Meet the DOAB & OAPEN Ambassadors: An Interview with Melissa Chim, Ambassador for the USA
Silke Davison
Tue 07 Jul 2026
Melissa Chim is Scholarly Communications Librarian at Excelsior University in New York, United States of America. Hear what she had to say about joining the ambassador programme.
What motivated you to join DOAB as an ambassador?
I have been working in the Open Education space for about five years now, and becoming a DOAB ambassador felt like an excellent next step to take in my advocacy! As a Scholarly Communications Librarian, I support my institution’s OER publishing program and institutional repository. I was a SPARC Open Education Leadership Fellow for 2021, a Society of Scholarly Publishing Fellow for 2023, and an ASAPbio Fellow and Resident from 2024-2026. I also serve on committees with the Open Education Network, the Society of Scholarly Publishing, FORCE11, and DOAJ. Representing DOAB is an opportunity for me to dive deeper into open access book publishing advocacy while supporting open education as a whole.
How do you plan to drive open-access books publishing in your country/region through your work as a DOAB ambassador?
My goal is to reach out to my existing networks in the open education space and find new opportunities to promote open access book publishing. This can take the form of blog posts, conference presentations, webinars, etc. A big part of advocacy is communication, and I plan to use my voice in multiple venues. Ideally, I would like to connect with global organizations to see how their initiatives compare with those of the United States.
What or who inspires you in your role?
My students inspire me every day! I work with many nontraditional students who juggle full time work and families while getting their degree. I think the ultimate goal of open access publishing is to make sure information is both free and accessible. Having access to open books makes a huge difference in the experience of my students, and is often the deciding factor of whether they continue their studies or not.
What are the biggest challenges you see in advancing open-access book publishing in your country/region?
I think the biggest challenge facing open access book publishing in the United States is financial and institutional support. One of the biggest discussions in scholarly communications right now is “can open access really be free? Someone has to pay for this labor, so who should it be?” And these questions are very difficult to answer amidst library budget cuts and tenuous federal funding. Transformative agreements are one option, but Article Processing Charges (APCS) still remain a very high barrier to publishing. There is also a stigma that open access books, particularly OER, are of less quality than traditionally published books. Often institutions don’t recognize OER (or preprints in the sciences) for tenure and promotion.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I would welcome any opportunities to connect with other Ambassadors around the world to collaborate on different projects. I have a global mindset when it comes to scholarly communications, and I like to keep my finger on the pulse of what other countries are doing and learn from them.