by Katharina Galor, author of Finding Jerusalem. Archaeology between Science and Ideology
At UC Press, open access—the free, immediate, unrestricted, online access to peer-reviewed research and scholarly work—is central to our mission. In celebration of 2017 International Open Access Week (October 23-29), we are highlighting open access publishing initiatives at UC Press, including our Collabra and Luminos publishing programs. This year’s OA Week theme “Open in order to . . . ” is an invitation to answer the question of what concrete benefits can be realized by making scholarly publications openly available. Follow the full blog series here. #OAWeek #OpenInOrderTo
The choice to publish Finding Jerusalem. Archaeology between Science and Ideology as a free eBook was one of the best outcomes of publishing with the University of California Press. The topic I deal with is clearly of interest to Jews, Christians, and Muslims around the world, many of which may never have the opportunity to visit the city. But more importantly, most citizens of the Near East and the majority of the Palestinian community are legally and politically restricted to visit Jerusalem and the sites of relevance to their cultural and religious heritage. Their difficulty in accessing libraries and/or affording books makes the free online access particularly appealing to me. A further aspect that was important to me is the ability to include a large number of illustrations, half of them in color. As an art historian and archaeologist illustrations are a significant complement to the text, which oftentimes remains obscure without the necessary support material including maps, drawings, and photographs.
Katharina Galor teaches Judaic Studies and Urban Studies at Brown University. She is the coauthor of The Archaeology of Jerusalem: From the Origins to the Ottomans.
Finding Jerusalem is published in University of California Press’s Luminos open access book program. Click here to download a free digital copy of the book.
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