1. Open Access projects in Macedonia: The first steps Irina Shumadieva, Metamorphosis Foundation www.metamorphosis.org.mk 1

2. Current situation Low level of e-content –most apparent in the area of education –evidently in languages other than Macedonian –commercial websites actively create content (limited topics) –bloggers and forum members - important contributors in local e-content Most scientific institutions publish journals, but very few do it online Few exceptions, for example Mirko Spiroski: From 8 Macedonian Medical Journals selected on the base of specific criteria, only 1 has online ISSN and only 2 have websites proper for online publishing of scientific papers www.metamorphosis.org.mk …regarding online content in general 2

3. Current situation Low awareness Low skills by perspective users Lack of interest and capacities by relevant institutions Discouragement due to low feedback level Unavailable contents from students Plagiarism and disuse of attribution www.metamorphosis.org.mk …regarding open access in particular 3

4. Previous Open Access Initiatives Trainings Guide Events, Conference Sessions (e-Society.mk 2006, e-Society.mk 2008) Tech support for open access science publication (philologicalstudies.org)philologicalstudies.org Open letter to the Ministry of Education and Science and the Government of RM Promotion of Creative Commons licenses www.metamorphosis.org.mk 4

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6. Open Access Project Period of implementation: by the end of the first trimester of 2010 Main goal: to contribute to constructive use of digital technologies as tools for critical thinking and democratization in Macedonia, through increasing the quantity and quality of e-content. Activities: presentations, trainings, repository software localization Expected results: increased quantity of e-content in the local languages in Macedonia; establishment and rising of quality standards of scientific and research works published online www.metamorphosis.org.mk 6

7. Goals To raise awareness of the importance of Open Access as a concept To improve visibility of academic publications To build capacities of academic institutions To increase the quality of local scholarly content available online www.metamorphosis.org.mk 7

8. Activities Public presentations for –Content creators from the academia –Decision makers (MIS, managers of sci. institutions) Localized versions of Open Access Repository Software Trainings –for members of the academia and the education sector –transfer of specific relevant skills (how to launch and use own online repository) www.metamorphosis.org.mk 8

9. Crosscutting themes Inclusion of members of various ethnic communities and social groups Sharing of knowledge about protection of intellectual property Lobbying and advocacy to make Macedonian legal and institutional framework conducive to Open Access www.metamorphosis.org.mk 9

10. OA Repository Software Localization of OA Repository software will be conducted into Macedonian and Albanian languages dSpace –Because of its number of supporting formats –Because of its user interface –Because it’s used by more that 70 countries Creation of test repository aimed at gathering all Metamorphosis’ publications www.metamorphosis.org.mk 10

11. Thank you for your attention! www.metamorphosis.org.mk irina@metamorphosis.org.mk 11