Browsing by Author "Lam, Jenny"

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    Open Books Hong Kong: Multilingualism and Bibliodiversity
    (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 2025-07-01) Meunier, Benjamin; Lam, Jenny
    Open Books Hong Kong (OBHK) is an innovative pilot project aimed at transforming the dissemination of academic monographs in Chinese. This initiative provides free access to high-quality research books from three university presses. By making 36 titles available for free online, OBHK ensures that anyone with an internet connection can access these valuable resources. The project emphasizes multilingualism and bibliodiversity, showcasing monographs primarily in Chinese, which is under-represented in Open Access (OA) research books. This approach not only democratizes access to knowledge but also promotes the diversity of scholarly communication, ensuring that research from different linguistic backgrounds is accessible globally. Challenges and Sustainability OA publishing in Hong Kong and China faces several challenges, including the need for robust infrastructure, and the difficulty of developing a long-term sustainable plan. The lack of OA outlets for Chinese monographs does a disservice to outstanding researchers who publish in Chinese. OBHK addresses this gap by publishing all titles with a Creative Commons license, granting the right to share content with attribution to the author. Despite the modest scale of the initial pilot, the ambition is to establish a sustainable approach to exposing the research of Hong Kong universities. Since its launch in July 2024, OBHK has garnered over 430,000 views from 170,000 visitors. The initiative has expanded its collection to include 36 monographs showcasing the high-calibre research published by Hong Kong’s university presses. The most popular book, "People’s West Lake," was viewed over 27,000 times. Open Books Hong Kong exemplifies the potential of Open Access to democratize knowledge and foster global academic collaboration. By prioritizing multilingualism and bibliodiversity, OBHK serves as a model for other regions and contributes to the broader goals of the IFLA Open Science and Scholarship Advisory Committee.