MCLS supports open access (OA) and provides opportunities for its members to participate in OA initiatives. Definitionally, “Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the Internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder.” (Suber, 2004). OA traces its beginnings to the start of the Internet when scholars recognized the potential of electronic access for sharing information and advancing scholarly communication. For users, OA is all about accessing materials freely. However, creating and publishing OA literature is not free; it carries certain costs, which vary by publisher.
For scholarly journals and books, transformative agreements have emerged as the means for transitioning the cost of publication away from the traditional subscription model. A transformative agreement’s goal is to move the cost associated with publication to the publishing (researcher) side, away from the reading (user) side. See the material provided in the additional resources section below for a comprehensive overview of open access and transformative agreements.
Along with the OA efforts in scholarly communication, other OA initiatives are making it possible for users to freely access high quality content. These include open educational resources (OER) such as textbooks for students, as well as specialized collections of digital content.
To support libraries in their journey toward open access, MCLS offers educational webinars and pursues transformative agreements based on library interest. MCLS is a consortium member of the Open Education Network (OEN), which provides MCLS members with discounted access to OEN services. Additionally, MCLS serves as the fiscal agent for the Michigan OER Network in support of their efforts to enhance access to OERs throughout the state.
Contact services@mcls.org for more information about open access opportunities available to MCLS members.
Suber, Peter (2004, December 29). A very brief introduction to open access. Retrieved from http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/brief.htm.
