Open Access Pilot for Latin American Monographs Expands

From a JSTOR Announcement:

 A partnership led by the Latin Americanist Research Resources Project (LARRP) in collaboration with the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), JSTOR, and Latin American bookseller García Cambeiro has expanded a sustainable Open Access pilot (Publish as Open) for monographs developed and supported by the library community. This is the second phase of a project to expand Latin American OA ebooks accessible through Books at JSTOR and to explore further opportunities for developing this model with other university presses.

This project is funded by ten LARRP member libraries: New York University, Columbia University, New York Public Library, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Texas at Austin, University of Pittsburgh, University of Michigan, University of California, Los Angeles, and University of Illinois.

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Usage for Publish as Open pilot titles has been strong and continues to grow steadily. The 282 published titles have generated over 615,000 chapter views and downloads through April 2021. These titles have been used by more than 4,000 institutions across 216 countries and territories. “We are very encouraged by the results so far,” said John Lenahan AVP, Published Content from JSTOR. “This library-funded initiative is a cost-effective and sustainable way to make high-quality academic ebooks accessible for researchers. Based on the success of this Publish as Open pilot, we look forward to working with more university presses to publish their monographs as Open Access ebooks through the Books at JSTOR program.”

Sócrates Silva, Latin American & Iberian Studies Librarian for Columbia and Cornell and President of SALALM, described the project’s importance for bridging a critical gap in the scholarly communications system. “Despite established OA publishing models for scholarly works in Latin America, monograph discovery and preservation infrastructure for this important content in US libraries is virtually nonexistent. This multi-partner, horizontal, and librarian-led pilot is testing out sustainable partnerships that take into account the monograph lifecycle from publisher to library.”

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About the project partners

LARRP is a consortium of research libraries that seeks to increase free and open access to information in support of learning and scholarship in Latin American Studies.

CLACSO is an international organization that brings together 680 research and postgraduate centers in the social sciences and humanities across Latin America and other continents.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit digital library for discovering and connecting research, images, and primary sources.

García Cambeiro is an Argentinian bookseller that specializes in locating, selecting, and supplying Latin American academic publications.

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