12. Dissemination and discoverability

Ensuring digital and print versions of books can be found and reach as wide an audience as possible

Key issues

Just because Open Access books are digital does not mean that they can necessarily be found. In the case of smaller and scholar-led presses, the intense work with authors on their manuscripts and the push to get texts through production can mean that issues of discovery and dissemination become neglected. As Joe Deville, Jeroen Sondervan, Graham Stone, and Sofie Wennströmand colleagues observe, in a 2019 article: 

[t]here is a perception that, because they are both digital and readily shareable, open access texts are inherently discoverable. In some respects, however, discovery and dissemination remains the most significant ongoing challenge for open access book publishing.

A well-thought through approach to discovery (working to increase the ‘findability’ of books) and dissemination (making the books available in and accessible via more places) has the potential to radically increase the routes for potential readers to find a publisher’s books. It also makes the most of the fact that, by being Open Access texts, they can circulate much more easily than conventional academic books. 

Part of this will include working with distributors to ensure that hard copies are available to buy in a variety of locations – potentially both online and in bookstores. Examples of approaches to distribution are included as case studies. Good metadata management plays an important part in this, helping readers more readily find books they might be interested in.

However, for publishers, it is digital dissemination that has greater potential when it comes to increasing readership. For Open Access publishers, this will often mean more than just posting digital copies of Open Access books to a publisher’s own website. A clear metadata management workflow plays an important role in making digital books more discoverable. However, this works best when a publisher’s books are disseminated via a range of third-party platforms. 

Disseminating digital formats via third parties

There is a range of platforms that either index or directly host books that can be integrated into a dissemination strategy. This in turn will help make a publisher’s books more discoverable. Smaller and scholar-led Open Access presses may in particular want to consider services that do not require a substantial financial outlay, as well as those specifically designed to support Open Access content and/or not-for-profit publishing. 

Here are some suggestions for key services to consider: 

There are, though, many other aggregators and distribution channels that can be used and considered to help disseminate digital books.

Open Book Publishers provides a model of best practice. Alongside hosting content directly on their website, it uses nine metadata aggregators, and eleven ebook retail/distribution platforms to disseminate its books to a wide variety of locations. For smaller publishers, such a fully-fledged dissemination strategy may be something to aim for in the medium term. Open Book Publishers helpfully provides a comprehensive overview of its approach, for others to follow as needed.

Case studies

Digital dissemination
Print distribution

Questions to guide good practice

Resources