TRLN endorses SPARC scholarly communication principles

The Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN), of which the NC State University Libraries is a proud member, has officially endorsed the SPARC Good Practice Principles for Scholarly Communication Services.

“Endorsing these principles is further recognition that the Triangle provides a unique concentration of expertise in scholarly communication, digital humanities, open science, data curation, and open pedagogy,” says Greg Raschke, Senior Vice Provost and Director of the Libraries and the TRLN Executive Committee chair. “We are eager to expand our existing transformative partnerships, promoting the Triangle as a center of excellence in this sphere.” 

The SPARC principles reflect a growing concern about the increasing concentration of control of research communication functions in the hands of a small number of players, whose objectives do not reflect the interests of scholarship. The aim is to ensure that services are transparent, open, and support the aims of scholarship.

SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) works to enable the open sharing of research outputs and educational materials in order to democratize access to knowledge, accelerate discovery, and increase the return on our investment in research and education. As a catalyst for action, SPARC focuses on collaborating with other stakeholders—including authors, publishers, libraries, students, funders, policymakers and the public—to build on the opportunities created by the Internet, promoting changes to both infrastructure and culture needed to make open the default for research and education.

NC State is one of over 200 North American member organizations in SPARC.