Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin joins OLH LPS Model

We are extremely pleased to announce that Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has joined the Open Library of Humanities' Library Partnership Subsidy system. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (abbreviated HU Berlin) is recognised as one of Europe’s pioneering higher education institutions, with a world class reputation in the arts and humanities fields. HU Berlin is divided into nine faculties and offers degree programmes in some 189 disciplines from undergraduate to postgraduate levels. The university was founded in 1809–10 by the linguist, philosopher, and educational reformer Wilhelm von Humboldt, then Prussian minister of education. HU Berlin has 29 Nobel prize winners, including Max Born, who won the prize for physics in 1954; Theodor Mommsen, who won the prize for literature in 1902. Among HU Berlin’s famous alumni are Marxism founders Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, as well as novelist Alfred Döblin, and theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher. Composer Felix Mendelssohn was also a student there, while Albert Einstein spent time as a professor at the university.

The Open Library of Humanities is an academic-led, gold open-access publisher with no author-facing charges. With initial 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.

Paula Clemente Vega, Marketing Officer for the Open Library of Humanities, said: "We are very pleased to have the support of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. It’s great to see that a number of German institutions are uniting forces in support of alternative non-APC based open access publishing models, particularly as we increase the publication of German-language articles across our journal titles and the incorporation of more German journals into our portfolio. When libraries support the OLH, they are investing in the development of a scholar-led, community-owned and non-profit publishing ecosystem that could not exist without their support. The more libraries that support us, the more that we can continue to ensure our future ongoing viability in service of the academic community. With the help of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, we will continue to build a non-APC and sustainable open access future for the humanities".

Andreas Degkwitz, director of the university library and Open Access Representative of Humboldt-Universität, says: "Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has a strong focus on the humanities. With the OLH we will have a very fruitful partnership to turn the traditional publication cultures of the humanities to the new paradigm of open access. I appreciate our future joined activities".