Open Access Publishing in European Networks (OAPEN) is a new consortium of university and museum presses dedicated to publishing OA monographs with print-on-demand (POD) editions. (Thanks to Jean Kempf.) From the home page:
OAPEN is a project in Open Access publishing for humanities monographs. The Open Access movement has developed rapidly in the sciences and in journal publishing. The consortium of University-based academic publishers who make up OAPEN believe that the time is ripe to fully explore the possibilities of Open Access in the humanities and social sciences.
The OAPEN partners all currently have some involvement in the Open Access movement, and you are encouraged to view their pages on this site and on their own sites....
While the current, rapidly changing world requires increased research and improved dissemination in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), availability of and access to academic publications in many areas of HSS is actually fragmented and limited. Language barriers in Europe limit the national markets for publications and add to their costs. The high and increasing costs of international STM publications cut into the available budgets of University Libraries for HSS publications. This means smaller print runs and higher costs, resulting in higher barriers for new publications.
Faced with the serious economic restrictions surrounding the publication of scholarly books, University Presses all over the world have begun to recognise digital publishing as a viable alternative to disseminate works that would otherwise not have been published and as an important tool to increase the availability of works that otherwise would only have a very limited distribution....
However, many of the smaller and medium sized society- and university-publishers - in most cases operating on a not-for-profit basis - have difficulties to take up the full potential of digital publishing and its corresponding new business models. Digital Open Access publishing has focused almost exclusively on STM and journals. Monographs, edited volumes and archival materials, quintessential to the HSS, have so far largely been neglected....
Recently, Ithaka published its extensive report on 'University Publishing in the Digital Age' in which it is suggested that the online publication role of university presses should be expanded and that presses should collaborate on many functions related to online publication, as is already common in journal publishing. A collaborative electronic publishing infrastructure of presses and libraries will save costs, build scale, leverage expertise and promote innovation....
A clear example of the move towards digital publishing in HSS has been the revival of Rice University Press as the first fully digital university press in the United States and subsequently the announcement that Stanford University Press will be collaborating with Rice to publish a series of books reviewed by Stanford....
Comment. This is an excellent idea, much needed. I applaud the OA orientation, the HSS focus, the POD option, and the consortial collaboration. Kudos to all involved.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/08/2007 02:32:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
