From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2015 19:47:15 -0500

If my math is correct, this comes out to a total payment of $14,965
per title.  That is lower than the full cost of publishing a standard
monograph (which is closer to $25,000), but might cover the full
"first copy" costs, so I assume that the participating presses are
expecting to pay the remaining costs from sales of POD editions or
their own operating subsidies. Also, there must be some administrative
expenses involved with making sure Knowledge Unlatched works the way
it is supposed to work. What percentage of the $14,965 per title does
that expense represent?

Sandy Thatcher


> From: Christina Emery <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2015 15:34:57 +0100
>
> Dear Liblicense subscribers,
>
> Knowledge Unlatched Announces Launch of Round 2 Collection
>
> Following on from its highly successful Pilot concluded last year,
> Knowledge Unlatched is delighted to announce the launch of its second
> collection.
>
> If at least 300 libraries from around the world pledge their
> commitment by 31 January 2016, 78 new Humanities and Social Sciences
> books will be made free for anyone in the world to read on an Open
> Access basis.
>
> The KU Collection includes 78 new books in five subject areas
> (Anthropology, History, Literature, Media & Communications and
> Politics) from 26 recognised scholarly publishers:
>
> Amsterdam University Press
> Berghahn Books
> Bloomsbury Academic
> Brandeis University Press
> Brill
> Cambridge University Press
> University Press of Colorado
> Dartmouth College Press
> De Gruyter
> Duke University Press
> Edinburgh University Press
> Fordham University Press
> Leiden University Press
> Liverpool University Press
> Manchester University Press
> University of Michigan Press
> Monash University Publishing
> Penn State University Press
> Pluto Press
> Purdue University Press
> Routledge
> Rutgers University Press
> Temple University Press
> University of Toronto Press
> Ubiquity Press
> Yale University Press
>
> The collection is made up of eight packages - providing participating
> libraries the choice of supporting all eight or selecting at least six
> packages.
>
> Knowledge Unlatched is inviting libraries to pledge a capped maximum
> of US$3,891 to 'unlatch' the whole collection. This is an average of
> just under US$50 for each book. Publishers have agreed to recognise
> additional format purchases by participating libraries with a
> deduction made on the KU unlatching fee.
>
> The Knowledge Unlatched model is based on libraries from around the
> world sharing the payment of a single 'Title Fee' to publishers, in
> return for books being made available as a fully downloadable PDF via
> OAPEN and HathiTrust on a Creative Commons licence upon publication.
> Because the Title Fee is a fixed amount, as more libraries
> participate, the per-library cost of 'unlatching' each title declines.
>
> Libraries can view the collection and pledge their interest at:
>
> http://collections.knowledgeunlatched.org/
>
> Pledging will remain open until 31 January 2016.
>
> For further details contact KU's Partnership Manager Christina Emery
> ([log in to unmask]).
>
> Best regards,
> Christina
>
>
> Christina Emery
> Partnership Manager | Knowledge Unlatched
> [log in to unmask]
> www.knowledgeunlatched.org
>
> Winner: IFLA/Brill Award for Open Access 2014
> Winner: Curtin University Award for Best Innovation in Education 2015