Category Archives: open access

Sharing journals freely online

Posted on May 25, 2016 by John Mark Ockerbloom

What are all the research journals that anyone can read freely online? The answer is harder to determine than you might think. Most research library catalogs can be searched for online serials (here’s what Penn Libraries gives access to, for … Continue reading →

Posted in citizen librarians, copyright, discovery, libraries, open access, serials, sharing | 2 Comments

Public Domain Day 2016: Freezes and thaws

Posted on January 1, 2016 by John Mark Ockerbloom

For most of the past 55 years, the public domain in the United States has gone through a series of partial or complete freezes. We’ve gotten used to them by now. A thaw is coming soon, though, if there are … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, online books, open access, serials | 1 Comment

Public Domain Day 2015: Ending our own enclosures

Posted on January 1, 2015 by John Mark Ockerbloom

It’s the start of the new year, which, as many of my readers know, marks another Public Domain Day, when a year’s worth of creative work becomes free for anyone to use in many countries. In countries where copyrights have … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, libraries, online books, open access, sharing | 3 Comments

Public Domain Day 2014: The fight for the public domain is on now

Posted on January 1, 2014 by John Mark Ockerbloom

New Years’ Day is upon us again, and with it, the return of Public Domain Day, which I’m happy to see has become a regular celebration in many places over the last few years. (I’ve observed it here since 2008.) … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, data, open access, sharing | 6 Comments

50,000 online book and serial catalog records released as CC0

Posted on August 23, 2013 by John Mark Ockerbloom

What a difference a few years can make. A few years ago, folks in the library world (myself included) were arguing about whether it was a good idea to let other people copy and build on their catalog records. Whether … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, data, discovery, metadata, online books, open access, sharing | 6 Comments

Public Domain Day 2013: or, There and Back Again

Posted on January 1, 2013 by John Mark Ockerbloom

The first day of the new year is Public Domain Day, when many countries celebrate a year’s worth of copyrights expiring, and the associated works become freely available for anyone to share and adapt. As the Public Domain Day page … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, online books, open access, sharing | 4 Comments

Building on a full complement of copyright records

Posted on July 22, 2012 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Thanks to recent efforts of the US Copyright Office, we now have a complete digitization of summary copyright registration and renewal records back to the late 19th century. As Mike Burke and others at the Copyright Office have been reporting … Continue reading →

Posted in citizen librarians, copyright, open access, sharing | 1 Comment

Finding the (market) value in freeing books

Posted on May 28, 2012 by John Mark Ockerbloom

I list a number of books on The Online Books Page that are relatively recent copyrighted books put online with the permission of the copyright holder. I am very thankful to the authors and other rightsholders who have agreed to … Continue reading →

Posted in online books, open access, sharing | 3 Comments

Public Domain Day 2012: Five things we can do in the US

Posted on January 1, 2012 by John Mark Ockerbloom

It’s New Year’s Day again, and in much of the world, this means another year’s worth of works enter the public domain. That’s a cause for celebration, as Europe and many other countries that have “life+70 years” copyright terms welcome … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, libraries, online books, open access | 2 Comments

My mother’s orphan

Posted on October 7, 2011 by John Mark Ockerbloom

Before my mother was pregnant with me, she was working on a book. The book had begun its gestation at least a year before. She had been teaching math in Massachusetts, and was involved with the Madison Project, one of … Continue reading →