Webinar: Opening the Future and the Open Book Collective. Diamond Open Access for Books? Nov 29, 2023. 10am-noon (CET) | open-access.network: Information Event on November 29th, 2023

The event takes place on 29.11.2023, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (CET):
https://bbb.uni-konstanz.de/b/mar-hrv-ndt-4gq

Guest are:

Dr. Joe Deville (Senior Lecturer Lancaster University & Managing Director Open Book Collective)
Tom Grady (Scholarly Publishing Outreach Officer, Birbeck, University of London, Opening the Future)
Dr. Andrea Hacker (Open Access Officer, Unversity Library Basel (Switzerland) & board member of the Open Book Collective)

 

 

Abstract

Due to high prices charged by commercial academic publishers and limited funding opportunities, it is still more difficult for scholars to publish Open Access books than journal articles. But how could open access books be produced at fair prices or even BPC-free? The Copim community has been investigating this question since 2020. Two models have developed in this context:

Opening the Future enables the financing of Open Access books through a membership model: in return for an annual membership fee, academic publishers make a selection of their backlist (non-OA books) available to academic libraries. The income from these membership fees enables the realisation of new OA books. 

The Open Book Collective is a non-profit organisation that emerged from the COPIM project and connects libraries, publishers, scholars and OA professionals with the aim of facilitating access to diverse and fair OA publications. The OBC is based on a governance structure including all stakeholders (publishers, libraries, scholars), preventing a commecrial sell-out. For publication service providers and publishers, the OBC allows them to finance their operations through a membership model. Libraries and researchers can use the OBC online platform to research and find OA publications, order or download them, and manage orders and subscriptions.

In this event, we want to present these initiatives and discuss their potential from the perspective of academic libraries.

The event is held in English.

Webinar “The Times They Are A’ Changing: How Can We Fund Open Access Books Equitably and Sustainably”, Nov 1, 2023 @ 3pm (GMT), online.

We are witnessing a steady shift towards OA for books: government mandates and statements of intent are proliferating, and with them, funding schemes based on library memberships are proliferating as publishers look for ways to finance their OA book production. So how can we make sure this shift is sustainable and workable for libraries? Likewise, how can we make sure smaller publishers are not left behind, while the big players corner all the cash? This 45-minute webinar is for anyone working in scholarly communications, library acquisitions, and/or publishing – in fact anyone with an interest in equitable OA models for scholarly monographs. Expert speakers from the California Digital Library will give a library perspective, then we’ll hear the publisher perspective from CEU Press, a small publisher with a big OA mission, who will talk about their Opening the Future program and where it fits within the evolving landscape of open access book publishing. We’ll fill in that broader picture with a speaker from the COPIM Project who has been working on multiple routes to collective equitable support for OA books, and Project MUSE will offer the perspective of intermediaries who play a crucial role in platforming several of these OA initiatives, big and small.

Speakers:

Tom Grady, Work Package Lead, Opening the Future @ Copim
Frances Pinter, Executive Chair, CEU Press
Emily Poznanski, Director, CEU Press
Miranda Bennett, Director of Shared Collections, California Digital Library
Melanie Schaffner, Director of Communication, Marketing, & Engagement, Project MUSE

The Times They Are A’ Changing: How Can We Fund Open Access Books Equitably and Sustainably

“We are witnessing a steady shift towards OA for books: government mandates and statements of intent are proliferating, and with them, funding schemes based on library memberships are proliferating as publishers look for ways to finance their OA book production. So how can we make sure this shift is sustainable and workable for libraries? Likewise, how can we make sure smaller publishers are not left behind, while the big players corner all the cash?

This 45-minute webinar is for anyone working in scholarly communications, library acquisitions, and/or publishing – in fact anyone with an interest in equitable OA models for scholarly monographs. Expert speakers from the California Digital Library will give a library perspective, then we’ll hear the publisher perspective from CEU Press, a small publisher with a big OA mission, who will talk about their Opening the Future program and where it fits within the evolving landscape of open access book publishing. We’ll fill in that broader picture with a speaker from the COPIM Project who has been working on multiple routes to collective equitable support for OA books, and Project MUSE will offer the perspective of intermediaries who play a crucial role in platforming several of these OA initiatives, big and small.”

Job: Scholarly Publishing Outreach Officer, Opening The Future. Applications invited by Oct 08, 2023 | Birkbeck, University of London

COPIM is reshaping how knowledge dissemination is funded and accessed. Do you want to be part one of the most ambitious and impactful projects working in open access scholarly publishing today?

Your role will encompass three main areas: 

engagement and outreach; 
revenue model analysis and implementation; 
creating an OA books information hub.

You will take a leading role in library and publisher engagement for the Opening the Future (OtF) revenue model, a key part of COPIM’s ‘Open Book Futures’ project. A primary responsibility is building relationships with library supporters, partner publishers, and team colleagues. You will contribute to the success of the model by participating in marketing and outreach activities, including working with social media, writing press releases, conference proposals and reports, and organising events to bring stakeholders together. 

You will work with publishers to analyse their financial models and monograph backlists, writing persuasive business cases based on your analysis. In tandem with the OtF lead you will execute the implementation of the revenue model at three newly-joining presses. You’ll also liaise with the two original OtF presses to ensure their continued successful participation.

Working closely with project colleagues and partners Jisc and LYRASIS you will co-create an OA books information hub: collating and presenting resources, advice, and pathways to OA implementation for publishers.

