![\"open\"](\"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/open.jpg\")
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What does \u201copen\u201d mean? There\u2019s a general acknowledgment among librarians, publishers, and various funding bodies that the term \u201copen\u201d describes a complex continuum, rather than defining a specific set of criteria when used to describe items in our collections.<\/p>\n
What has become entirely unambiguous, though, is that libraries are now expected\u2014by researchers, funders, faculty colleagues, and especially end-users\u2014to provide services that support open materials and workflows as fully as any other kind of content.<\/p>\n
OCLC Global Council<\/a> delegates work on behalf of the OCLC membership to reflect the needs of member institutions. At their meeting this past March, delegates expressed their strong interest in additional focus around this issue. With their advice, we established a cross-organizational work team to benchmark current OCLC activities and investigate new ways to support the library community throughout the Open Access (OA) life cycle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For many libraries, the first goal for open content was one of discovery. As for any kind of content, libraries wanted to make sure that students, scholars, and other users had the ability to find and utilize as many materials as possible.<\/p>\n But libraries are now also involved in the creation, curation, and preservation of unique open materials\u2014ranging from digitized special collections to preprints and post-prints of research articles. They publish open research journals and manage access to key research data sets. There are many different flavors of open, and this nuanced and sometimes confusing landscape makes both open access creation and acquisition tricky. Add in the overlapping roles of private publishers, government entities, institutional funding bodies, and faculty, and it becomes an even more complex discussion.<\/p>\n This is where we believe OCLC can have the most impact\u2014helping to clarify libraries\u2019 current commitments to open content programs, priorities, and plans. From there, we can work together on charting a path forward that reflects the thinking of as many libraries as possible.<\/p>\nOCLC\u2019s Councils emphasized the need to explore the impact of open access\/open content in libraries. #OCLCnext <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n OCLC\u2019s Global and Regional Councils work to reflect the interests, issues, concerns, and challenges that OCLC members face, worldwide. Every year they select an area of interest to explore further, and this year, as I said, they emphasized the need to explore the impact and use of open access\/open content resources in libraries.<\/p>\n Current OCLC activities that impact this area include:<\/p>\n I\u2019m also excited to announce that a new survey on open access and open content<\/a> will be available on 7 November 2018 for any library of any type to take.<\/p>\n Hearing from as many stakeholders as possible on this topic is so important. For example, in a recent Distinguished Seminar Series presentation<\/a>, we heard from Char Booth (Associate Dean of the University Library at California State University San Marcos) about how open access can help address issues of information privilege. This adds dimensions of social and economic justice to the conversation, as well as more practical and professional considerations. The discussion guide for Char\u2019s talk<\/a> is a great way to explore the subject with your staff.<\/p>\n This is a complex topic. But I believe our plans become more productive when they are more open and inclusive. I\u2019m excited about how our ongoing work with OCLC\u2019s Councils\u2014and the upcoming survey\u2014will bring more voices into this important conversation.<\/p>\nBetter discovery for library users<\/h2>\n
Where we are, where we\u2019re going<\/h2>\n
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