The Importance of Open Access, Open Source, and Open Standards for Libraries | Edward M. Corrado | Spring 2005 | Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship

"Abstract: The open access, open source software, and open standards concepts have been garnering increased attention in the field of librarianship and elsewhere. These concepts and their benefits and importance to libraries are examined. Benefits include lower costs, greater accessibility, and better prospects for long-term preservation of scholarly works."

"...Putting Open Access, Open Source, and Open Standards Together

Open access, open source software, and open standards each individually offer a number of significant benefits to libraries. When they are combined the results can be even greater. Open source and open standards can help libraries provide patrons with easier access to open access materials and other resources. There are literally thousands of open access titles available and without open standards it would be very difficult to find what one is looking for or to view various articles. Imagine the difficulty, and costs involved, in maintaining a library's information technology infrastructure if each electronic journal required a separate, proprietary piece of software to read or search the journal. Open standards make it possible to create interoperable systems to access the literature in various open access journals seamlessly.

Open standards and open source can help preserve long-term access to open access and other types of electronic journals. Libraries working together can use open source software such as LOCKSS to ensure continued access to these scholarly publications long into the future. LOCKSS (short for "Lots Of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe") is a system that caches copies of digital collections around the world. As current computers, software, storage media, file formats, and other types of information technology become obsolete, it will be necessary to migrate open access articles and other data to new systems. Without the assistance of the software manufacturer (who may or may not even still be in business, let alone willing to help) proprietary software and file formats may make migration practically impossible. By utilizing open source software and open standards from the beginning, libraries can assure that this type of systems migration will be possible years down the road.

Not only has the growing cost of serials caused libraries to drop journal subscriptions, it has also factored into a 26% decrease of monograph acquisitions by the typical research library between 1986 and 1999 (Create Change 2002). Library budgets can be reallocated to monographs and other areas because of the lower costs typically involved with open access, open source, and open standards...."