Skip to Main Content
What is Open Access?
Online academic information comes in many forms and the University pays publishers to provide you with access to most of this information. The electronic journals, books and databases the Library buys are accurate and reliable, and so this is often the best place to start looking for the resources you need to support your learning and research.
LibrarySearch provides the easiest way to find and access library print and online resources. It allows you to search across almost all library collections and resources, whether you are on or off campus.
However, some authors, artists and publishers choose to make their work available for free, and you can find these open access resources on the library website and other sites across the internet. Knowing about this extensive, free, high-quality academic information can be helpful as an alternative research resource. The term 'open access' is often abbreviated to OA.
Because open access resources come in different forms and different locations, you may find it helpful to contact your liaison librarian for support.
Free or Open Access Resource?
Open access resources are usually about sharing the results of research. However, there are many individual websites which contain valuable free resources for educational purposes -
A lot of museums have made their images available in high resolution on open access. Warwick University has produced a helpful list.
Browser Plugins
There are some useful browser plugins to help you locate open access resources -
Remember - you should never have to pay for an open access resource. If you need help - Contact the Library.
Research Repositories
UCA, like most universities world-wide, hosts its own research repository containing open access research outputs, which can be found online - UCA Research Online. If you are looking for particular journal articles, book chapters or PhD theses then it may be worth checking if the author has deposited their research in their university's research repository.
Open Access Electronic Journals
Electronic journals are the most common source of scholarly open access publication.
Some academic publishers offer a section of open access resources from their collections.
Open Access Electronic Books
There are many free books to download on the Internet, and many books that are out of copyright have been digitised and are freely available.
This link opens in a new windowDigitised manuscripts, photographs, maps, drawings, and other ephemera. Includes digitised Leonardo Da Vinci sketches; a draft score of Handel's Messiah; Medieval manuscripts; 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' with the Tenniel illustrations; large collections of historic photographs including a collection of 1500 original photographic book illustrations, c.1000 AD to the present.
This link opens in a new windowVisual arts collections include paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture and historical furniture.
This link opens in a new windowOnline theses from participating UK universities.
This link opens in a new windowThese online collections offer an insight into British culture via photography and digital image resources.
Showcasing global contemporary art and modern art in the genres of architecture, design and craft from Korea and worldwide.
Thousands of digital items from the collections documenting African American life, history, and culture.
Explore the collection's 700,000 works of art.
This link opens in a new windowIncludes photographs, drawings and other images relating to medicine, art, culture, anthropology, nature and war. Wellcome Images specialises in historical subjects such as Tibetan Buddhist paintings, ancient Sanskrit manuscripts written on palm leaves and illuminated Persian; and also clinical and biomedical sciences collected from many of the UK’s prominent teaching hospitals.
The LSE collection highlights women’s rights and equality struggles from the 19th Century to the present day. It includes UNESCO recognised documents, rare books and original materials focusing primarily upon the UK women’s civil liberties history.
