WP2 Workshop in Partnership with University of Michigan, MPublishing, and Lyrasis | Community-led Open Publishing Infrastructures for Monographs (COPIM)

On May 13, 2020, COPIM’s Work Project 2 held its first workshop in collaboration with Lyrasis and The University of Michigan to enhance the development of resources, infrastructure, and support for open access books. Participation included individuals from organizations including University of Michigan, Lyrasis, UCL Press, University of North Carolina Press, Arc Humanities Press, Jisc NBK, African Minds, Westminster University Press, MIT Press, Florence University Press, Lexis Compagnia Editoriale, Stockholm University Press, Stockholm University Library, University of Wales Press, Knowledge Futures Group. Our discussion on designing a platform to support the publication of open aspect books surfaced the following concepts: Discovery: Discovery of open access content in library catalogues is one of the biggest challenges in integrating OA publications. There is a need to find mechanisms to increase discoverability for libraries to know what is included in their collections, particularly in relation to print vs digital OA material. Increased discoverability will allow stakeholders to connect easily with the OA initiatives they want to support. Sustainability: Open publishing must posses an agenda that considers the present and future of OA. Workshop participants stressed the importance of long term sustainability in OA initiatives and publishing. People expressed broad sentiment on the need to shape a sustainable open market that produces community learning as a springboard to help develop collective actions. This model should add value for readers, as well and should actively avoid obsolescent of past work. Values and strategy: Throughout the workshop, participants discussed the need for clear institutional strategies and principles that support open access. Institutional strategies are needed to facilitate and recognize institutional workers involvement with OA initiatives.