BOOC is an innovative new digital format that presents academic subjects in the form of a ‘living book’.
Readers can browse articles of various types, in a non-linear thematic way, allowing them to select and sort subjects they want to read. With long and short articles, blogs, videos, audio and Storifys, these ‘books’ will be added to and grow over time.
The platform has come out of the Academic Book of the Future project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Library.
Led by UCL’s Professor Samantha Rayner, with involvement from Kings College London, the project included extensive contributions across academic, librarian, publishing and bookseller communities.
“We wanted to understand the current and possible future states of academic books in the changing academic, publishing and library environments,” explains Samantha.
“Who reads these books? How can technology help to make them more accessible? And how can we make sure these books, whether print or electronic, are kept safe and preserved?”
The BOOC platform was just one of the outputs of the project. The platform is designed to make academic books more accessible, and easier to use.
The project also led to two new events being created: Academic Book Week and The University Press Redux Conference. Both have now become important parts of the publishing and bookselling landscape.
Read the Academic Book of the Future project report here
Links