It has been a very long time since the website was updated. This does not mean that, once the project GOAL came to an end in December 2024, our pursuit for sustainable Open Access ended. Much on the contrary, we have been very busy since then.
Taking the opportunity offered by swissuniversities last Open Science call, a new project was developed, building on the results, ideas, and experiences gathered during GOAL. The outcome was the project GOAL – Information and Collaboration Hub (GOAL-Hub).
GOAL-Hub, a project smaller than GOAL, but based on its spirit, has been running since July 2025. In the spring 2026 it obtained a cost-efficient project extension and it will run until the end of December 2026.
GOAL-Hub is led by the ZHAW University library and has a team composed by members of the ZHAW University Library and the HSLU University Library. Members from Libraries at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), the Northwestern University of Applied Sciences and the Arts (FHNW), the University of Teacher Education in Thurgau (PH Thurgau) and the University of Fribourg (U. Fribourg) conform the Sounding Board.
During the first 12 months of GOAL-Hub, we have broadened the scope of the GOAL-Database by adding a new collection of policies. Book chapters and Conference Proceedings are also important publication forms in which Open Access is increasingly gaining traction. For this reason, we have created the policy collection “book contributions“. In it, the database users will find Green Open Access policies for book chapters and conference proceedings.
This is not all: Protected by a password, we have developed a container to share daily information between the participating institutions. This field, which we call “Internal Notes” shall help our librarians in their daily work of secondary publication right clarification.
Last but not least, since the beginnings of July and until the end of the project, we will keep developing the database, adding new fields and information. Further news coming soon!