Growing recognition of the value of open access books

We are pleased to share a number of recent initiatives that underline the growing recognition of the value of open access books and of DOAB as a primary resource for discovery and quality assurance.

Jisc adds DOAB records to Library Hub Discover

In view of the coronavirus and the requirements for people to stay at home wherever possible, Jisc decided to prioritise adding open access resources to Library Hub Discover. As a first result, Discover now contains DOAB records with other resources to follow. OA records in Discover can be found by using the keyword ‘open access’ and contain the OA symbol. Selecting the Directory of Open Access Books in a record will lead to the OA link.

See: https://libraryservices.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2020/03/open-access-resources-on-library-hub-discover/

Library of Congress integrates DOAB records

The Library of Congress has conducted a pilot to integrate OA books listed in DOAB into the Library’s collection. The pilot involved identifying listed OA books in DOAB that were already held by the Library as print books. In doing so, these books are now openly available from the Library of Congress website to anyone in the world with an internet connection. The pilot involved a process to create new MARC records for the catalog, and acquiring the digital files to enable long term preservation of the identified OA books. The pilot resulted in access to over three hundred OA books listed in DOAB, and a workflow to support routine OA book processing for DOAB and other OA book collections.

More about this pilot: https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2020/03/more-open-ebooks-routinizing-open-access-ebook-workflows/