Managing Open Access (OA) and Open Educational Resources (OER) in Alma, Primo VE and Leganto

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Open Access (OA) and Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that can be freely used and reused at no cost, and without needing to ask permission

What is Open Access

Open access is a form of publication that provides free access to scholarly work
Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment
A 2018 study found that nearly 30% of articles with a DOI were Open Access
Open Access content is continuously growing

What is the difference between Open Access (OA) and Open Educational Resources (OER)?

OER resources are freely available, open-access resources that can be revised, mixed, and redistributed
OA resources are freely available but unlike OER, they lack the flexibility for adaption, revision, remixed, and redistribution. They are expected to be used as is

How to manage OA and OER in Alma

Be informed about open-access content in the Central Discovery Index
Review open-access resources from the CDI Collection List or identify them outside Alma
Search and locate open-access electronic collection in Alma Community Zone
Evaluate the collection for quality, relevancy and accuracy
Activate open-access electronic collection in the Institution Zone
Test the link and optimize content for discoverability
Promote and make the resource available to your users

For example, search for the Open Textbook Library electronic collection in Alma CZ and Activate

What are the benefits of adding OA/OER to Alma, Primo, and Leganto

Increases visibility of research outputs
Increases reach of research to other researchers around the world
Increases citation rates and impact readership of research
Reducing financial burden on students and institutions
Creates transparency and helps users and faculty with free resources
Open licenses, allowing for wider accessibility and adaptation
Allows easy addition of OER to Leganto course reading lists
Allows creative teaching approaches tailored to fit specific course needs
The combination of OA and OER materials in a single discovery search interface creates efficiency and serendipity for users to find relevant resources
OA and OER contribute to accessible, adaptable, and cost-effective education

How to evaluate OA/OER collection contents in Alma

The Extended Export (from the Portfolio list) provides the following data for evaluation:

Title - Is this subject area relevant to your users?
Publisher – Are you familiar with the publisher?
Date of Publication – How current is the content?
Material Type – Is it what it says it is?
Language – Look out for anything outside the needs of your users
Size of the collection – too much might overwhelm users
Evaluate the difference between Open Access, Partial Full-text, or Hybrid

Customer Success Best Pratices

Only activate relevant content as the more collections activated; the more results will return
Remember to test access via Display in Discovery
Understand Open Access Indication in Primo VE
Add an Open Access indicator to local records
Remove Proxy Prefix for Open Access Links
Remember to change the collection Service Activation to “Available”
Activate Unpaywall Collection in Alma CZ to improve OA linking
Use Resource Recommender to promote OA/OER content in Primo
Review Primo Analytics Popular Searches reports to identify popular queries and topics trends users are searching and use this data to tag recommended OA/OER resources

Recommended Resources

For further questions:

Watch the webinars: Yes, We’re Open! Open Access in Knowledgebases and Discovery and Learning affordability and Leganto
Check out: Open Access Workflows: New PO line Types for Article Processing Charges (APC) and Alma Acquisition - Open Access Roadmap 2024-2025
If you encounter any problem, create and submit a case with Ex Libris Support
Learn and consult the Alma Community Listserv