Data set - Measured in a context : making sense of open access book data

For more than a decade, open access book platforms have been distributing titles in order to maximise their impact. Each platform offers some form of usage data, showcasing the success of their offering. However, the numbers alone are not sufficient to convey how well a book is actually performing. Our data set is consists of 18,014 books and chapters. The selected titles have been added to the OAPEN Library collection before 1 January 2022, and the usage data of twelve months (January to December 2022) has been captured. During that period, this collection of books and chapters has been downloaded more than 10 million times. Each title has been linked to one broad subject and the title’s language has been coded as either English, German or other languages. The titles are rated using the TOANI score. The acronym stands for Transparent Open Access Normalised Index. The transparency is based on the application of clear regulations, and by making all data used visible. The data is normalised, by using a common scale for the complete collection of an open access book platform. Additionally, there are only three possible values to score the titles: average, less than average and more than average. This index is set up to provide a clear and simple answer to the question whether an open access book has made an impact. It is not meant to give a sense of false accuracy; the complexities surrounding this issue cannot be measured in several decimal places. The TOANI score is based on the following principles: Select only titles that have been available for at least 12 months; Use the usage data of the same 12 months period for the whole collection; Each title is assigned one – high level – subject; Each title is assigned one language; All titles are grouped based on subject and language; The groups should consists of at least 100 titles; The following data must be made available for each title: Platform Total number of titles in the group Subject Language Period used for the measurement Minimum value, maximum value, median, first and third quartile of the platform’s usage data Based on the previous, titles are classified as: “Less than average” – First quartile; 25 % of the titles “Average” – Second and third quartile; 50% of the titles “More than average” – Fourth quartile; 25 % of the titles