Delivering Open

Abstract

While providing access to an appropriate, available copy has long been an issue for libraries, open access (OA) content presents new challenges. In particular, the availability of OA publications outside of traditional content providers and the tendency for OA articles to appear in otherwise subscriptionaccess journals tends to thwart many existing library tools for delivering access. However, solutions are emerging-both for researchers who discover publications on the open web and who seek delivery via OA or library-licensed sources and for those who start from library tools and seek delivery via OA sources on the open web. Each of these has its limitations, but contributes to improved access for researchers.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Open Access Finding Tools

“…7 Bulock notes that OA has "complicated" retrieval in that OA versions are often housed in various locations across the web, including institutional repositories (IRs), preprint servers, and personal websites. 8 There is no perfect search option or tool, although some have tried creating solutions, such as the Open Jericho project from Wayne State University, which is seeking to create an aggregator to search institutional repositories and eventually other sources as well. 9 However, this lack of a central search tool can lead to confusion among researchers.…”

“…9 However, this lack of a central search tool can lead to confusion among researchers. 10 Nicholas and colleagues found that their sample of early career scholars drawn from several countries relied heavily on Google and Google Scholar to find articles that interested them. 11 Many also turn to ResearchGate and other social media platforms and risk running afoul of copyright.…”

Leaning into Browser Extensions

“…Instead of focusing on paid content, though, Unpaywall is delivering open access (OA) content. To accomplish this, Impactstory has "combined data from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Cross-Ref, a list of DOI prefixes, and more to create a large store of data on OA availability of scholarly publications"(Bulock, 2017). Unpaywall is available as an extension for both Firefox and Chrome.…”