Institution news
If knowledge is power, then information is surely the route to that power.
In the case of engineers, they need to have access to books, journals, information and technical papers wherever they are in the world. I believe that we are all in favour of promoting education for everyone, and strengthening our learned society.
My colleague, Claire Minto from Sage Publishing, was describing how they are looking to expand the reach of their technical papers.
In addition to the established subscription journals now being available on an open access basis, they also have a new stream of journals that are completely open access. Researchers, or by default their funders, can publish technical papers which can be accessed by anyone and just by ‘googling’ the topic.
While publishers have tried to maximise access to their papers in developing countries over the years, this complete openness, with no checks and registrations, is encouraging new readers.
It also means more papers are being published – satisfying the growing need for the increasing number of researchers to publish papers, and funding organisations’ wish for wider access to their funded work.
This is in line with new services being offered by the Institution.
The Information and Library service now provides members free access to over 40,000 ebooks and ejournals via our virtual library. The resources include core engineering books and journals, and enable the library to serve members wherever they are with trusted engineering information.
There are collaborative projects underway to digitise books and make them freely available. We at the Institution are currently building a search engine for our virtual library resources, which will search across our subscription services and also some of these open access sites, to make it easier for members to quickly find the right information.
As Head of Engineering in Society, I feel passionately about developing a worldwide network of engineers, all of whom have access to the latest knowledge and innovative thinking.
By freely sharing the knowledge we have developed and research we have done, engineers will be able to contribute to global industries and technical developments wherever they live.
Of course this type of open access model has been around for a few years in the form of the distance learning course, now often referred to as a MOOC (massive open online course).
“MOOCs are online courses offered by universities for free to the public. Each class is typically taken by thousands of people from around the world.
"While close one-on-one interaction between the instructor and students is not possible with so many students in each course, rich online discussions between students from around the world are possible.”
These courses have had a huge impact on the education sector, allowing people to get high quality engineering teaching online at a low cost - or even for free.
This encourages further education, reskilling, career changes and puts the power in the hands of the individual – they no longer depend on the admission procedures, funding council approval or company support.
You may have also seen the Institution’s new Video On Demand service launched earlier this year, which provides exclusive video content on the latest news, reports, policy statements and case studies. While still in its infancy, this has the potential to give our global Members access to conferences, seminars and the latest engineering thinking.
While this stealthy, online revolution is going on, some of us are hardly noticing it. It may have not yet impacted on our working life. However, our younger colleagues are definitely ahead of the game and eagerly embracing open access.
They are used to sharing information and talking across continents, and see this as part of their working environment. They are perfectly comfortable with sharing an idea online, or commenting on someone’s product design, or searching on the internet for a bit of information that is hampering their technical progress.
These changes have the potential to revolutionise the acquisition of knowledge for the 21st century engineer. I fully support the principle of information and education for all, and training engineers all over the world is to be commended and encouraged.
I look forward to seeing exactly how this dynamic market place will evolve, and I am pleased to see the Institution playing an active part.
Dr Helen Meese CEng MIMechE is the Institution's Head of Engineering in Society. She works to raise the profile of mechanical engineering, focusing on innovative and emerging technologies and how they impact on society, both in the UK and internationally.
Follow or contact Helen on Twitter @HMeese_IMechE.