Open Access Books: How to Find, Acquire, and Use Them | American Library Association 2021 Conference

"Over 35,000 open access academic books are now cataloged in the Directory of Open Access Books. This is, however, a subset of the titles becoming available thanks to increased funding, in both the US and Europe. Many are of extremely high quality and from well-known as well as innovative new publishers. Because library vendors struggle with the business model, there are obstacles for libraries in trying to acquire these titles. This session will explore the changing landscape of OA ebooks and describe successful strategies adopted by libraries to add them to collections, support their publishing, discovery, and use. Many libraries are interested in supporting open access, but they are challenged by both budgetary issues and workflow exceptions. This session will provide a manageable and pragmatic way forward for academic libraries of all sizes. The speakers will share how their institutions are supporting open access book publication while also adding valuable new resources for their campus communities -- free of the familiar use restrictions that are so frustrating to librarians when working with ebooks...."

session part of American Library Association virtual conference, June 23-29, 2021