Successful partnership between the Specialised Information Service Benelux / Low Countries Studies and Knowledge Unlatched
Münster/Berlin, May 5th, 2022: The Specialised Information Service Benelux / Low Countries Studies (FID Benelux) has provided funding to make 28 titles from the field of Dutch, Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg studies available Open Access. The e-books have been made openly accessible in partnership with Knowledge Unlatched (KU) and its "KU Reverse" model.
The list of titles includes relevant publications from the publishers transcript and Waxmann, including titles from the renowned "Niederlande-Studien" series. The content can be accessed via Open Access platforms such as Open Research Library, DOAB (Directory of Open Access Books) and OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks). A list of the titles now open can be found here. Further titles are in preparation.
The FID Benelux of Münster University and State Library is a central point of contact for research-relevant literature and information on the culture and society of the Benelux countries, as well as providing research-supporting services. It is one of 41 specialised information services, which are funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the framework of the Specialised Information Services programme.
"Science thrives on free access to literature and information across institutional and governmental boundaries. For this reason, FID Benelux has been committed to the idea of Open Access from the very beginning. We are delighted that, thanks to our collaboration with KU, we are now able to make a comprehensive collection of books from two well-known publishers available for Benelux research in Open Access, thus making research on this topic, particularly that which is taking place in Germany, more easily accessible internationally," says Ilona Riek, Head of FID Benelux.
"It is always an exciting experience for us to be part of this cross-publisher provision of specialist publications," says Neil Christensen, Head of Publisher Relations at KU. "It shows that it is not just the broad, large-scale publication projects that are the focus of funders, but that there are also funds available for specialist projects."
Contact:
FID Benelux/Low Countries Studies
Ilona Riek
Project Manager
Knowledge Unlatched
Neil Christensen
Publisher Relations
About FID Benelux / Low Countries Studies
The "Specialised Information Services" funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) supplement the information infrastructures of universities and research institutions in Germany with nationwide services in order to provide researchers with the fastest and most direct access possible to specialized literature and research-relevant information, regardless of their location.
The Specialised Information Service Benelux / Low Countries Studies (FID Benelux) is regional in focus and multidisciplinary in its approach. The services of the FID Benelux are primarily aimed at researchers in the disciplines of Dutch linguistics and literature as well as at all scholars in the fields of history, political science, sociology, cultural anthropology/ethnology, geography and regional studies with an interest in the Netherlands, Belgium and/or Luxembourg in the context of their research activities. All its services are available on the FID Benelux portal www.fid-benelux.de.
About Knowledge Unlatched (KU)
Knowledge Unlatched, a Wiley brand, offers free access to scholarly content for readers and researchers around the world. Its crowdfunding Open Access models and initiatives provide libraries worldwide with a central place to support the publishing of Open Access content from leading publishers in a wide range of HSS and STEM disciplines.
