Public Access to Federally Funded Scientific Research: Building Communities of Collaboration

In an era of tightened fiscal belts and mandatory budget cuts, when libraries are asked to work smarter and do more and greater, “How can I as a librarian help students' access quality, authoritative, peer-reviewed, evidence-based, robust, and sustainable scientific data in a cost-effective manner?” Several federal agencies have released their Public Access Plans as a result of the February 22, 2013, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memorandum titled "Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research." Among the many public access returns on federal research and development expenditures, one is the more accessible knowledge resources to prepare the next generation of chemists, engineers, mathematicians, biologists, and physicists. Public access to the scholarship of STEM scientists and researchers is a valuable resource, with downstream benefits for students.