Grow Opening the Future through new subscriptions and by adding further presses to the model
Expand the range of services offered by the Thoth metadata platform
Update and extend the Experimental Publishing Group’s Experimental Publishing Compendium with further guidance for authors, publishers and other practitioners
Improve archiving and digital preservation workflows and practices to ensure continued access to open access books
2. Bridge the infrastructure gap
Introduce new interoperability features, functionality extensions and language options to the Thoth, Open Book Collective and other Copim community platforms
Develop an archiving network of repositories to address the challenges of preserving open access and experimental books for the long term
Establish new accessibility tools and solutions for publishers of open access books
3. Incubate and financially support open access initiatives
Develop and deliver a charitable grant allocation programme, via the Open Book Collective’s Development Fund, to foster growth in the wider open access publishing ecosystem
Administer an Experimental Books pilot scheme, whereby authors, publishers and practitioners are offered financial and advisory support to develop, document and model innovative approaches to open access publishing
4. Enhance engagement with the wider OA publishing ecosystem
Establish an Information Hub to provide comprehensive resources on alternative funding models and modes of publishing, acquiring and archiving open access books
Prepare new tool kits for implementing accessibility, metadata management, preservation/archiving and governance best practices
Accelerate outreach to libraries, publishers, academics and the wider public, to advocate for, advise on and encourage open access publishing and initiatives
5. Foster bibliodiversity
Engage more geographically distributed stakeholders to encompass countries in the European Research Area, Africa, Latin America, as well as Australia, Canada and New Zealand
Support the global production, dissemination, preservation and re-use of multilingual and multi-format book content
6. Support emerging OA books policy guidance
In collaboration with other organisations, including RLUK, Jisc, SPARC Europe, Lyrasis, OAPEN (the PALOMERA project) and DOAB:
Research and report on the financial, governance and communication challenges associated with supporting open access infrastructures, and developing coordinated responses to these challenges
Develop publisher solutions for ensuring (or exceeding) compliance with research funder mandates, archiving and legal deposit requirements, metadata policy and accessibility legislation
Support the development of aligned policies for open access books and monographs, and contribute to guidance documents
Activities
The Open Book Futures project will achieve its objectives through four areas of complementary activity: infrastructure development, incubation & innovation, providing knowledge, and outreach. These activities will be delivered across seven separate, but interconnected work packages.
