Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Announce a New Partnership

From an ASERL Announcement:

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is excited to announce a new partnership with the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL). The arrangement shines a spotlight on the importance of open access at a time when both libraries and the organizations on which they depend — such as DOAJ — are facing unprecedented financial risks.

“We are delighted to announce this new agreement today with the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries and greatly appreciate their support of our work. Partnerships such as this are key to the future of DOAJ, open access, and scholarly publishing,” said Lars Bjørnshauge, DOAJ Founder and Managing Director.

As a free and independent database, DOAJ indexes over 15,000 peer-reviewed open access journals from around the world. ASERL is one of the largest regional research consortia in the United States. Its members are world-renowned libraries at research-intensive universities, with a vested interest in open access and open science.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the increased demand for vetted, high-quality online academic research has highlighted the critical importance of support for essential library infrastructure services such as DOAJ. This agreement will be vital in creating a smooth path for such support to flow directly from ASERL members to DOAJ. Under the new partnership ASERL will be able to offer support for DOAJ to consortia members at a substantial discount.

“ASERL libraries have long supported improvements in scholarly communication and the infrastructure that undergirds the research, teaching and learning missions of our member institutions.  Facilitating investments in community-based organizations like DOAJ clearly advances those goals,” commented Jan Lewis, Director of Academic Library Services at East Carolina University and President of ASERL’s Board of Directors for 2020-2021.

Source

See Also: The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Announces Support For the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) with 3-Year Collective Action Agreement (February 15, 2021)

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Associations and Organizations, Libraries, News, Open Access, Publishing