Librarians, researchers, and the general public have largely embraced the concept of open access (OA). Yet, incorporating OA resources into existing discovery and tracking systems is often a complicated process. Open access material can be delivered through a variety of publishing or archival mechanisms, creating certain challenges, particularly for those managing e-resources. Although an increasing proportion of research output is becoming open access each year, organization and discovery of these resources remains imperfect. The debate between the relative merits of Green and Gold OA is regularly discussed in academic circles but less attention is devoted towards Hybrid OA and the challenges inherent in this model. Most major publishers offer open access through one or more of these models, but open access metadata standards seem to be lacking among these content providers. The presenters will discuss some of these challenges identified in the literature and through other mechanisms, including data gathered by NISO and an original survey. By identifying these issues, the scholarly communication community can work together to improve discovery for end users. Chris Bulock Electronic Resources Librarian, SIUE Lovejoy Library Chris is an Electronic Resources Librarian and NASIG member from the St. Louis area. His research and work are focused on improving the library user's experience. Chris is the recipient of the 2012 HARRASSOWITZ Charleston Conference Scholarship. Nathan Hosburgh Discovery & Systems Librarian, Rollins College Nate Hosburgh is currently the Discovery & Systems Librarian at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida as part of a revamped Collections & Systems department that includes ILL, collection development, acquisitions, systems, and technical services. Previously, he held positions managing e-resources at Montana State University and managing interlibrary loan & document delivery at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne

1. OA in the library collection
The challenges of identifying and managing open access resources
Chris Bulock
Southern Illinois University
cbulock@siue.edu
Nathan Hosburgh
Rollins College
nhosburgh@rollins.edu
NASIG ҉ 2014

2. OA Resources
• Journals/articles: green, gold, hybrid, DOAJ
• Books: DOAB, OAPEN, Google Books
• Databases: PubMed Central, BioMed Central, ERIC
• Data: gROADS, World Bank, data.gov, Dryad
• Institutional repositories: Digital Commons Network, OpenDOAR

3. OA developments in Databases
Web of Science – OA facet (Gold only)
SpringerOpen, BioMed Central, Chemistry Central
UlrichsWeb – OA limiter

4. OA Book Collections

5. What is Web Scale Discovery doing with OA?

6. Library OA
Management:
• Catalogs
• ERMs/link
resolvers
• Discovery
Systems
• Guides/Lists

7. Challenges for libraries
Article vs. Journal
(piece vs. container)
Resources incorrectly identified as OA
Bad/broken linksGeneral inconsistency
Insufficient tools
to manage OA
Lack of sufficient metadata…

8. OA Metadata & Indicators
The Problem:
Inconsistent information b/n publishers, vendors, link resolvers, libraries
• Lack of a consistent visual icon
• No standard descriptive language to indicate OA
• No standard metadata elements
• Lack of clear reuse rights
Importance: metadata enables discovery, linking, rights management, etc.

9. The Visual OA Icon
The most recognizable OA icon
was created by PLOS.
However, there is no official OA
logo and publishers are free to
employ whatever logo suits them.

10. OA visual indicators
http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/access

11. Examples of metadata elements across publishers
BioMed Central OA metadata <meta name=”dc.rights”
content=”http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/2.0/” />
Nature Publishing Group OA metadata <meta name=”access” content=”Yes” />
Springer OA metadata
<div class=”open-access”>
<span class=”help”>Open Access
<span class=”tooltip”> This content is freely
available online to anyone, anywhere at any time.
</span>
</span>
</div> (Hutchens, 2013)

12. Publishers currently provide “open access” articles with various use and re-use terms.
Some favor Creative Commons licenses, while others use proprietary licenses.
(NISO RP-22-201x)
Aggregators, repositories, and service providers have no standard for identifying
articles that can be legitimately harvested.
Graphic courtesy ContentPlus
Readers have trouble figuring out what they can and cannot do with specific articles.

