Did you know that Milner Library provides access to several collections of Open Access books, equating to thousands of titles? Databases like JSTOR, Project MUSE, and individual publishers like Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Cambridge University Press all have collections of Open Access books. These books go through the same peer review process as traditionally published titles from these companies, ensuring that the content is just as academically rigorous as any other academic title. These resources can be used as required course texts or for individual scholarship.
Like Open Access journal articles, authors typically retain the copyright to their work when publishing a book as an Open Access title, giving them more control over the content. This material appears alongside traditionally published works in library catalog results, but that’s not the only place readers can find them. Because they are Open Access, these books are available freely online and not behind a paywall—Milner is just collecting these titles in a central location, so they are just as easy to find as the materials we have purchased.
Milner makes it easy to locate and access these titles with the library catalog. You can search for the content you want in the catalog and filter the results down to just Open Access material. When you get to the results page, click the “Open Access” box under Availability, then find Resource Type, and select “books.”
You will know you are looking at an Open Access book from the record itself. On the results page, there will be an icon underneath the title that indicates Open Access material and another that identifies the item as an electronic source. Clicking on the item title will open the record for the book and include a link taking you to the actual content. If you want help publishing your material, books or otherwise, as an open resource, do not hesitate to reach out to Milner’s Scholarly Communication Team at isured@ilstu.edu. We are happy to discuss different options with you, including publishing in Milner’s Institutional Repository, ISU ReD.
