University of Sydney becomes first OLH LPS member in Southern Hemisphere

We are extremely pleased to announce that the University of Sydney has joined the Open Library of Humanities’ Library Partnership Subsidy system, the first university from the Southern Hemisphere to do so. The University of Sydney is placed in the top 0.3 percent of universities worldwide, ensuring that Australian innovation and research is recognised on the international stage. Leading the University’s results in the prestigious QS World University Rankings were Arts and Humanities, which achieved a rank of equal 14th globally and second in Australia.

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 Sydney: “It is fantastic to have our first Australian library on board. The strength of the arts and humanities at Sydney deserves to be showcased in a space that anyone can read. By building a model for open access that works for the humanities, with the help of universities like Sydney, we will make this a reality.”

Lisa McIntosh, Director Access Services, added: “The University of Sydney is pleased to support OLH and other similar sector-led models such as Knowledge Unlatched as integral to the development of sustainable open access for scholarly communications, particularly in the humanities.”

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.