Open Access Discovery project
About the project
OCLC Research is partnering with two Dutch library consortia—Universiteitbibliotheken en Nationale Bibliotheek (UKB) and Samenwerkingsverband Hogeschoolbibliotheken (SHB)—to investigate ways that libraries at universities and universities of applied sciences can improve the discoverability of scholarly, peer-reviewed open access (OA) publications for their communities.
Why it matters
Dutch academic libraries have been instrumental in the progress toward full open access to publications for all educational institutions and research domains in the Netherlands. Many are investing heavily in making scholarly, peer-reviewed literature freely accessible. Making those OA publications discoverable within users' workflows is equally important.
Libraries need better evidence to improve the discoverability of OA publications. This project is investigating how staff at Dutch universities and universities of applied sciences are integrating scholarly, peer-reviewed OA publications into their users’ discovery workflows, which will provide valuable evidence for other libraries wanting to make their own practices more effective.
What it will bring to libraries
This project will provide evidence to help libraries:
- Improve the discoverability of scholarly peer-reviewed OA publications being produced within and outside of their institutions
- Develop and refine key measures to assess the discoverability of the OA resources they provide to their communities
- Improve discovery experiences by incorporating OA publications into users’ workflows
- Work with key stakeholders to improve the discoverability of OA publications
How the project will collect evidence
The project team will conduct group interviews with staff at universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands to examine how libraries are integrating OA publications into their users’ discovery workflows and measuring the success of their efforts.
The team will survey user communities at each participating institution to investigate users’ discovery experiences, including their responses to access restrictions.
How the project will share results
The Open Access Discovery project will share outputs related to its progress and findings on this page.
Introduction to the Open Access Discovery project
Titia van der Werf, Senior Program Officer at OCLC Research, explains the background, aims and organisation of the project during the OCLC Customer Day in October 2022.
(Video is in Dutch with English subtitles)
Partners
OCLC Research is partnering with:
- Universiteitsbibliotheken & Nationale Bibliotheek (UKB): the consortium of the 13 Dutch university libraries and the national library of the Netherlands
- Samenwerkingsverband Hogeschoolbibliotheken (SHB): the partnership of 34 libraries of Dutch universities of applied sciences
Project organization
Steering committee
- Hubert Krekels (Wageningen University & Research; Chair UKB)
- Gerdie Limonard (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences; Board member SHB)
- Bianca Pannekoek (Utrecht University of Applied Sciences; Board member SHB)
- Lynn Silipigni Connaway (OCLC Research)
Working group
- Ixchel M. Faniel (OCLC Research)
- Henrietta J.W. Hazen (Maastricht University; Member of UKB-SHB WG on Information Literacy)
- Jaroen Kuijper (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences; Member of the SHB working group Research)
- Bart van der Steen (Leiden University)
- Titia van der Werf (OCLC Research)
OCLC Project Leads
Ixchel M. Faniel (co-lead)
Titia van der Werf (co-lead and primary contact)
OCLC Team Members
Quick Links
- Short url: oc.lc/oa-discovery-project
