Open access advocate learns from her students

Carolyn Kenny is a professor of human development and indigenous studies at Antioch University and co-editor-in-chief of the open access journal Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. In a new interview at Create Change, Kenny describes how she got her beginning with open access:

I was a recalcitrant, traditional paper-and-pen professor, who printed out every document from the computer and worked with the hard copies. About ten years ago, one of my art students said she wanted to do a Web-based thesis. I was horrified. I said: “No way. This is ridiculous.” But she was persistent. Finally, I told her to give it a try. Once I got into it, I was totally hooked. She was able to embed photographs of the art installations of her students in the document. When she cited books and articles, we could just click onto an embedded link that took us directly to the reference list for the full citations. I was just blown away. Ever since then, I’ve been a fan. Now I encourage students to do Web-based dissertations. I’m not fluent in electronic media myself. Often I learn about new options from our librarian or my students.

Students: Ask your professors to support open access!