Is it really possible for libraries to maintain control of their content, spend less money in the process and provide open access to all?
For many years commercial publishers have controlled what and how content was published and the terms under which it was offered to libraries and their patrons. As an example, in the area of special collections, publishers have long offered to digitize important collections held by libraries at no cost to the institution. While the libraries receive back the digitized content, the digital rights remain with the publisher and the source library is restricted in what they can do with their own content. The collections become locked away forever behind expensive pay walls. While expedient, this model does not always align with the mission of libraries to advance scholarship by preserving and providing wide access to content to all who are interested.
The open access movement sprang to life in response to this and other commercial publishing models. The movement toward open access began with scholarly journals and has now pushed into monographs and special collections. At the same time, crowd-funding has proven to be an effective model for pooling resources to bring worthy projects to life.
Reveal Digital is combining the concepts of open-access and crowd-funding to create a sustainable model for broadening access to library special collections. Yes, working together libraries can change the publishing paradigm and economically expand access to unique and valuable content!
In this session, the founder of Reveal Digital, along with thought leaders representing faculty, academic libraries and archives, will explore why this and other models were developed, how they work and how your institution can meaningfully participate in the advancement scholarship.
