Scholarly Communication & Digital Initiatives
Committee Members
- Erica Pye, Abilene Christian University, Chair
- Caitlin Reeves Greenamyre, Columbia Theological Seminary
- Ann McShane, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
- Greg Murray, Princeton Theological Seminary
- Brad Ost, AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Marta Samokishyn, Saint Paul University
- Christy Karpinski, Atla Staff Liaison
- Alexis Weiss, Atla Staff Liaison
Year in Review
At Atla Annual 2023, our committee organized a conference post-workshop with Tanya Spilovoy on the topic of “Becoming an OER Advocate.” Tanya is involved with SPARC’s Open Education Leadership Program and used her expertise to share with participants some practical ideas on how to promote and advocate for the use of OER on their campuses.
In August of 2023, the SCADI committee welcomed two new members: Marta Samokishyn and Caitlin Greenamyre.
The SCADI committee continued to promote and execute two grant programs: the Atla Digitization Grant Program and the Atla OER Grant Program. The Digitization Grant seeks to support institutions in their efforts to digitize and make more accessible collection items from special collections and archives departments. Grant funds are available for up to $5000 for new digitization projects. This year our committee had six applicants for the Digitization Grant, and funds were awarded to three institutions: Congregational Library and Archives, Graduate Theological Union, and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
The OER Grant encourages institutions to either replace commercial course materials with low or no-cost materials, or create entirely new OERs without reusing or remixing any existing content. Grant awards range from $1500 to $3500. No applications were received this year, and the SCADI committee discussed ideas for better promoting the grant, as well as utilizing Atla surveys to get a better idea of what members are interested in learning in regards to OER. Possible partnerships between Atla and SPARC were also discussed.