A guide to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

Wen Lei, Bailey Battilla     

      For our Organizing System we chose the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). For this lesson plan, we thought of three learning objectives that would be valuable for our classmates to achieve. The first learning objective is the ability to reliably locate information in the database. Having the ability to use the system is the most important objective and will be a solid foundation in the exploration of the system. The second learning objective is to make aware of what kind of documents are available throughout this program. The third learning objective is to compare access and availability between DOAJ and Gale Academic Onefile. With knowledge, classmates will understand what is and is not available and can find out if this is a source they could use to their advantage. We will then look at understanding how this resource, compared with Gale Database, shows us about different levels of access and availability of resources to understand challenges for people in accessing academic work which ties to the 2nd course learning objectives.

    The information is presented as an open source database. You search for whole journals or specific articles. When you search for a journal, it will give specific details on it. Such as publisher, language, and formats the text is available in. It will also include the homepage for the article so you could investigate them directly. The articles are presented in a similar way with the title, publisher, and other important information. This also notates an abstract and a link to the full text. The search function is similar to other databases. There is an option for a keyword search and an advanced search option to narrow down what someone is looking for. There is also a browse by subject tab that allows you to brown by a particular topic. This is a free resource that is open to everyone. The funding from this journal comes from various sponsors such as Ebsco, donations, and contributions from journals. With the ability to change languages on the site it is an open resource for anyone who might have to use it.

    Interaction with peers will be through showcasing images of DOAJ vs Gale Academic Onefile of login screens, search screens, search result and one document screens for each.  By comparing these two, it will allow us to get into discussion questions about how to access this database, strengths and weaknesses and discuss access and availability issues of academic research. Some example questions can be “What is the main difference between these two databases?” and “What are the barriers that exist between the two databases?”.

512 Slide.pptx

Our process for teaching the uses of the DOAJ started with Isabel using the slide show and showing the difference between DOAJ and Gale Academic Onefile. She used the slide shows to show images of the difference between the two databases and asked questions comparing those differences. After her segment, I advised how to use DOAJ. I shared my screen while on the website and showed how to locate information by using the browse subjects tab and how to narrow down the searches by using the different tools available. This shows the individual being taught what is available and how locate useful resources.