Collection Spotlight: Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)
by Dylan Mohr, Open Scholarship Librarian
Whether you’re moving on (to a job or another university) or you desire to use resources that are not behind a paywall, many academic publishers are moving to an open access publishing model. There are a growing number of books that are available to anyone anywhere with an internet connection. Whether or not you have access to an academic library catalog to help you find that material, the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) may help you find your next freely available book. As one of the better aggregators of available open access books, the DOAB collects over 77,000 books on countless topics and in many languages.
Here's an example and an advertisement. One of my favorite works to come out last year was Masha Salazkina’s World Socialist Cinema: Alliances, Affinities, and Solidarities in the Global Cold War. It was made open access through the University of California’s Luminos program. However, if you Google the title, you’ll only get links to the paid version of the book. DOAB, however, sends you directly to the open access option.
No matter where 2024 takes you, DOAB can ensure that your intellectual curiosities and ambitions don’t get left behind! To provide feedback or suggest a title to add to the collection, please complete the Resource Feedback Form.