This summer the ‘Building Relationships’ strand of the LIBER Digital Humanities Working Group has been exploring the theme of ‘researcher needs in digital humanities’, asking how libraries know what these needs are, and how we can meet them. This has involved considering area such as potential engagement activities for digital humanities services; how libraries work…
One of our members and part of our executive board, Cécile Swiatek co-chaired our LIBER Digital Skills for Library Staff and Researchers Working Group for its duration (2018-2020). She has recently given an interview about the results of the working group’s efforts in implementing methods and practices in European Libraries. Open Science is a field…
From 2018-2020, LIBER’s Working Group on Digital Skills surveyed and interviewed colleagues across Europe to identify examples of good practice in Open Science skilling and training programmes. The case reviews have been gathered and published on Zenodo and highlight the many different approaches taken to Open Science upskilling across Europe. The case studies describe the…
A number of European recommendations – including the LERU’s advice paper “Citizen Science at Universities: Trends, Guidelines and Recommendations” – highlight the importance of creating a single point of contact for citizen science within the institution. In this webinar, organised by LIBER`s Citizen Science Working Group, four speakers share what they are doing to devise…
cOAlition S is conducting an Open Access Diamond, Diamond OA, survey with the aim to explore new and shared non-commercial publishing models for Open Access. The survey is dedicated to gaining in-depth understanding of open access journals that don’t charge author fees. These journals are also referred to as the diamond model: journals that are free to…
LIBER has submitted its response to the German consultation to adapt copyright law to the requirements of the Digital Single Market. In its proposal focussing on the mass digitisation and making available out-of-commerce works (Art 8-11), LIBER directs its concerns towards two specific items. The first is the lack of clarity in the draft as…
Covid-19 has left research libraries scrambling to support a swift and unprecedented switch to digital teaching. The transition to fully online learning has exacerbated existing problems, namely a lack of appropriate copyright legislation (as LIBER flagged in April), and sky-high prices for digital textbooks. To highlight the problems faced by librarians, LIBER’s Copyright & Legal…
The Association of European Association of Research Libraries (LIBER) applauds the cOAlition S announcement of a Rights Retention Strategy: a move which will allow authors to retain copyright to their work and, at the same time, will accelerate progress towards LIBER’s goal of Open Access as the predominant form of scholarly publishing by 2022. Under…
Three months ago we highlighted the need for urgent action from governments, publishers and authors, so that online teaching and learning in the wake of Covid-19 can be properly supported. Sadly, little action has been taken to deal with the fact that books located in libraries cannot be accessed remotely. Few key players have reacted to…
LIBER is launching an Innovative Peer Review Working Group with two key aims: to explore a wide spectrum of challenges in the peer review field and to understand how research libraries can further facilitate the progressive elements of scholarly communication system. Why Is Innovation in Peer Review Needed? We believe that scholarly communication should embrace…
Optical character recognition (OCR) and handwritten text recognition (HTR) are processes most libraries are familiar with when digitising (large volumes of) text. The automated software recognises characters, which are then available for e.g. keyword search and computational analysis. The rise of machine learning applications saw a corresponding rise in HTR and improvements in OCR quality. …
Are you planning a new library building project? Are you looking for inspiration? Help? Advice? LIBER and the LIBER Architecture Group (LAG) have today launched Library buildings in Europe, a website dedicated to inspiring and supporting anyone working on a library building project – a new building, an extension, a renovation, or a reworking of…
