Open Access Resources

• Open Access refers to resources that are freely available for viewing and/or use. Open Access is not the same as Public Domain, and most Open Access creators do retain their copyrights.

• Open Access is part of a continuum ranging from completely closed, subscription/purchase only access to completely open, no barrier publishing. Open Access is not related to the quality of materials or the peer-review/non-peer-review status of the publications.

• Open Access materials can be excellent resources to supplement online library materials. Many scholarly and peer-review journals have opened their back issues as open access, and others have converted partially or totally to open access for all issues. 

What sorts of materials are available?

Many sources have more than one type of document, just as a print journal may also publish conference papers or technical papers. Be sure to check in other categories, especially the General/Mixed Media category.

• General/mixed media repositories or guides: Mixed media, megasites, search engines, and guides to further resources.

• Audio, Video, & Images: Collections of audio files and streaming audio, video sites, and image collections.

• Journals : either full open access or open access to back issues.

• Books : while many of the open access texts available on the Internet are also public domain, many authors and publishers have released full or partial versions of current works. For some this is an advertising scheme to create demand for print versions, while others are more interested in presenting their content to the widest possible audience. Links to collections of textbooks, theses and dissertations are also included.

• Biodiversity Heritage Library 

The collection of a consortium of 12 natural history and botanical libraries, including digitized books and journals. Especially strong in 19th century writings. See BioStor (below) for additional searching options.

• Baen Free Library
  Read these science fiction selections online or download in a variety of formats from publisher Baen Books. Also read author Eric Flint's musings on open access and online piracy.

• Chest of Books

This site presents free online books on various topics, like Art and Photography books, Business books, Health and Healing books, Craft and Hobby books, etc.

• JSTOR Open Access eBooks 

Thousands of open access ebooks available from scholarly publishers.

• Open Access Books | InTech
  STM publisher of books and journals in biology, computer science, earth science, engineering, materials science, medicine, and technology

• The Internet Classics Archive
  Over 400 Greco-Roman, Chinese, and Persian classic texts in English translation. An update is in process (2010).

• NASA e-Books
  DRM free, public domain (federal government) ebooks and reports from NASA on aeronautics, the history of the space program, space science, and more.

• Open Book Publishers

The leading independent Open Access publisher in the Humanities and Social Sciences in the UK: a not-for-profit Social Enterprise run by scholars who are committed to making high-quality research freely available to readers around the world.

• SpringerOpen Books 

Open access ebooks in a wide range of subjects wiithn science, technology and medicine.

• GALILEO Open Learning Materials
  The University System of Georgia offers a variety of OA textbooks appropriate for undergraduate courses.

• OER Commons Open Textbook Hub
  Browse textbooks by subject area or use the search function to find what you need.

• Project Gutenberg

A library of over 60,000 free eBooks. Choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online. You will find the world’s great literature here, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired. Thousands of volunteers digitized and diligently proofread the eBooks, for enjoyment and education.