DOAB launches with open access monographs

The Directory of Open Access Books just launched in beta.  I am library to my pretty large list of free ebook portals.  I will also consider adding some of the relevant academic titles to our online catalog.

Created by the  OAPEN Foundation, an international initiative based at the National Library in The Hague, in cooperation with digital library software development company, SemperTool:

the primary aim of DOAB is to increase discoverability of Open Access books.  Academic publishers are invited to provide metadata of their Open Access books to DOAB. Metadata will be harvestable in order to maximize dissemination, visibility and impact. Aggregators can integrate the records in their commercial services and libraries can integrate the directory into their online catalogues, helping scholars and students to discover the books. The directory will be open to all publishers who publish academic, peer reviewed books in Open Access and should contain as many books as possible, provided that these publications are in Open Access and meet academic standards.

Publishers may contribute titles if their

• academic books in DOAB are available under an Open Access license (such as a Creative Commons license)
• academic books in DOAB are subjected to independent and external peer review prior to publication

We are still at the beginning of the open access movement.

This beta currently offers 756 searchable, browseable academic titles, contributed by 23 publishers.  It is now a rather small collection of what may appear to be long tail offerings.  So, it’s not going to be a solution for most of your more serious high school researchers . . . yet.

DOAB expects greater participation among academic publishers internationally, and the potential for a large scale open access academic library is exciting.

If you are a fan of the open access movement, don’t forget about the steadily growing Directory of Open Access Journals,

The aim of the Directory of Open Access Journals is to increase the visibility and ease of use of open access scientific and scholarly journals thereby promoting their increased usage and impact. The Directory aims to be comprehensive and cover all open access scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality control system to guarantee the content. In short a one stop shop for users to Open Access Journals.

DOAJ journals, with their academic content and international scope often prove helpful for senior project research.  They can also be professionally helpful.

Among those DOAJ journals of interest to library professionals are:

Filed under: ebooks