"We want people to read what we publish." We spoke to James Rice of @whitehorsepress.bsky.social about taking a small, partner-run press open access, what happened to readership, and where AI fits in. obc.copim.pub/we-want-peop...

The White Horse Press (@whitehorsepress.bsky.social)

Independent family-run scholarly press publishing books and journals on environment and society

whitehorsepress.bsky.social

Our annual report for May 25-April 26 is now out! It’s been a year of steady growth, with new library supporters, new publishers, and new faces. Between them our members published 326 OA books in this time, an impressive output that rivals many commercial publishers! obc.copim.pub/six-years-in...

Six years in the making: our 2025–26 Annual Report is here

Our 2025–26 Annual Report: 98 supporting libraries, 326 open access books from our members, new Diamond OA funding, and the OBC's move to independence.

obc.copim.pub

Add to your calendars now! 📆 Join @heroicendeavour.eurosky.social @hannahcrago.bsky.social Louise Otting from TU Delft to celebrate #OAWeek2026 and discuss the Cost of knowledge Find out more about #OAWeek 👉 www.openaccessweek.org

Open Book Collective@openbookcollective.bsky.social · 2w ago

How do you persuade your institution to fund open access? Join us on 22 October (11:00 CEST / 10:00 BST) for a free Open Access Week webinar with colleagues from the University of Essex and TU Delft, plus the Open Book Collective. Register: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Workshop materials from #OAT26 are now openly available! The fabulous @heroicendeavour.eurosky.social ( @openbookcollective.bsky.social ) put together a handout and bilingual (EN/DE) discussion cards on sustaining #DiamondOA through collective funding #OER 🎉 doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

Slidedeck of the #oat26 presentation "Collaboration over competition: what does it look like, in practice?", presented by our wonderful colleagues at @openbookcollective.bsky.social and @ojcollective.bsky.social , is openly available to read along ... doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

Lots of #CopimCommunity are also members of OPERAS 👋 @openbookcollective.bsky.social @thoth-metadata.eurosky.social @openbookpublish.bsky.social @openlibhums.org They share the benefits of membership via the blog series 'Voices of OPERAS UK' 👉 research.jiscinvolve.org/wp/category/...

Anna Hughes@anna-r-hughes.bsky.social · 2w ago

I'll be at the CLARIN & DARIAH UK Annual Event on Fri 2 Oct 📍University of Brighton A showcase of the activities of the CLARIN UK consortium and wider UK digital humanities community (I'll be presenting a poster on @operaseu.bsky.social) 🔗 universityofbrighton.github.io/2026clariahuk/

Day 2 of our panel announcements 📢 Also joining us for the WRUP 10-year anniversary event is Professor Joe Deville (joedeville.bsky.social), Professor of Science & Technology Studies at Lancaster University and Managing Director of the Open Book Collective.

How do you persuade your institution to fund open access? Join us on 22 October (11:00 CEST / 10:00 BST) for a free Open Access Week webinar with colleagues from the University of Essex and TU Delft, plus the Open Book Collective. Register: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Wir sind in Linz zu den #OAT26! Heute leitet Caroline gemeinsam mit Kollegen von Thoth, OJC und dem Verfassungsblog einen Workshop darüber, wie die ideale Open-Access-Initiative aussehen könnte und ob es ein solches „Einhorn“ überhaupt gibt (oder überhaupt geben kann)! Was denkt ihr darüber?

We're in Linz for OA Tage / #OAT26! Today Caroline will be running a workshop, alongside colleagues from Thoth, OJC, Verfassungsblog, on what the ideal OA initiative might look like, and whether such a unicorn does (or even can) exist! What are your thoughts? Drop them below!

Not the first read-and-publish deal for books, but perhaps a sign that the commercial players are increasingly turning their attention that way! We may be biased* but we can't help but feel that collectively funding Diamond OA is a better way to go... www.umb.edu/news/recent-...

Healey Library Launches Pioneering Agreement to Expand Open Access Book Publishing

UMass Boston faculty will soon have new opportunities to publish their books as open access through innovative agreements led by Healey Library, making scholarship freely available to readers around…

umb.edu

Which of your researchers have published with OBC presses – and where are their books being read? We're building an open Impact Dashboard with @ojcollective.bsky.social to provide exactly those answers! The first release is due before the end of 2026. A first look: obc.copim.pub/coming-soon-...

Coming soon! An update on the OBC Impact Dashboard - Open Book Collective

We’re delighted to bring you an update on our Impact Dashboard project. The Impact Dashboard will give access to relevant data about books published by OBC member presses, without the need to consult…

obc.copim.pub

Next week we're in Linz for OA Tage - the big gathering of the German-speaking OA community. Caroline (@heroicendeavour.eurosky.social) will be speaking about the importance of collaboration over competition, alongside colleagues from OJC and Thoth. If you're there, please come and say hello!

Wrote in @timeshighered.bsky.social Campus about Diamond Open Access in the UK. Give it a read and check out these incredibly vital OA initiatives: @oipassoc.bsky.social, @ojcollective.bsky.social, @openbookcollective.bsky.social, @eudch.bsky.social. www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/diamo...

Diamond open access publishing: what it is and how to do it

For researchers interested in publishing their work with no fees for authors or readers, diamond open access publishing could be the answer. Here is a guide to the basics

timeshighereducation.com

ERRATUM welcomes new library supporters [see link for how you can recommend the press to your library too] theoryfictionconsortium.substack.com/p/erratum-we... @openbookcollective.bsky.social

If you missed it the first time, here’s our Community Engagement Lead, Caroline Ball, talking open access, monographs, REF, and more!

