The Cost of Knowledge: Celebrating Open Access Week 2026
October 08, 2026
From textbooks to open access publishing fees, the cost of knowledge continues to increase.
We're celebrating Open Access Week with workshops and events to raise awareness about the costs associated with research and higher education.
Check out the information displays around campus and our posts on Instagram, too!
International Open Access Week
International Open Access Week is an opportunity for the global research community to celebrate advancements in making knowledge more open and accessible. It’s also a time to reflect on how we can do more. This year’s theme is The Cost of Knowledge:
"We create and share knowledge in order to advance human understanding and the common good. We recognize that accessing and sharing knowledge is a human right. Yet, the costs to access and share knowledge continue to increase, often dramatically. Why? Who benefits?"
Open access at the library
The library is committed to supporting and advancing open access. We commit to ensuring barrier-free access to scholarly content to the broadest possible community, to increase visibility, usage, and impact.
Workshops
Choosing and using open-source software
Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in-person
Open-source software is everywhere in research, but not all tools are created equal. This session will help you make confident, informed choices about the software you rely on, so you can save time and support tools that align with open science.
You'll learn how to evaluate open-source tools, including licensing, community support, documentation, and long-term maintenance. You’ll also learn how these tools compare to proprietary alternatives.
Practical data skills workshop: Pre-register your study
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, online
This workshop is designed for students, researchers, and campus staff looking to strengthen their skills. No prior experience is required.
Learn how and why pre-registering your study with OSF Registries increases the transparency and credibility of your research.
The Practical Data Skills workshop series teaches practical skills that support Open Science (also known as Open Scholarship). Open Science is a broad movement to make research across disciplines more transparent, accessible, and collaborative.
Open Science is about more than just making research openly available. It's about transforming how that knowledge is produced.
ORCID pop-up workshop for grad students
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., in person at the Grad House
For UVic grad students
Your ORCID iD is your unique researcher identifier. It lets you claim your scholarly work and ensure that it's discoverable. Best of all, it’s portable! Because it’s not tied to an institution or a publisher, it stays with you throughout your career.
Drop by our pop‑up workshop to get set up in minutes (during coffee time!)
- Create your ORCID and populate your profile.
- Get answers to all of your ORCID questions.
- Learn about other ways the library can help you.
Data horror stories
Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, online
Government data vanishes. Anonymous data comes back to haunt the researchers. A researcher’s data about spiders is a web of lies. All of these started as normal projects. Would you and your data be smart enough to survive?
Learn what happened and walk away with tools to avoid becoming the next cautionary tale.
Resurrect your laptop with Linux workshop: Spooky edition!
Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in person
In the spirit of friendly Halloween fun, we will be resurrecting more of your nearly "dead" laptops—working laptops you no longer use because their operating systems are outdated, or they are not powerful enough to run the latest versions of Windows or macOS.
Bring in your laptop and we will resurrect it by installing Linux! Linux is a free and open-source operating system that is gaining traction across the globe as a competitor to Windows and Apple operating systems.
Do you have an old laptop lost in the netherworld of uselessness? Are you a Windows or Mac user in need of an exorcism to purge the spirits bogging your old hardware down? Sick of new AI assistants haunting your laptop? Frustrated seeing older but perfectly usable laptops zombified because Microsoft or Apple no longer provide security updates?
Then join us for this spooky and fun Linux install party, in a relaxed and supportive environment. Costumes encouraged!