Jisc licence subscriptions manager goes live for Liverpool University Press Opening the Future initiative

Posted by Tom Grady on Aug. 23, 2021 at 0855

Liverpool University Press (LUP) and the COPIM project are pleased to announce a partnership with Jisc on their Opening the Future membership programme.

The recent agreement means that UK libraries can now easily sign up and pay for two packages of books on offer from LUP through Jisc’s Licence Subscription Manager: https://subscriptionsmanager.jisc.ac.uk/catalogue/2651. Access to two monograph series is on offer: Contemporary Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures, and Liverpool Latin American Studies. There are 36 multi-user titles in total. This initiative makes library funds go further by increasing their digital collections at the same time as supporting new Open Access (OA) publications.

The revenue from membership will be used by LUP to fund new frontlist titles that will be published fully OA. Library membership fees will pay for only those books that do not already have funding. Liverpool University Press CEO, Anthony Cond, said 

“Liverpool University Press is internationally recognised for an outstanding modern languages publishing programme. Today’s agreement with Jisc makes it simple and quick for UK libraries to enhance their collections in this area via their normal acquisition process. At the same time member libraries are helping us build on our commitment to disseminating exceptional research globally.”


COPIM project lead for Opening the Future, Professor Martin Paul Eve, said

“We’re really excited to be working with Jisc and Liverpool University Press on this initiative. This marks another milestone in helping university presses to initiate a low-risk transition to OA monograph publishing. It’s crucial, though, that subscribing to these books is also easy and low-cost for libraries: working together, Jisc and Liverpool University Press are making library funds go further.”


What is Opening the Future at LUP (lup.openingthefuture.net)?

Membership is open to libraries anywhere in the world, not just the UK. Library members pay a small annual fee to get multi-user access to a selection of the well-regarded LUP backlist, and with perpetual access after three years. The membership revenue will be used to produce new OA monographs, freely accessible to anyone in the world. Given the current global library environment and budget pressures that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, a consortial model of funding like this promises a cost-effective solution for enhancing online/electronic library collections with relevant research.


Pricing is tiered according to size of institution. Annual membership costs £250 for the smallest libraries and only £800 per year for the largest: in return all libraries increase their collections with 36 high quality eBooks and LUP uses their fees to publish only new OA books. 

How do I sign up?

Opening the Future is a collective subscription model that, through its membership scheme, makes library funds go further: achieving the dual objectives of increasing collections and supporting Open Access.