Andy Tattersall@andytattersall.bsky.social · 4w ago

Bump for my latest Under Review podcast with @heroicendeavour.eurosky.social discussing the state of Open Books from @openbookcollective.bsky.social Spotify open.spotify.com/episode/3Xnm... Apple podcasts podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u... YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu9E... #OpenAccess

Are you going to OA Tage 2026 at the end of the month? #OAT26 Our Community Engagement Lead, Caroline Ball (@heroicendeavour.eurosky.social) will be there delivering a presentation and workshop - stop by and say hi, attend one of the sessions, or email to schedule a meeting with her.

Sussex were one of our earliest library supporters, and we remain ever grateful for that! 🙏 They have a long-standing commitment to building a fairer, more open, and more resilient open research landscape for everyone, as the Jisc feature below evidences.

How the University of Sussex is building a broader vision for open research infrastructure - Jisc

jisc.ac.uk

The wording was a little unclear on some of the Qs and As, so I’ve edited it. We’re interested in your decisions funding ANY open access initiative, doesn’t have to be the OBC!

Caroline Ball@heroicendeavour.eurosky.social · 4w ago

Librarians, assemble! ✊ We're running a short, anonymous survey (10-15 mins) exploring how libraries actually decide whether to fund collective, fee-free open access, or not. Where does the money come from? What evidence carries the most weight? And what happens when the answer is no? Thank you!

🌍 Help shape the future of #DiamondOA in Europe! EDCH is looking for new Advocates to connect with local communities, share resources, contribute to the EDCH Forum, and help shape services to meet community needs. Join our 2026–2027 cohort! 📅 Apply by 30 September 2026 🔗 tinyurl.com/5n7d7tp4

Academic librarians - how does your institution actually decide whether to fund collective, fee-free open access? What finally ends up moving the internal discussions from yes, or maybe to no? We're running a short, anonymous survey (10–15 mins) to find out. 📚

What made you say yes? OBC open access library support survey

About this survey This survey is run by the Open Book Collective - a charity registered in England and Wales (charity no. 1206287). For the purposes of data protection law, the Open Book Collective is...

forms.gle

A new episode of my Under Review podcast is out where I invite a guest to unpick the good, bad and ugly from their part of the academic world. We’re looking at the Open Books with my guest @heroicendeavour.eurosky.social @openbookcollective.bsky.social YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu9E... 1/3

Under Review with Caroline Ball - Reimagining Open Books

YouTube video by Andy Tattersall

youtube.com

Wa’tkwanonhwerá:ton, welcome, bienvenue to the newest member of the Collective - Concordia University Press! @concordiapress.bsky.social is a Canadian dual-language publisher of the arts, humanities, and social sciences, and can be supported via the full OBC and University Press packages.

Deadline is midnight tonight (any timezone). Get your applications in for our new part-time, fully remote Head of Operations post! bsky.app/profile/did:...

Open Book Collective (@openbookcollective.bsky.social)

There's still time to get an application in for our new Head of Operations role - the deadline is the end of 9 September (any timezone). Part-time (2.5 days a week), fully remote, £40-48k pro rata -…

bsky.app

Our Community Engagement Lead, Caroline Ball, also talking about why Diamond OA is more than just idealism, it makes economic sense. Universities spend millions on 'big deals' when collective funding could build diverse, sustainable publishing for a fraction of the cost.

Caroline Ball@heroicendeavour.eurosky.social · last mo.

New for your ears! I recently chatted with @andytattersall.bsky.social for Under Review, and we discussed the usual boilerplate, not-at-all controversial stuff - like, what if we binned the REF, scrapped impact factors, and stopped funding generative AI? Listen via Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc...

Post-Brexit, UK organisations risk being excluded from European policy conversations - that's why partnering with organisations like OPERAS is so important. Together, we can share expertise, problem-solve, and shape the future of open scholarship across Europe. Read more in the #VoicesOfOPERAS blog

Voices of OPERAS UK: Open Book Collective - Research

Voices of OPERAS UK is a blog series spotlighting the members of OPERAS based in the UK. Each feature introduces a member organisation through the same five quick questions.  OPERAS is a European…

research.jiscinvolve.org

There's still time to get an application in for our new Head of Operations role - the deadline is the end of 9 September (any timezone). Part-time (2.5 days a week), fully remote, £40-48k pro rata - click the link below for further details: obc.copim.pub/obc-is-hirin...

Open Position: Head of Operations

The Open Book Collective is seeking a highly organised, proactive Head of Operations to help lead the day-to-day running of our growing organisation.

obc.copim.pub

Yesterday, Ansgar Allen told us about big publishers charging authors thousands to make their own work "open". Today, we highlight a book born from exactly that frustration - when two academics were charged unreasonable fees to reprint their own work, they made it un-reprintable - on purpose!

Zipf Maneuvers

with an introduction by Steven Shaviro

erratumpress.com

"You wouldn't find them in Waterstones." The first piece in our new series on the people behind open books! Click below for a behind-the-scenes conversation with Ansgar Allen of Erratum Press, one of the OBC members who are publishing the kinds of books the commercial market tends to overlook.

Odd books, and the work of keeping them alive: in conversation with Ansgar Allen of Erratum Press

We sat down with Erratum Press founder, Ansgar Allen, to talk about defiant publishing, the state of the university, and why open access is anything but the easy option.

obc.copim.pub

A fantastic milestone to start the new academic year with - and always growing! obc.copim.pub/100-librarie...

100 libraries are now supporting diamond open access through the Open Book Collective!

Today we hit a milestone we've been working towards for a while: 100 libraries around the world are now supporting the Open Book Collective!

obc.copim.pub