The open future is now: Foregrounding open access search tools across the academic library

As the open access movement expands, an increasing number of journal articles are available through OA channels. What kinds of changes will libraries make in order to adapt to this new publishing environment? Panelists will present new research exploring the tools that librarians and library patrons use to find OA content, the extent to which these tools overlap with traditional library services, and some changes that libraries are considering to adjust to an open paradigm. Attendees will be invited to consider how discovery of openly available scholarly content will impact multiple library functions, including reference, instruction, scholarly communication services, collection development, and interlibrary loan. Panelists’ research evaluates the real-world impact of OA publishing on libraries and their users, measuring the extent to which students find and use content that is available through OA channels in their research and analyzing the effectiveness of a variety of OA search tools.