Open Access Materials Program

History

In 2018-2019  the CARLI Collection Management Committee (CMC) developed guidelines for an Open Access eBook Collection Pilot Project in FY2019.  This pilot project tested procedures for adding records for scholarly and stable open access eBooks to the common I-Share catalog.  CMC also developed guidelines for selection. The former SFX advisory committee also utilized selection criteria for Open Access/Free ebook and periodical e-collections for their CARLI SFX shared instance platform.  

The CMC and SFX committee vetted Open Access/Free e-collections were added to the all I-Share Network Zone (NZ) during migration in 2020. Currently a group of volunteers from CARLI committees review new or additional Open Access/Free e-collections for activation in the NZ. To send a potential addition, email support@carli.illinois.edu with the collection title, sponsor or creator, number of titles, type (ebook, periodicals, streaming videos, other) and relevant URLs to access the Open Access/Free e-collection.

Guidelines Updated March 2021

The Committee, CARLI Staff, and other volunteers will select materials based on the following criteria:

• The collection/provider is listed in a recognized directory of Open Access content, such as the Directory of Open Access Books.
• Materials are peer-reviewed or appropriately scholarly.
• Materials are released under an Open Access License.
• Materials have a stable URL.
• Materials are archived in a secure digital repository.
• There are no significant limitations to the readability or navigability of materials.

Desirable Characteristics of Materials:

• English language (and possibly Spanish language material)
• Academic or university publishers
• Content appropriate for a broad academic audience
• Content that will not become dated
• Current collections (as opposed to digitized historical collections)
• Supports article - or chapter - level linking, if applicable

Undesirable Materials:

• Non-English language material
• Self-published materials
• Highly specialized materials
• Material available in another collection that is widely available to CARLI members
• Digitized historical collections

CARLI Staff will be responsible for adding and updating records in the Alma Network Zone for I-Share libraries. The collection will be updated regularly based on institution and committee recommendations communicated to CARLI.