Utrecht University Joins Knowledge Commons as a Sustaining Member

We are excited to share that Utrecht University in Utrecht, Netherlands is joining Knowledge Commons as a sustaining member! Their participation will help us to continue supporting our community of researchers, educators, students, and creators as they discover open works, connect with their peers, and share their valuable contributions to our collective knowledge. We are grateful to everyone at Utrecht for their work in bringing our two organizations together, and we look forward to growing our relationship over the coming years!

“[At Utrecht University Library] we recognize that true openness cannot happen without the involvement of communities at the margins of and beyond our own institutional boundaries,” writes Dr. Hanna de Vries, one of the university’s open access librarians. “This principle of knowledge equity is at the core of what Knowledge Commons does. Their group pages facilitate collaboration between researchers all over the world, and provide homes for communities that do not fit neatly within existing infrastructure and institutional budgets (including several Utrecht University-based student journals, as well as initiatives like the Netherlands Open Access Books network). KC provides a trusted repository for researchers who don’t have access to an institutional one, and its profile pages provide visibility for early-career or independent researchers who can’t rely on an institutional profile page. With many more exciting developments no doubt still to come, we are proud and happy to support Knowledge Commons in making scholarship more open, inclusive, and global.”

Sustaining members are crucial to Knowledge Commons’ ability to offer kcommons.org and KCWorks to users worldwide and free of charge. Our members’ investments provide the resources necessary for the maintenance and growth of our network. “Knowledge Commons relies on a growing coalition of individual and institutional supporters like Utrecht University that believe in the possibilities presented by collective action,” notes project director Kathleen Fitzpatrick. “Each of our institutions faces challenges in supporting the open-source technologies that allow for collaboration and communication about teaching, research, and creative activity, but together we can sustain a values-enacted, community-governed network for everyone.”

If your organization shares our vision of a more open, equitable future for knowledge exchange, consider joining today or contacting us about KCWorks for Institutions. When libraries and institutions join Knowledge Commons, they receive meaningful benefits that are specific to their needs and are also supporting a vital network that allows thousands of scholars across the world to connect and share their work. Plus, organizations get a behind-the-scenes look at the work we’ve planned in the future, with the ability to have a voice in the direction of our work. And if you’re one of our users who believes in our values and enjoys using the Commons, consider having your library contact us at network@hcommons.org.