Voices of OPERAS UK is a blog series spotlighting the members of OPERAS based in the UK. Each feature introduces a member organisation through the same five quick questions.
OPERAS is a European Research Infrastructure (RI) that supports open scholarly communication in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) across the European Research Area. Its mission is to bring together and coordinate resources across Europe, helping researchers communicate their work more effectively.
Introducing Open Book Publishers
In July, we caught up with Lucy Barnes, Senior Editor and Outreach Coordinator at Open Book Publishers (OBP).
Tell us a little bit about your organisation and your role within it?
OBP is a scholar-led, non-profit, open access academic book publisher, founded in 2008 out of frustration with the existing book publishing landscape. We’re an independent diamond press with funding streams including sales of paperbacks, hardbacks and EPUBs; a thriving Library Membership Programme; and grant funding. We welcome submissions from any field, although we have a particular focus on the Humanities and Social Sciences and we are happy to accept proposals that are inter- or cross-disciplinary, or that do not fit neatly into conventional subject categories. We also have a proven track record of publishing works that take a bold and creative approach to the possibilities of the book in the digital age, and we are excited by collaborations with authors who seek to explore this too.
I am a senior editor and outreach coordinator at OBP. That means I work on some of our books in an editorial capacity, while also being heavily involved in our outreach and network-building with communities including OPERAS, the Open Access Books Network (OABN), which is also an OPERAS Working Group, and Copim. I often speak about OBP with academics and librarians, and others who want to know more about the press.
When and why did your organisation join OPERAS?
We have been a member of OPERAS for several years now, and before that we collaborated on OPERAS initiatives including the OPERAS Metrics Service, with which we are still involved.
As a press, we are very committed to the idea of ‘scaling small’: that community-led, non-profit open access publishing can develop not by individual organisations seeking to grow competitively at others’ expense, but via strong collaborations based on shared values. We believe this ethos is reflected in OPERAS and we see it as an important network to be part of, particularly because it enables collaboration across Europe – all the more important for us since the UK left the European Union.
We believe that it is time for academic book publishing to become more equitable, more open, and driven by academic – not commercial – needs. OPERAS provides a forum for knowledge-sharing, infrastructure-building, and it enables joint collaborations on funded projects to help work towards this goal.
How does OBP engage with OPERAS today?
We are involved in all three Working Groups that are coordinated by the OA Books Special Interest Group, and I am one of the co-ordinators of the Open Access Books Network, which is one of these groups. As I mentioned, we helped to build the OPERAS Metrics Service, which we have also used for many years to underpin the usage statistics that we share on our website for every book we publish. We previously received funding as part of the PALOMERA project on open access book policies, and we are also active members of the UK National Node, which is particularly important at a time when OPERAS is moving to become a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC).
Why is OPERAS particularly relevant now?
As I mentioned previously, OPERAS enables different kinds of collaboration across Europe with publishers, universities and other organisations that share our values. These collaborations are helping to drive community-led open access forwards – whether sharing best practices and helpful resources on areas including accessibility or metadata, developing practical tools such as the OPERAS Metrics Service, or building networks through projects such as DIAMAS , the outcomes of which are hosted on the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH).
It is important for the UK to be aware of, and involved in, these developments. They can help to support the growth of community-led open access here. It’s particularly timely now, when OPERAS is seeking to become an ERIC – which will require state involvement and support – that open access organisations across the UK engage with OPERAS and understand what it is doing and how this might affect them and potentially benefit them. For example, more universities should look at Abertay’s involvement in OPERAS for inspiration, including their being awarded nearly £600K in Horizon Europe research grants thanks to their involvement in OPERAS projects.
How would you like to see OPERAS UK develop?
As a new national node, OPERAS UK has a lot of potential to support greater engagement with OPERAS here. The number of groups, projects and tools that OPERAS supports can be very confusing to those outside the network (and even sometimes to those inside it!) and OPERAS UK has a critical role in demystifying this seemingly intimidating proliferation of activity, and in helping UK-based organisations to navigate it and successfully engage with OPERAS. It is also critical that UK-based organisations understand the potential implications of OPERAS attaining ERIC status, how the UK might be involved in that, and what would change as a result. OPERAS UK has an important role to play here too.
Find out more
Stay tuned for more posts in the series, coming soon! If you are interested in your organisation joining OPERAS, or just finding out a bit more, get in touch via email. You can keep up to date with UK member activities via our mailing list – sign up to the JiscMail.
