Open Access: A Help or a Hindrance to Resource Sharing?

Abstract

The growing acceptance of the open access movement has created an increasingly large body of free, online information that library users may have difficulty navigating. Students, in particular, may not be fully aware of open access and the corpus of knowledge available to them. As a result, users still request open access materials through interlibrary loan despite their ability to access these materials directly. In 2011, the author conducted a study of borrowing requests for open access materials over a two year period (July 2009-June 2011). This period showed an increase in open access requests while overall borrowing requests held relatively steady. This paper presents an update on that research, which provides evidence that the number of borrowing requests for open access documents continued to grow in the ensuing two years. The author will discuss the data regarding IUPUI University Library open access borrowing requests and share a selection of online resources for locating open access materials.