13. This article is OA,
but can it be
used in teaching?
http://tinyurl.com/k3ldy3v

14. Organizations working on OA

15. http://www.sparc.arl.org/sites/default/files/hoii_guide_rev4_web.pdf

16. NISO: OA Metadata & Indicators Working Group
• Libraries, publishers, organizations represented
• Mechanisms for transmitting two key pieces of info:
• Free-to-read <free_to_read>
• License reference <license_ref>
• NISO decided not to create a logo to be displayed
Approach provides framework for conveying essential information that
addresses most common use cases.
Image courtesy Publishing Perspectives

17. <free_to_read> tag
• Viewable by any user without payment or authentication
• No statement about re-use rights or restrictions
• System would decide what visual indicator to show based on tag
• Start and end dates accommodate models where content is free-to-
read for a period of time or after a particular date.
<free_to_read start_date="2013-02-03" end_date="2013-10-03"/>

18. <license_ref> tag
• Includes a stable identifier expressed as an HTTP URI (URL)
• Points to a human and/or machine readable license
• License terms are not expressed in the metadata itself
• Start_date attribute expresses how usage rights change over time
• No corresponding end_date attribute; could introduce ambiguities
• Neither the start_date attribute nor the license URI provide any
technical mean of enforcement

19. Mechanisms for distributing metadata
• Creation and population of metadata elements to become part of
standard editorial workflow
• Integral part of feeds to CrossRef
• Included on hosting websites
• Delivered in content feeds to third parties; A&I services
• Metadata embedded in content itself: html META tags & PDF files
• Within alerting channels, such as e-ToCs and RSS feeds
• Work to incorporate into existing formats: ONIX, RDF, OAI-PMH, DC

20. Publishers Aggregators Libraries End Users
Flow of information, metadata, content
Flow of information, feedback, strategic requirements
UPSTREAM DOWNSTREAM

21. When in doubt, create a survey
• Goals:
• Determine current state of practice
• Identify areas for improvement
• At this point, how are librarians managing OA resources for their
users, and what challenges do they face?

22. Main Questions
• What systems are libraries using?
• Are those systems meeting needs?
• What issues are libraries facing?
• How do librarians view OA in relation to
their collections?
Kazuhisa OTSUBO http://bit.ly/1jYWSN8

23. Methodology
• 25 questions
• Posted to
• SERIALST
• NASIG-L
• ERIL-L
• alcts-eres
• alcts-nrmig
• coll-assess
• 105 responses

24. 1. Which of these categories best describes
the institution your library serves?
28%
24%
26%
14%
1% 2%
5%
Research University (high or very high
research activity)
Doctoral/Research University
Master's College or University
Baccalaureate College
Associate's
Special Focus Institution
Other

25. 2. What is the enrollment at your library's
institution in FTE?
29%
19%
11%
13%
28% Less than 5,000
5,000-10,000
10,000-15,000
15,000-20,000
Over 20,000

26. 3. What Electronic Resources Management
System do you use?
1%
23%
2%
4%
5%
1%
4%
30%
30%
Verde
Serials Solutions
Alma
EBSCO ERM Essentials
CORAL
ERMes
OCLC WorldShare License Manager
Other
None

27. 4. What Link Resolver do you use?
44%
26%
14%
6%
9%
1%
Serials Solutions
SFX
EBSCO LinkSource
WorldCat knowledge base
Other
None

28. 5. What Web Scale Discovery System do you
use?
25%
10%
18%
18%
29% Summon
Primo
Ebsco Discovery Service
Other
None

29. 6. What Systems do you use for providing
access to OA resources? (check all that apply)
0 50 100
Catalog
Link resolver
Web scale discovery system
Journal list
Database list
Subject guide
Webpage or guide dedicated to OA…
Other

30. 7. Do you provide access to Hybrid journals for
which your institution may only access the OA
articles?
10%
43%
20%
27%
Yes, we usually do
In a few cases, but not
usually
Never
Not sure

31. 8. Does your ERM facilitate the management
of access to OA resources?
3%
36%
22%
27%
12%
unsure
yes
no
doesn't apply
sort of

32. 9. What are some of the strengths or weaknesses
of your ERM in relation to managing OA
resources?
10%
18%
25%
7%
33%
7%
unsure
strength
weakness
neutral
does not apply
both

33. 9 cont. Strengths
• CORAL is flexible, we can track free resources just like we can track
paid resources; we can create unique workflows for OA resources, if
we need to
• It has all the big sites, DOAJ, Hindawi, etc. (OCLC WorldShare License
Manager)
• Major strength is large number of OA resources we can subscribe to
(Serials Solutions)

