In response to the UK government-commissioned Finch Report on improving access to publically funded research, the Access to Research initiative (A2R) was launched to give free, walk-in access to academic research in public libraries across the United Kingdom. A2R is a collaboration between public libraries and scholarly , with many of the involved being members of OASPA. Now that A2R has been formally been granted permission to continue into the future after its successful two-year pilot, Leyla Williams, OASPA’s Events and Communications Coordinator, considers the impact of A2R in its first two years.
The Access to Research initiative, led and implemented by the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS), was coordinated by a variety of stakeholders within public libraries and scholarly publishing in 2014. The Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) represented the role of public libraries in offering A2R, while on the publisher side, The Publishers Association (PA), and Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) collaborated on the initiative with 21 of the largest scholarly in the UK. Of the scholarly involved, 11 are OASPA members: Cambridge University Press, Dove Press, IOP Publishing, Springer-Nature Publishing Group, Oxford University Press, Portland Press, Royal Society Journals, SAGE, Taylor and Francis, The Royal Society of Chemistry, and Wiley. ProQuest, also a member of OASPA, provides technology support to A2R, providing free use of the Summon platform for search and discovery.
As a joint report by PLS and the SCL in October 2015 demonstrates, A2R has been a highly innovative and successful collaboration between scholarly and public libraries. At a time when and universities are working with governments and experts to establish the pivotal societal role that academic research can have in the wider public sphere, the initiative holds great promise. Over 15 million academic articles can be accessed on public library computers or through library Wi-Fi networks, and, since the launch of the service, over 84,000 users have accessed A2R. According to the PLS/SCL report, public library users use A2R for a wide variety of reasons; for academic research and personal interest, but also for setting up social enterprises, organising volunteer initatives, and creative work. The academic subjects most often researched include medicine, health, history, the social sciences, law, politics, philosophy and religion. As a result of ProQuest’s involvement in offering the Summon search and discovery service, 90% of users have indicated the information they found through A2R was useful, and 77% said they found what they were looking for.
Beyond offering the obvious benefit to the public of accessing research that previously may have been held behind a paywall, the initiative poses exciting questions: Where should research occur? With the continued generosity of providing access to research in this space, might the public library host increasing numbers of ‘citizen scholars’ – researchers not affiliated with particular academic institutions, but who nonetheless wish to make use of academic research to produce their own scholarship? Such questions around the relationship between academia and the wider public are currently subject to intense debate, and this initiative takes an important and pragmatic step in scoping out the potential for public use of academic research.
Sarah Faulder, CEO at the Publishers Licensing Society, said of A2R: “In many ways Access to Research has been an extraordinary initiative. It has given members of the public free access to 15 million high quality research articles across all academic disciplines. It has seen commercial working together to provide a valuable public service. It has seen and libraries partnering to deliver the service to over 2,500 libraries across the UK. An independent research study into use of the service was conducted last year. This demonstrated that the service has proven valuable to a huge variety of library users, ranging from secondary school children to inventors. We, at the Publishers Licensing Society, have been proud to co-ordinate the publishing industry’s participation in the initiative.”
Dr Stuart Taylor, Publishing Director at The Royal Society, commented: “The Royal Society is delighted to have been part of the two year pilot Access to Research Initiative. Education and public engagement are important parts of our mission as the UK’s national academy of science and this project is a great way to provide access to scientific articles to the general public.”
Wim Van Der Stelt, Strategic Partnerships Director at Springer Nature, added: “Access2Research is a great initiative, broadening free, public access in the UK to global research from your local library. At Springer Nature we see these initiatives as complementary to our wide portfolio of open access publishing activities, and we look forward to more members of the public discovering the benefits of Access2Research.”
Like many new initiatives transitioning from their pilot phase, A2R is not without challenges. As pointed out by the PLS/SCL report, uptake of the service has the potential to be higher, and a strategic fresh effort to promote the initiative by the over 2,500 public libraries hosting A2R on their computers and Wi-Fi networks is needed to enable word to spread about the service. But at a time when academics and are considering how best to engage with the public, and when public libraries themselves face challenges and are in the process of reimagining their role for the 21st Century, the initiative has thus far proved itself incredibly valuable to all involved.