Hi, my name is Martina Dvořáková, SPARC Europe’s new communications officer, and I am pleased to introduce myself as the newest member of the Open Access Books Network (OABN) coordinating team.
My background is in media and communications, where I hold a Master’s degree. I initially considered a career in journalism, but soon realised that being in the spotlight was not for me. Books, however, have remained a constant throughout my life — my first job during my university studies was as a helping hand at a university press, and that early experience set the course for the rest of my career.
After graduating, I joined Masaryk University Press, one of the largest academic publishers in the Czech Republic, where I was responsible for marketing and public relations. Like most university presses, Masaryk University Press quickly began moving toward e-book production and open access, and I came to see this as the future of academic publishing. We had always faced challenges selling our books — mostly academic monographs, largely in Czech, aimed at a very limited readership. Open access offered a compelling alternative: it allows readers to engage with a book freely, even when they would not otherwise purchase it, whether because they need only a single chapter or for any other reason. Together with my colleagues, I helped design, develop, and launch Munispace, Masaryk University’s online reading room, showcasing the university’s open access books. That way I entered the world of open access publishing.
Networking lies at the very heart of OABN, and it is where I feel most at home. I find great fulfilment in bringing people together and creating opportunities for them to learn from one another. This is what drew me to join the board of the Association of European University Presses (AEUP) in 2017, where I serve as Secretary, organising board meetings, webinars, conferences, and other activities. I believe we are building something genuinely valuable together, and as I take on my new role within OABN, I look forward to exploring closer cooperation between the two networks, which share a great deal in terms of values and mission.
Open access discussions are so often dominated by journals, yet books have been at the very centre of my professional life, and I firmly believe they deserve equal space in that conversation. I am delighted to add my voice to SPARC Europe’s long-standing commitment to open access books, and to its role in coordinating and supporting the OABN.
I look forward to what we can achieve together!