Opening Doors to Active Reading

Kopak’s article entitled Open Access and the Open Journal Systems: Making Sense All Over opens doors. What better way than to engage readers in a total reading /writing environment (Kopak, p.52) that immerses the audience in making meaning through links and tools that are accessible simultaneously. The author shows examples of such textual applications with reference to right margin cues: Abstract, Review Policy, Citation Protocol, Key Word Search, Supplementary Files, Book Searches, Related Studies, Media Reports, Email Author – all to engage the reader in current and reliable information, noting that literacy levels need to be considered in light of targeted audience if an educator wishes to use such a system as OJS. What is most impressive is that Direct Annotation noted by Shilit et al, 1998 (Kopak, 49) is viewed as an active reading strategy in which the reader can include personal notes and links to comparable sources which implies a critical engagement with information (Kopak, p.47).

Such an initiative promoted by scholars in the Public Knowledge Project means greater access to publicly-funded research documents attainable in a directory at http://www.doaj.org/. At last count over 3900 journals could be accessed free ranging from arts to science (Kopak, p.51). Now this shows once more the accelerated development of New Literacies embedding connectivity.

The notion of demand-pull learning is action oriented where learners are engaged dynamically with others and moves away from the traditional supply-push model of filling heads with knowledge according to Adler and Brown in Educause, 2008 (Kopak, p.52).

The Open Journal System (OJS) looks promising and fits with the creative commons movement of exponential learning. School teams could engage in such practice, as may very well be the case now, when one considers Inspiration software linking to databases that can be shared in blogs and wikis.

Bibliography:

Kopak, K. (2008). Open Access and the Open Journal Systems: Making Sense All Over School Libraries Worldwide (SLW),Volume 14, Number 2, July, 2008 (pp. 45-54) IASL
http://schoollibrariesworldwide-vol14no2.blogspot.com/

The Directory of Open Access Journals (2009). http://www.doaj.org/