This year's Open Access theme is "Community over Commercialization", and it is taking place from October 23-29, 2023. This theme aims to create a dialogue on the approaches which do and do not prioritize the best interest of the public.

Over the years, Loyola University Libraries has celebrated this occasion by organizing events around it, and also showcasing the diversity of the university's e-Common's collection. 

Here is a snapshot of the Loyola eCommons dashboard which reveals downloads from all over the world from 2008- to the present.

Loyola eCommons is an open access, sustainable, and secure resource created to preserve and provide access to research, scholarship, and creative works created by the university community for the benefit of Loyola students, faculty, staff, and the larger world. With readership from over 236 countries, Loyola eCommons has in its repository over 18,000 works including articles, multimedia, dissertations and thesis, in over 200 disciplines which have been added to the website over the years. The website is continuously updated with content made freely available for researchers, and students all over the world.

Here is a snapshot of some of the most downloaded material amongst the global eCommons community-

• The Power of a Stereotype: American Depictions of the Black Woman in Film Media - Brittany Terry
• The Human Relations Approach and Its Critics - Ronald William Korajczyk
• The Poetic Theory and Practice of Langston Hughes - Philip M. Royster
• The Role of the Phillipine Education System in National Development During and After the New Society 1972-1986 - Loudres Rayla Baluga
• High School Leadership: A Study of Differential Characteristics of Emergent Leaders and Non-Leaders in a Small Private Roman Catholic Girls' High School in a Large Midwestern City - Hubert James Horan
• Comics and Conflict: War and Patriotically Themed Comics in American Cultural History From World War Ii Through the Iraq War - Cord A. Scott

This year, Open Access Week will be celebrated alongside National Friends of Libraries Week at Loyola. The panel discussion on 'Advancing a Just and Open Media Landscape' will explore this year's Open Access theme 'Community over Commercialization'. 

Join us for a conversation with panel members from the Loyola community and beyond who will share their perspectives on creating and providing access to books and print media, open data, and open digital collections, all of which creates a more open and just media landscape. 

Moderator and Panelists

• Moderated by Margaret Heller, University Libraries, Digital Services Librarian 
• Jennifer Farrell, Principal Designer & Printer, Starshaped Press and advocate for “Free the Books” campaign
• Greg Matthews, Faculty, Loyola University Chicago, Center for Data Science and Consulting 
• Brianna Wright, Graduate student, Loyola University Chicago, Digital Humanities

Registration Link

Friends of Libraries are a group of dedicated individuals, volunteers, and advocates who support and promote libraries within their communities. These groups are typically composed of library enthusiasts, readers, and local residents who understand the importance of libraries as valuable community resources.

This year, the National Friends of the Libraries Week is being celebrated from October 15-21, 2023. 
 

Check out this selection of research works related to community organizing and social justice hosted by Loyola on eCommons, our institutional repository.

• The Challenges of “Moving at the Speed of Trust”: How Women Navigate New Public Management Dynamics in Power-based Community Organizations 
• An Emerging University-School-Community Partnership: A Story in Two Acts
• The Future of Grassroots America: Local Perspectives on Current and Emerging Issues Facing Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities
• Cultivating Community & Creating Safe Spaces at GirlForward
• (Re)imagining Community-Engaged Curriculum and Pedagogy: Shifting Subjectivities and Power/Knowledge among Faculty/Doctoral Students
• Environmental Gentrification in Chicago: Perceptions, Dilemmas and Paths Forward
• "Hear Us, See Us!": How Mothers of Color Transform Family and Community Relationships Through Grassroots Collective Action
• Collective Survival Strategies and Anti-Colonial Practice in Ecosocial Work