UMD Libraries Joins Open Access Initiative with MIT Press
BTAA Member Libraries participating in collective action agreement supporting Direct to Open program
The University of Maryland Libraries has joined a pioneering open access initiative that will make scholarly books openly available for researchers across the globe. Along with all member libraries of the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), UMD is now part of a three-year collective action agreement with the MIT Press. The agreement provides Direct to Open (D20) access to all new titles published by the MIT press on the MIT Press Direct platform.
This new business model harnesses collective support by equitably distributing costs among partner libraries to make knowledge more open and accessible for all. As an additional benefit, participating libraries will gain access to an archive of more than 2,000 previously published titles and substantial discounting on MIT Press Trade books. BTAA member schools are among 240 libraries worldwide committed to supporting D20 this year.
“Monographs and other long forms of scholarship have often been neglected by the open access movement,” says Daniel Mack, Associate Dean of Collections at UMD Libraries. “By supporting the D20 initiative, UMD is playing an important role in making scholarly books more accessible for everyone.”
Established in 1962, the MIT Press is one of the largest and most distinguished university presses in the world and a leading publisher of books and journals at the intersection of science, technology, art, social science, and design. Learn more about the BTAA’s D20 Collective Agreement with the MIT Press.