Greetings from the USAIN Advocacy & Action Committee! We are writing to encourage you to respond to the call to action from SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) regarding the adoption of the Federal purpose license by federal agencies for implementation of the 2022 OSTP/Nelson Memorandum. You can participate by signing the SPARC statement as an individual and also, if your institution is a member, by asking your leadership to register their support. If you are not sure whether your institution is a member, check the list of current SPARC members for confirmation.

For more information and to sign, see the SPARC statement in support of using the Federal purpose license to implement the 2022 OSTP public access memo.

As demonstrated by USAIN action plans and goals, our organization is a proponent of open access to agricultural and scientific information and other forms of scholarship and knowledge creation.  Together with SPARC and other partners, USAIN members have the opportunity to make our voices heard at this critical juncture.

By the way, Katie Steen-James, Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy at SPARC, will be a speaker at the 2024 USAIN/CBHL conference in Michigan. She will be one of the panelists in the session sponsored by the USAIN Advocacy and Action Committee on Monday afternoon, May 6. If you are attending (in person or online) join us for informative and engaging professional interactions and exchange of knowledge on open access, advocacy and the OSTP memo.

Claudine Jenda and Jeanne Pfander
Co-Chairs, USAIN Advocacy & Action Committee