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Open Access provides free access to scientific information and research results. This means that anyone can access and use this information. Open Access promotes the dissemination of knowledge and enables researchers to make their work available to a wider audience - an important step towards more open and transparent science (open science). 

The FH Aachen library currently finances open access publications with the publishers Springer Nature, Elsevier and Wiley as part of the DEAL contracts and in the PLOS journals.

The Vice-Rectorate for Research, Innovation and Transfer funds open access publications with publishers that are not covered by the library. Applications can be made for partial funding of Open Access publication fees up to a maximum of €1,000.

We, the academic and research libraries, collect and curate cultural heritage - often before it is even perceived as such. We ensure that important historical documents such as Victor Klemperer's diaries or Alexander von Humboldt's estate remain accessible to everyone in the future. We make them accessible according to standardised rules and make them available for use in a variety of scenarios. Whether analogue or digital: we provide new access to manuscripts, old and valuable prints, photographs and maps, film and sound recordings, journals, but also to special collections such as the architectural portfolios of the Library Bayernallee, which are currently being digitized - with and for research, teaching and further education.

Unfortunately, the data from the moon landing was overwritten - what a shame! What could have been done? As academic and research libraries, we know the answer: digital long-term preservation. Analog books, texts, photos, or research data cannot be found by other researchers. What is not digital is not always available, is not secure and cannot be used in the long term. Digital long-term preservation uses special technologies to ensure long-term availability and also protects against risks such as loss through accidental deletion, fire, water and cyber-attacks. This means that valuable collections such as Mozart's sheet music or research data on SARS-CoV2 can be preserved. It's a good thing that we in academic and research libraries are experts in collecting, archiving, and preparing metadata and file formats. This is how long-term preservation preserves treasures for the general public - and for future generations of researchers. The next moon landing can come...