The Open Books Futures (OBF) project, led by Lancaster University, aims to create sustainable infrastructures, business models and networks for a community-driven open access publishing landscape for books. The project builds on the work of the Community-Led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs (COPIM) project. It will receive £5.8 million (~€6.6 million) in funding from the Arcadia Fund and Research England Development (RED) Fund from 1 May 2023.
Broad spectrum to shape OA publishing for books
Among other things, OBF aims to deepen and accelerate the work of the recently launched Open Book Collective. This facilitates academic libraries to provide direct financial support for small and medium-sized OA publishing initiatives. The metadata management platform Thoth, the collective subscription model Opening the Future and the forthcoming Experimental Publishing Compendium are also to be further developed. The project aims not only to strengthen existing networks in the UK and North America, but also to collaborate with publishers, universities and infrastructures in different national and linguistic contexts, such as Africa, Australasia, continental Europe and Latin America. According to Lancaster University, a particular aim of the project is to increase the impact of COPIM's work and ensure that a wide range of stakeholders have the opportunity to shape the future of OA book publishing.
Link to the original Lancaster University press release: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/58-million-project-to-deliver-a-more-sustainable-future-for-open-access-book