As Europe’s largest association of research libraries, LIBER backs Open Access and wants it to become the main form of Scholarly Communication in 2022. We acknowledge that this goal cannot be achieved without the robust and viable support of certain key infrastructures. LIBER is therefore collaborating with SCOSS (the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science…
Articles 8-11 of the Digital Single Market Directive introduce a ‘hybrid exception’ to copyright. The exception allows libraries and other cultural heritage institutions to digitise and place their published and unpublished out-of-commerce (OOC) works online — once these works have been ‘advertised’ for at least six months on the EU Intellectual Property Office’s website, in…
We are very happy to share the launch of the Open a GLAM Lab book: a freely-available publication which shares the experiences of 16 global ‘Labbers’ from across the globe. It introduces readers to everything they need to know about setting up, maintaining and innovating a GLAM (Gallery, Library, Archive and Museum) organisation through a…
The member organisations of IARLA — LIBER, ARL, CARL, CAUL and RLUK — welcome moves towards an open access environment for journal articles and aligned funder policies to achieve this. We are therefore supportive of the overall objectives of Plan S as published by cOAlition S. We note the iterative nature of the Plan S Guidance…
Tell us and the Libraries Archives Copyright Alliance (LACA) if you have been blocked from access to electronic content in the context of data mining. Our Copyright & Legal Matters Working Group is working with LACA to gather evidence about what happens when Technical Protection Measures (TPMs) block researchers from accessing content because they have…
Are you a research librarian working in Europe? If so, you have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help shape your national copyright legislation. Speak up for libraries and research so that your library benefits from new activities and services. If you don’t, your library’s ability to serve users could be unnecessarily restricted. This unique situation stems…
It is an exciting time for those working with the publishing of academic books. The topic of Open Access (OA) books is being widely discussed in many workshops and conferences, and there is growing recognition that scholarly output formats beyond academic journal articles must be included when discussing OA policies, funding and workflows. Building on…
Over 80% of surveyed LIBER libraries say they distribute Open Access (OA) books via a repository and include them in discovery services or catalogues. A further 40% publish OA books, or plan to do so, and a quarter provides library funding to pay author fees related to OA book publishing. These are among the insights…
Open science skills for research librarians and researchers are at the heart of the evolution towards openness. LIBER’s Digital Skills for Library Staff & Researchers Working Group is supporting this transition in two ways: by building a digital skills list with a specific focus on Open Science and by highlighting Open Science training programmes relying…
Plan S will be a focal point for Europe’s research libraries in the coming months as systems and working routines are adjusted to meet the plan’s requirements. LIBER appreciates the latest guidance, which matches our strategic goal of making Open Access the main form of scholarly communication by 2020. At the same time, we recognise…
When the television series Shōgun was aired, the author of the best-selling story — James Clavell — is supposed to have said, when asked if he liked it, “Who the heck wants to see his cow boiled down into a stock cube?” One could argue that by using traditional bibliometric measures to measure research impact…
The results of two data repositories surveys, carried out by LIBER’s Research Data Management Working Group, are now available. The report, which can be downloaded from Zenodo, summarises the answers given by managers, librarians and technical staff with regards to: The FAIRness of repositories and their data; Misconceptions related to the principles’ definition and implementation;…
