Open Access Resources · 15
Survey Questions and Responses
The SPEC survey on Open Access Resources was designed by Anna K. Hood, Head, Serials and Electronic
Resources, Kent State University. These results are based on data submitted by 71 of the 123 ARL
member libraries (58%) by the deadline of March 12, 2007. The survey’s introductory text and questions
are reproduced below, followed by the response data and selected comments from the respondents.
As defined by the Budapest Open Access Initiative, open access research literature has “free availability on the public Internet,
permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for
indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers
other than those inseparable from gaining access to the Internet itself.”
As the BOAI public statement puts it, “[p]rimarily, this category encompasses...peer-reviewed journal articles, but it also includes
any unreviewed preprints that [scholars] might wish to put online for comment or to alert colleagues to important research
findings.” It does not include books from which their authors would prefer to generate revenue. It does not include any non-
scholarly writings, such as novels or news.
While the BOAI does not specifically cover donated scholarship other than peer-reviewed journal articles and preprints, it could
be extended quite naturally to all the writings for which authors do not expect payment. These include scholarly monographs on
specialized topics, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations, government reports, and statutes and judicial opinions.
Much of the literature on open access content deals with aspects of publication (i.e., business models, sustainability, and
distribution), author-participation, and peer review of content. However, the literature is relatively silent on addressing the
practical challenges libraries face in providing access to open access content.
The purpose of this survey is to gather information on whether and how ARL member libraries are selecting, providing access to,
cataloging, hosting, tracking usage of, and/or promoting discovery of open access literature for their users by using established
library resources such as the OPAC and link resolvers to serve as gateways/facilitators to open access resources. This survey will
provide valuable information for those libraries eager to incorporate OA content into their established workflow.
Survey Questions and Responses
The SPEC survey on Open Access Resources was designed by Anna K. Hood, Head, Serials and Electronic
Resources, Kent State University. These results are based on data submitted by 71 of the 123 ARL
member libraries (58%) by the deadline of March 12, 2007. The survey’s introductory text and questions
are reproduced below, followed by the response data and selected comments from the respondents.
As defined by the Budapest Open Access Initiative, open access research literature has “free availability on the public Internet,
permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for
indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers
other than those inseparable from gaining access to the Internet itself.”
As the BOAI public statement puts it, “[p]rimarily, this category encompasses...peer-reviewed journal articles, but it also includes
any unreviewed preprints that [scholars] might wish to put online for comment or to alert colleagues to important research
findings.” It does not include books from which their authors would prefer to generate revenue. It does not include any non-
scholarly writings, such as novels or news.
While the BOAI does not specifically cover donated scholarship other than peer-reviewed journal articles and preprints, it could
be extended quite naturally to all the writings for which authors do not expect payment. These include scholarly monographs on
specialized topics, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations, government reports, and statutes and judicial opinions.
Much of the literature on open access content deals with aspects of publication (i.e., business models, sustainability, and
distribution), author-participation, and peer review of content. However, the literature is relatively silent on addressing the
practical challenges libraries face in providing access to open access content.
The purpose of this survey is to gather information on whether and how ARL member libraries are selecting, providing access to,
cataloging, hosting, tracking usage of, and/or promoting discovery of open access literature for their users by using established
library resources such as the OPAC and link resolvers to serve as gateways/facilitators to open access resources. This survey will
provide valuable information for those libraries eager to incorporate OA content into their established workflow.
