In celebration of Open Access Week 2020, this is the fourth blog in a series of five written by the UConn Library Scholarly Communications Coordinating Group (SCCG) to explore how Open Access has impacted the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more about the SCCG and find more resources, see our Scholarly Communications webpage.
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the process of sharing information to help stop the spread of the virus. Engineering standards that address the design of personal protective equipment were made available for free by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and ASTM International (American Society for Testing and Materials). Normally, all engineering standards are behind a paywall, only available for purchase or by an institutional subscription.
In addition, the maker community was quick to respond by making CAD drawings on STL files of face shields and sharing them on websites like Thingiverse. Quilting and craft communities shared free templates for fabric face masks, designed to be worn by the public, thereby preserving the supply of N95 masks for medical personnel. To learn more about this, click on the links below.
- Free sharing of ISO Standards which relate to equipment used to combat and protect against COVID-19: https://www.iso.org/covid19
- ASTM Standards for Face Masks made available for free during the pandemic: https://www.astm.org/standardization-news/?q=features/standards-medical-face-masks-and-protective-clothing-.html
- Creative Commons Licensed 3D Printer files for Face shields shared on Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4233193/files
- Free sharing of cloth face mask templates for non-medical personnel:https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/diy-face-masks-4800726
