Librarians Reimagining Open Access: Beyond Paywalls

This presentation was delivered as part of the webinar, "Librarians Reimagining Open Access: Beyond Paywalls", on 20 March 2025. Speaker: Joanne Fitzpatrick, Accessibility and Engagement Manager on the Open Book Futures project. Abstract: The Open Access movement has always focused on the important work of removing paywall barriers to accessing publicly funded academic work, and while this work is still ongoing, are there other barriers to access that we could tackle alongside this? Speaking as a researcher on the Open Book Futures project specifically working on Work Package 5 - accessibility, this session will ask whether other barriers to access, such as accessibility issues, power imbalances and censorship, should be considered part of open access? The format of the session will be a 'live survey' where a range of ideas, resources and concepts will be presented that will provide inspiration for you to share your thoughts on this Google Form. You can attend live and fill in the form during the session or afterwards, or watch the recording later and complete the Google form by the end of April. There will be a stronger focus on accessibility barriers, in line with the focus of the work package. The event will be fully online, on Teams, with joining details sent beforehand.