Denver, Colo. – May 7, 2026 – The Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries (the Alliance) announced the adoption of a new Open Metadata Policy at its Board of Directors in February 2026, reinforcing its commitment to open scholarship and the free exchange of knowledge. This initiative advances the Alliance’s mission to foster resource sharing, innovation, and equitable access to knowledge across academic and research communities.
Metadata has long served as a cornerstone of research and scholarly communication. The Alliance is encouraging its member libraries to make metadata openly available under a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0) wherever possible, excluding patron data, business data, and any information restricted by contractual obligations, copyright, privacy, or security concerns.
This policy helps remove unnecessary barriers to innovation, allowing researchers, developers, educators, and other institutions to explore, synthesize, and build upon this rich data in new and creative ways.
“Open metadata is a catalyst for collaboration, which lies at the heart of librarianship,” said the Alliance. “By dedicating our metadata to the public domain, we honor the centuries-long tradition of cooperative knowledge-building while empowering new forms of discovery and scholarship.”
The Alliance’s policy was developed with inspiration from the open metadata policies of Stanford University Libraries and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
About the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries
The Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries is a consortium of sixteen academic and research libraries in Colorado and Wyoming dedicated to collaboration, resource sharing, and advancing scholarly communication. Member institutions work together to provide
seamless access to world-class collections and services for students, faculty, and researchers.
Media Contact: George Machovec, Executive Director, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries Email: [george@coalliance.org] Phone: 303-759-3399 x.101. For more information, visit https://coalliance.org