De Montfort University joins OLH LPS model

We are extremely pleased to announce that De Montfort University has joined the Open Library of Humanities’ Library Partnership Subsidy system. De Montfort University (DMU) is a prominent research and teaching institution in the UK with a long and vibrant history of improving people’s lives through education. Originally founded as the Leicester School of Art in 1870, the university has evolved through many incarnations including the Leicester Colleges of Art and Technology and Leicester Polytechnic.

The Open Library of Humanities is an academic-led, gold open-access publisher with no author-facing charges. With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the platform covers its costs by payments from an international library consortium, rather than any kind of author fee.

Dr. Martin Paul Eve, a founder and academic project director of the OLH, welcomed De Montfort: “I am delighted that De Montfort University has decided to support the Open Library of Humanities model for open access in the humanities. It is clear that open access comes with substantial social and educational benefits for the humanities subjects. What has not been clear is how we might implement a system to make research free to read in these disciplines. With the help of institutions like De Montfort, we will expand our platform to engender that transition.”

Dr Alan Brine, Interim Director of De Montfort University Library and Learning Services, added: “We are delighted to be joining the Open Library for the Humanities. De Montfort supports open access publishing through a number of strategic priorities and this will only strengthen our commitment and practice in supporting the work of our scholars through open access.”

Professor Richard Hall, also at De Montfort and a trustee of the OLH, said: “The OLH is an exciting project that enables academics a space to re-think their work as a public or communal good. This idea is also central to DMU’s mission, and I’m really pleased that we are able to support this federated work.”

Journals wishing to join the platform should submit an initial enquiry to martin.eve@openlibhums.org. After the September launch of the OLH, applications will be be subject to the platform's joining procedure. Libraries outside the US and UK interested in joining the OLH Library Partnership Subsidy model should contact Dr. Martin Paul Eve: martin.eve@openlibhums.org. UK-based libraries can join through Jisc Collections at http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/Catalogue/Overview/Index/2120. US-based libraries can join through LYRASIS at https://lyrasis.openlibhums.org.