Academic libraries encompass research libraries, baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degree granting institutions, junior and community colleges, and distance learning programs of higher education. Academic libraries work together with other members of their institutional communities to participate in, support, and achieve the educational mission of their institutions by teaching the core competencies of information literacy—the abilities involved in identifying an information need, accessing needed information, evaluating, managing, and applying information, and understanding the legal, social, and ethical aspects of information use. The systematic delivery of instructional programs and services should be planned in concert with overall strategic library planning, including the library’s budgeting process. Such planning may also involve strategizing with other campus units to deliver collaboratively designed programming. Research has shown that the academic library is a positive influencing factor on students' academic success.
American Library Association, Definition of a Library
Open Access (OA) is a scholarly publishing model which allows immediate, free, and unrestricted use of electronic resources, including academic journals and articles, ebooks, data, as well as software, audio, video, and other multi-media.