34. 9 cont. Weaknesses
• It is difficult to use and very challenging (EBSCO ERM Essentials)
• Incomplete; not always accurate / up-to-date (SerialsSolutions)
• Cannot perform a search using "open access resources" as a search
category (SerialsSolutions)
• The major weakness is the ERM has no integration with databases in
discovery systems (ERMes)

35. 10. Does your link resolver facilitate the
management of access to OA resources?
4%
75%
6%
15%
unsure
yes
no
sort of

36. 11. What are some of the strengths or
weaknesses of your link resolver in relation to
managing OA resources?
8%
11%
44%
19%
3%
15%
unsure
strength
weakness
neutral
does not apply
both

37. 11 cont. Strengths
• Linking directly to the article without needing to jump through too many
hoops (Innovative Interfaces WebBridge LR)
• We don't have to try to track individual OA journals ourselves
(SerialsSolutions)
• It's easy to identify the free targets in SFX b/c Ex Libris includes "FREE" or
"OPEN_ACCESS" in the target name (SFX)
• Unlike the ERM we use, the management of the link resolver is undertaken
by the crowd in addition to us. So it is less work for us (SFX)
• We can prioritize our linking so that the most reliable (ie paid) resources
would be chosen over OA links (EBSCO LinkSource)

38. 11 cont. Weaknesses
• Lack of information in the knowledge base regarding when these OA
resources move/cease - when they become subscription based (SFX)
• Not always up to date and sometimes the link does not work (III)
• Doesn't always separate out the hybrid journals; it's all or nothing as
far as activation goes (SerialsSolutions)
• The OA collections are not managed by the vendor, which takes away
the biggest benefit of a knowledge base for us and for other smaller
libraries (that the kb vendor will automatically update the default
holdings and titles for us) (SerialsSolutions)

39. 12. Does your Web Scale Discovery System
facilitate the discovery of/access to OA resources?
3%
54%
7%
8%
28% unsure
yes
no
sort of
doesn't apply

40. 13. What are some of the strengths or
weaknesses of your web scale discovery system in
relation to managing OA resources?
11%
17%
7%
17%
40%
8%
unsure
strength
weakness
neutral
does not apply
both

41. 13 cont. Strengths
• Worldcat local allows us to automatically provide links to all open
access collections available in OCLC.
• It is aware of a large number of OA resources, more than we have in
our ERM (Summon)
• There is a greater number of open access resources that can be made
known to our user than from our link resolver (WorldCat Local)

42. 13 cont. Weaknesses
• Many of them are not relevant to us, either because of language, or
b/c the resources are not full text (EBSCO Discovery Service)
• A major weakness is the fact that resources are 100% on or 100% off,
we can't select which individual titles are included (Primo)
• Cannot search solely for OA resources (WorldCat Local)

43. 14. Do any of your licensed databases facilitate
the discovery of/access to OA resources? If so,
which databases and how?
19%
48%
24%
8%
1%
unsure
yes
no
sort of
doesn't apply

44. 15. What challenges do you face in managing
OA resources?
26%
22%
13%
10%
10%
8%
2% 3% 3% 3% vol/awareness
unreliable
selection criteria
hybrid
staff
system/kb
article level links
users
vendor response
not different

45. 15 cont. Responses
• The library has no control of OA resources at all.
• Assessing quality, discovering where they are, explaining OA
publication to patrons
• Hybrid OA is a nightmare.
• I have recently done a study of our e-access problems and 15% of
them directly involve OA resources.
• No policies in place for managing them/providing access
• Navigation on journal sites can be challenging
• Having someone to manage it. I am already spread too thin

46. 16. What would make the management of
OA resources easier?
26%
14%
14%
11%
10%
8%
6%
6%
3% 2% central information
standards/consistency
vendor help
article metadata
staff
differentiation
publishing change
evaluative tools
unsure
automation

47. 16 cont. Responses
• Harry Potter, the Elder wand and the help of Dobby - the free elf
• It would be easier if Serials Solutions would distinguish them more
clearly, in a separate search perhaps
• Hybrid OA journal publishers would need to make data available
about the OA part of their journals so that libraries could link to that
content.
• A librarian position that could focus on this.
• Standardized metadata for discovery
• Removal of the partial OA category altogether.

