Slides for DARTS8 2023

1. Open Access books:
how libraries can sow
the seeds and reap
the rewards
Phil Jones
Twitter handle: @jonesthelibrary
Email: phil.jones@jisc.ac.uk

2. Open access developments
• Research stakeholders becoming increasingly
radical since pandemic
• Growing public interest in science/citizen science
• OSTP memo
• UKRI Open Access policy strong on OA
• Growing recognition that OA developments
haven’t served the arts and humanities well
• Potential change of UK government might well
change things

3. OA books: what
are the benefits?

4. OA books:
where are
we now?
• Still quite a niche part of the scholarly
comms landscape
• Infrastructure developing
• Discovery improving e.g. DOAB’s global
reach
• Metadata improving (THOTH)
• Academic-led and university press diamond
OA developing quickly
• Commercial publishers gradually exploring
diamond OA

5. OA books:
what work is
going on?
• Quite a lot! Jan 2024 commencement of
UKRI OA long form policy
• OACF 2023 focused on diamond OA
agreements
• Jisc negotiating UKRI-compliant agreements
with various publishers
• PALOMERA
• OAPEN and OA Books Toolkit
• Open Institutional Publishing Association
• Open Book Futures

6. The ebook
crisis
• Unsustainable price increases
• Textbookification
• Content disappearance
• Functionality changes e.g.
Pearson

7. How can OA books and OERs help?
OA books should
gradually replace paid-for
content
OA books and particularly
OA textbooks/OERs exert
downward pressure on
pricing generally
Part of a much-needed
research culture change
in the Arts/Humanities
…but they only do this if they’re
available/visible to academics and
administrators

8. Change sometimes requires a nudge
What is “nudge”?
A way of designing and
framing people's
choices that draws on
insights from cognitive
and behavioural
psychology to guide
them towards acting in
their own best interests
rather than acting
irrationally

9. MINDSPACE
A framework to describe some
effective behavioural nudges

10. How can we encourage our
authors to publish OA books?
(perhaps even textbooks)
Please write down one or more
nudges using a new post-it for
each nudge
Stick them up as you write
them – if you can find any on a
similar topic then group them
I’ll carry on grouping them
after and take photos of the
groups for dissemination

11. How can we encourage
libraries to make OA books
discoverable to users?
Please write down one or more
nudges using a new post-it for
each nudge
Stick them up as you write
them – if you can find any on a
similar topic then group them
I’ll carry on grouping them
after and take photos of the
groups for dissemination

12. Some of your suggested
nudges

13. Many thanks for your
attention
Phil Jones
Twitter handle: @jonesthelibrary
Email: phil.jones@jisc.ac.uk

14. Image credits
Green shoots image by https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-qeonl
Diagram illustrating the benefits of open access by Danny Kingsley and Sarah Brown via
Australiasian Open Access Strategy Group
https://aoasg.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/benefitsofopenaccess_cc-by_logo.pdf
Green shoots image by Mylio https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-qeonl
Kitten image by Ty_Swartz https://pixabay.com/photos/cat-kitten-pet-kitty-young-cat-
551554/
Mindspace table image by I.F.G.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/MINDSPACE.pdf
Urinal Image by WissensDürster
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nudge_Toilet_1.jpg
All other images courtesy of MS Powerpoint

15. DARTS8: Discover Academic Research
Training and Support