Report: “Plans For a New Open Access Book Network Take Shape”

From SPARC Europe:

Foundational planning is currently underway for the formation of an Open Access Book Network. Development of this network was the topic of a recent ELPUB 2019 Conference panel session led by Eelco Ferwerda from OAPEN,  with the University of Cambridge’s Rupert Gatti, Pierre Mounier of OPERAS, Andrea Bertino of SUB Goettingen, and SPARC Europe Director Vanessa Proudman.

The original idea for the network was born in Autumn 2018 during an OA books event hosted by Knowledge Exchange in Brussels as a follow-up of the landscape study published earlier. Proudman initiated the concept to establish a sustainable knowledge network in Europe to accelerate the innovation of the OA book publishing industry, a network that is inclusive of all of Europe and that shares lessons learnt from all parts of the continent.

“We were imagining a European network that would serve the OA books community, providing a means to coordinate initiatives among countries and enabling innovation and more rapid progress with OA books,” said Proudman.

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Among the challenges discussed was the fact that numerous Open Science networks, including the Open Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), Association of University Presses (AUP), OPERAS, Research Data Alliance (RDA), or OpenAIRE, already exist; and the importance of not duplicating efforts was emphasised. The point was also raised that organisers could learn from these on how to manage this new OA Book Network.

Read the Complete Blog Post

See Also: Slides and Posters From ELPUB 2019

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