Publications about bibliotherapy on Open Access

The project launched in 2020, titled „Study of Attitudes to the Therapeutic Potential of Reading in Atypical Situations for the Individual”, financed by the National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria with Contract № КП-06-Н45/2, positioned new scientific research tasks. The aim of the project is to study the recognition of the possibilities for bibliotherapy and the degree of meaningfulness of reading as a therapeutic tool for maintaining emotional and mental balance in times of crisis. By studying the attitudes during the imposed changes, which occured following the pandemic of COVID-19 in the daily life of Bulgarian people, it will be established to what extent reading is used as a mechanism to support the preservation and achievement of emotional and mental balance in critical and unnatural situations for the individual.
The sub-goal of the project is to increase the quality of information provision and systematization of knowledge in relation to bibliotherapy through the preparation of bibliographic resources. In the first stage of the implementation of the goal, the publications in Bulgarian were studied and an electronic thematic bibliography was created. It is available from the project website: https://bibliotherapy.unibit.bg/bg/, addressed to researchers, students, librarians, and wide audience. The aim is to promote the possibilities of bibliotherapy and to provoke interest in this poorly discussed topic.
The paper summarizes the activities of the second stage - a study of relevant resources in English, freely available online. Research efforts are focused on reviewing of publications on open access about bibliotherapy issues. The research methodology includes a documentary and content analysis (internal and online desk research) of the platforms of open access, DOJA, websites, publications and other information materials.
The information seeking and the analysis of the type of publications allow to distinguish the three main groups of documents: articles in websites and forums (by journalists and non-specialists); articles by scientists published in their profiles on various platforms (ResearchGate, Academia.edu etc.) and scientific publications presented in scientific forums or published in open access scientific journals. The report provides a summary of quantitative results for open access publications on the topic and an analysis of the thematic scope of publications on bibliotherapy issues. The electronic thematic bibliography is enriched with publications in English, as a resource useful for users from the country and abroad. Also, it is enriching the learning content, available for distance education purposes of academic education (Erasmus + project DECriS (Digital Education for Crisis Situations: Times When There is no Alternative – 2020-1-HR01-KA226-HE-094685). The publication of free access is an exceptional opportunity for unhindered dialogue on bibliotherapy issues in a scientific and applied context.