculty member make use of this new position?
For example:
• To ask about what rights you have over your own work, and how you can ensure that you have the rights in the future to do what you want with your work;
• To ask questions about standard publisher copyright transfer agreements, including the use of MIT’s amendment to such agreements ;
• To gain feedback about options and rights related to archiving your work on the web, whether via a faculty home page, Dspace, or a discipline-based archive, or another means;
• To discuss the options for publishing an article so that it will be openly available, without permission or subscription barriers, whether in a new open access journal or a long-standing journal; or
• To ask about open access publication options, and funder or government policies in relation to those options.

If you would like to discuss any of these issues, please contact Ellen Finnie Duranceau, who moved into the new position in mid September.

Duranceau has worked in the MIT Libraries since 1990 in a variety of roles. Since 1996, she has been negotiating license agreements for ejournals and databases so that this content can be made available on the MIT network under terms for access and use that meet MIT’s needs. Her new role expands the focus from purchase of digital scholarly content for use at MIT, to support for MIT faculty and researchers at the time of publication, when many rights and potential uses are defined in publisher agreements.

Duranceau’s new role supports a collaborative process being engaged in by the entire academic community to realize the full potential of technology to increase the reach and impact of research.