The Open Access Books Network (OABN) has been part of the Knowledge Commons community since our inception in 2020 (when Knowledge Commons was called Humanities Commons). Knowledge Commons is an open community infrastructure that supports education and research, and enables effective collaborations between individuals and groups. Infrastructures like Knowledge Commons cultivate open, non-commercial spaces for us all to connect, create, share, and experiment, and in doing so, endeavour to transform global knowledge systems.
Here at the OABN, we use Knowledge Commons to host our website, which is often the first port of call for people to find out about who we are and what we do; we use the Knowledge Commons ‘group’ function to attract people to the OABN and provide a forum for members to discuss issues and ask questions; and we also use Knowledge Commons to share resources and support our own community-driven work. Their infrastructure enables us, and many others across the open research landscape, to foster an open, collaborative, and engaging space for fruitful conversations – in our case, about open access (OA) books.
In April, Knowledge Commons announced that their National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant of $500,000, awarded in 2020, had been terminated effective immediately and later, that their contract to provide the NEH’s Designated Public-Access Repository was also being terminated.
Like many open, not-for-profit infrastructures, Knowledge Commons relies heavily on grant funding and financial support from the community to ensure they can remain free for everyone to use their tools. Because we support their mission, have high regard for their services, and because we have benefitted so much from Knowledge Commons’ work and its capacity to draw people interested in open scholarship together, we’re encouraging members of the OABN community to consider financially supporting them.
We suggest three simple ways you can tangibly support Knowledge Commons (as recommended by them in their newsletter of 22 May 2025):
- Make a one-off or monthly donation via the Knowledge Commons Crowdpower page.
- As an organisation or institution, consider becoming a sustaining member of Knowledge Commons. Contact the team at network@msu.edu for more information.
- If financially contributing is not within your means, spread the word about what Knowledge Commons does with your colleagues, department heads, admins, or anyone who would benefit from using their tools.
Supporting open infrastructure is essential if we want to see a more open, transparent, and inclusive scholarly communications ecosystem. Even small financial contributions can make a big impact. Will you consider being part of this global transformation?