48. 17. Are there particular OA resources or
collections that are problematic?
64%
36%
None in particular
Yes

49. 17 cont. Responses
• Resources that are only partially OA or that convert from OA to
requiring a purchase.
• Foreign language collections
• Academic, governmental, intergovernmental agencies
• Traditional journal publishers that also offer OA publishing options.

50. 18. Do you think the time and effort involved in
providing access to OA resources is worthwhile?
66%5%
23%
6%
yes
unsure
sort of
no

51. 18 cont. Responses
• As library budgets shrink, we must find ways to provide access to
resources. Some of the OA resources are essential, high quality
resources in their fields; others might be just predatory journals out
to get some money from authors. But the library's role is to enable
our users to access and discover resources; OA or purchased, the
patron doesn't care.
• I believe it is for some resources. We only work with OA resources
individually selected by our librarians, so we do not need to deal with
all OA resources.
• not really that much ... they can find them when they click on links
anyway.

52. 19. How might OA metadata be improved to
facilitate discovery and access?
28%
22%18%
16%
10%
6%
standards/consistency
unsure
quality
article level
sharing records
data point

53. 19 cont. Responses
• Metadata about Author paid content would be wonderful if link
resolvers could then facilitate linking to this content. DOIs assigned to
OA articles would also improve linking.
• It would be great if the metadata were regularly reviewed (by an
editor or editorial board ?) and updated to all the link resolvers, OCLC
or other cataloging agency.
• Central repositories or clearinghouses where OA publishers would list
information about start and end dates, title changes, etc. KB vendors
could monitor these listings

54. 20. Do you consider OA resources part of
your library’s collection?
71%
17%
12%
Yes
No
Not sure

55. 21. Do you actively promote OA resources to
your library staff & the campus community?
48%
42%
10%
Yes
No
Not sure

56. 22. How do you promote OA resources?
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Instruction Sessions
Programming
Guides specifically for OA resources
Subject guides
Advertising
Meetings with faculty or staff
Meetings with students
Other

57. 23. Does the availability of OA resources currently
have an impact on your collection development
practices?
33%
41%
26%
Yes
No
Not sure

58. 24. How have OA resources impacted your
collection development practices?
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Cancelled a title because content was OA.
Avoided purchasing a book because content was OA.
Cancelled title because comparable titles were OA.
Cancelled title because the relevant subject uses OA
repository.
Purchased title because they supported OA
Diverted funds from coll dev to pay OA author fees
Other

59. 25. Would you like to share anything else
related to the management of OA resources?
• The overblown promise of OA solving the serials pricing crisis has not
materialized
• The growing scale and volatility of the marketplace are very
challenging. We're also struggling to determine in which discovery
tools to focus our efforts.
• I don't think that library or university administrators understand the
real costs related to making these resources accessible over time.
• There is a lot of literature on open access, but I haven't yet come
across any truly comprehensive guides for how to include open access
resources. Where to find them, how to support access, and how to
discern the best resources.

60. Conclusions…
• NISO standards have potential for improving metadata in the
information supply chain
• Hybrid OA poses a significant challenge to libraries
• Libraries need more granularity in management & discovery systems
• OA collections must be curated; accurate; reliable
• Crowd-sourced resources such as OAWAL hold promise
• Growth of OA has not alleviated the serials crisis, but…
• Libraries have important role via information supply chain; feedback

61. Further reading
& discussion
• Burpee, J., & Fernandez, L. (2013, May 8). New frontiers in Open Access for Collection Development:
Perspectives from Canadian Research Libraries. Paper presented at IFLA WLIC, Singapore.
• DRAFT NISO RP-22-201x: Open Access Metadata and Indicators http://tinyurl.com/kdtwuu2
• Hutchins, C. (2013). Open access metadata: current practices and proposed solutions. Learned Publishing,
26(3), 159-165.
• OAWAL: Open Access Workflows for Academic Libraries https://library3.hud.ac.uk/blogs/oawal/
• http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2012/12/05/as-hybrid-open-access-grows-the-scholarly-community-
needs-article-level-oa-metadata/