20/12/2008, Join us at ALA Midwinter in Denver
The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) are organising an information session on SCOAP³ at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver.
The SCOAP³ initiative has so far collected about 1/2 of its projected budget envelope in the United States, thanks to the vision and leadership of leading libraries and library consortia. The event and the following Q&A aim to present the initiative to colleagues from institutions of all sizes, which have the power of making Open Access happen by pledging to redirect their current subscription to High-Energy Physics journals to the SCOAP³ consortium.
The event will take place on Saturday, January 24, 2009, 10:30 a.m.-noon, at the Colorado Convention Center, Room 705. No registration is necessary to attend this event.

12/12/2008, SCOAP³ Funding status report (prepared for the ICOLC meeting, Munich October 2008)
SCOAP³ is collecting Expressions of Interest from partners worldwide to join the consortium. Once it will have reached a critical mass, SCOAP³ will be formally established and its governance put in place. SCOAP³ will then issue its call for tender to publishers, in order to assess the exact cost of its operation, and then move forward with negotiating and placing contracts with publishers.
In less than one year and a half, SCOAP³ has received pledges for 49.5% of its budget envelope. Most European countries have joined the consortium , with the remaining European partners poised to do so in the near future. The United States have already pledged about 1/2 of their contribution to the consortium, through leading US libraries, library consortia and HEP laboratories. Beyond Europe and North America,Turkey, Israel and Australia have also joined the consortium. Discussions and negotiations are in progress in several countries in Asia, North and South America.
Formal discussion with the publishers have not officially started, as the tendering process cannot be launched before a larger fraction of the SCOAP³ budget is pledged. However, publishers show a pro-active attitude of great support to Open Access in HEP.
SCOAP³ offers librarians the possibility to experiment a new, fair and sustainable, Open Access model, in a field where scientists are unconditionally supporting the initiative. To transform this initiative in reality, the vision and commitment of colleagues wordlwide is crucial.
» Read the full status report