To be successful in this role you will have:

An excellent understanding of open-access publishing and pertinent developments in the monograph and policy space.
Strong interpersonal, professional communications skills and the ability to build and maintain partner relationships.
Experience of writing well and to deadline for different audiences and different media/social media/channels.
The ability to keep track of a range of ongoing tasks and schedules.

In return the role offers you:

Opportunity to work remotely
Be part of a knowledgeable, committed, experienced and fun project team
Enjoy an international and diverse work atmosphere
Be part of an ambitious project bringing about real change in OA book publishing.

This opportunity would build on experience as: scholarly communications librarian, marketing officer, publishing assistant.

Contract

This role is offered on a fixed-term basis until 30 April 2026.

Salary and Benefits 

Grade 7 of the College’s London Pay Scale which is £42,365 rising to £48,424 per annum.  

Birkbeck offers a competitive salary and pension scheme, 31 days paid leave, flexible working arrangements and some of the most generous benefits in the HE sector, all while being located right in the heart of Central London. 

The salary quoted is on the College’s London Pay Scale which includes a consolidated Weighting/Allowance which applies only to staff whose normal contractual place of work is in the London area.

 

Birkbeck plays leading role in project set to increase access of valuable research to the general public — Birkbeck, University of London

“Open Book Futures (OBF) is a new project working to increase access to valuable research through developing and supporting organisations, tools and practices that will enable both academics and the wider public to make more and better use of books published on an Open Access basis. In particular, the project aims to achieve a step change in how community-owned Open Access book publishing is delivered. 

Funded by Arcadia and the Research England Development (RED) Fund, the project marks a shift in the ambition, scope and impact of community-owned Open Access book publishing. It will significantly increase and improve the quantity, discoverability, preservation and accessibility of academic content freely and easily available to all.  

This will be done by building the infrastructures, business models, networks and resources that are needed to deliver a future for Open Access books, led not by large commercial operations but by communities of scholars, small-to-medium-sized publishers, not-for-profit infrastructure providers, and scholarly libraries.  

This includes expanding the work of the recently launched Open Book Collective, which makes it easier for academic libraries to provide direct financial support to Open Access publishing initiatives, as well as the Thoth metadata management platform; the Opening the Future revenue model, piloted with Central European University Press and Liverpool University Press; and the forthcoming Experimental Publishing Compendium….”

Opening the Future at CEU Press: an update on progress

“A brief look at our progress so far, since launching our OA funding programme in 2021

Central European University (CEU) Press, in partnership with the COPIM project, are proud to share the first insights into the global reach of open access (OA) titles funded by their Opening the Future (OtF) initiative. This collective subscription model gives libraries access to a selection of the Press’ backlist and uses the membership fees to publish new OA titles to increase readership. A forthcoming report, based on Project MUSE usage data, looks in detail at the usage of these OA books – below we outline a few highlights from the report.

WHAT did we achieve so far?

The model, launched in 2021, has grown its membership continuously and we already have the funding for more than 35 OA titles over the next few years.

HOW did OA book usage grow?

Looking at usage data on the Project MUSE platform between December 2021 and December 2022, we compared the ten OtF-funded OA books to ten similar closed titles. Similar titles were chosen on the basis of close publication dates and subject scope.

Project MUSE host the gated backlist packages as well as the new frontlist OA titles and we can see that the readership of our books has risen substantially with the introduction of OA, which is no surprise. Since 2021 our OA books funded by Opening the Future have been downloaded 36 times more frequently than similar gated titles. 

In fact, for the same time period, the overall download numbers for all CEU Press books on Project MUSE also show not only significant increase in usage across all titles, but more specifically a strong growth in the usage of OA books….”

University of Washington becomes new Opening the Future member at CEU Press and Liverpool University Press

“CEU Press and Liverpool University Press (LUP) are pleased to announce that the library at the University of Washington is a new member of the Opening the Future (OtF) programmes at both publishers. 

The U of Washington library has chosen to sign up to: 

 

At CEU Press: the Library Selection Package, which contains 50 eBooks selected by an independent panel of librarians on the history of the Central and Eastern European region, culture, communism, politics, and transitions to democracy. This package contains a cross-section of books and represents those CEU Press titles that might be of interest to any library across a number of disciplines.

At LUP: the Modern Languages Package which contains 37 eBooks on ‘Contemporary Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures’ and ‘Liverpool Latin American Studies’, including titles on languages, politics, popular culture, and business.

 

The library will retain access to all of these books with both presses in perpetuity after three years of membership….”

University of Washington becomes new Opening the Future member at CEU Press and Liverpool University Press

“CEU Press and Liverpool University Press (LUP) are pleased to announce that the library at the University of Washington is a new member of the Opening the Future (OtF) programmes at both publishers. 

The U of Washington library has chosen to sign up to: 

 

At CEU Press: the Library Selection Package, which contains 50 eBooks selected by an independent panel of librarians on the history of the Central and Eastern European region, culture, communism, politics, and transitions to democracy. This package contains a cross-section of books and represents those CEU Press titles that might be of interest to any library across a number of disciplines.

At LUP: the Modern Languages Package which contains 37 eBooks on ‘Contemporary Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures’ and ‘Liverpool Latin American Studies’, including titles on languages, politics, popular culture, and business.

 

The library will retain access to all of these books with both presses in perpetuity after three years of membership….”