Librarians are constantly being asked to do more with less, especially when it comes to maintaining library collections on a reduced budget. One way that librarians can increase their periodical collections without spending more on journal subscriptions is by adding open access (OA) journals to their library’s holdings. But how does one identify and evaluate what is available? In his Atla Annual 2021 Listen and Learn session titled “Open Access Religious Resources for your Students,” Jeff Siemon shared his collection of approximately 800 OA religion journals. Siemon inspired me to create my own collection of Catholic OA religion journals, i.e. journals of religion and/or theology published by Catholic institutions and/or containing primarily Catholic content. Later that year, I presented my collection of 146 journals at the Catholic Library Association’s Fall Conference. Four years later, my collection has nearly doubled. I will describe how I found these journals, highlighting specific journal indexes, including a comparison between the Directory of Open Access Journals and the Atla Religion Database. I also present updated analyses of journals by continent and country, by language, and by subject, highlighting remarkable trends. Lastly, I will discuss gaps and challenges in the Catholic OA religion journal publishing landscape.
Learning Outcome
Attendees will gain a greater awareness of what Catholic OA religion journals are currently available.
Audience Engagement
I will engage the audience primarily through charts breaking down the collection by continent and country, language, and subject, presented as slides.
