Category Archives: oa.sconul

Joint Statement on Wiley’s withdrawal of access to ebook titles

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“As set out in the sector’s Joint Statement, the failure of e-book and e-textbook publishers to provide stable and affordable access to key titles is failing students and teaching staff. The Wiley titles, many of which are high-use and feature on student reading lists, will after June only be available for libraries to acquire via expensive annual subscription models priced on a per student basis. This will result in significant cost increases and not reflect actual use or the how courses are taught – whereby students need access to key materials for a time limited period. A failure to provide institutions with flexible and affordable purchasing options that reflects actual use and budgets inhibits the library’s key role in providing resources to the university community and results in a poor student experience as materials have to be changed at short notice or worse still, the financial burden of purchasing resources is moved onto students during a period when student hardship is a critical concern for universities and government….”

Repositories and beyond – the evolving landscape | SCONUL

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“The UK’s repository infrastructure is ripe for redevelopment with the window for doing so now open post the 2020 REF. This event will give an overview of the current Repository and Research Information Management landscape and direction of travel, including the function of the Jisc Framework, exploring different models from open source to commercial.

 

Offered early in the UK post-2021 REF cycle, this discussion will be of interest to those with strategic responsibility for, or interest in, the research systems landscape and those potentially reconsidering current institutional repository and/or research information system provision….”

Open Letter to the Publishers Association

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“During the first lockdown, many publishers were quick to react to the seriousness of the situation and to offer extended online access to their resources, so mitigating against some of the immediate problems caused by restrictions on libraries. SCONUL and RLUK were amongst a group of UK bodies that welcomed these moves by publishers….

Unfortunately, universities in the UK find themselves in much the same situation as at the start of the pandemic and that first lockdown. With students required to stay away from campus the need for online access is as acute today as it was last March. Our members strive to provide as closely as possible the same experience to students studying remotely as those on campus. Unfortunately, licencing terms and conditions often mean that this parity of experience for students cannot be realised. In our statement last year, we listed ten ways in which publishers could help the HE sector. Not all include making all content universally available, but all would improve learning, teaching, and research in the UK and help to show publishers’ partnership role. We would ask the Publishers Association and the publishers you represent to look again at what you could do to support UK higher education and research as we pass through this difficult period. We would particularly urge publishers to permanently remove additional access barriers and related charges to institutions for registered students studying at a distance and move away from the per-FTE e-textbook pricing models.”

Open Letter to the Publishers Association

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“During the first lockdown, many publishers were quick to react to the seriousness of the situation and to offer extended online access to their resources, so mitigating against some of the immediate problems caused by restrictions on libraries. SCONUL and RLUK were amongst a group of UK bodies that welcomed these moves by publishers….

Unfortunately, universities in the UK find themselves in much the same situation as at the start of the pandemic and that first lockdown. With students required to stay away from campus the need for online access is as acute today as it was last March. Our members strive to provide as closely as possible the same experience to students studying remotely as those on campus. Unfortunately, licencing terms and conditions often mean that this parity of experience for students cannot be realised. In our statement last year, we listed ten ways in which publishers could help the HE sector. Not all include making all content universally available, but all would improve learning, teaching, and research in the UK and help to show publishers’ partnership role. We would ask the Publishers Association and the publishers you represent to look again at what you could do to support UK higher education and research as we pass through this difficult period. We would particularly urge publishers to permanently remove additional access barriers and related charges to institutions for registered students studying at a distance and move away from the per-FTE e-textbook pricing models.”

Universities will cancel publisher deals if they don’t respond to current financial pressures warn major sector bodies – Research Libraries UK

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“A price freeze on journal subscriptions will not be enough to avoid UK researchers losing access to key academic content, warn three major sector bodies representing academic library directors and higher education managers.

RLUK, SCONUL, the professional association for academic and research libraries, and Jisc say that immediate reductions are necessary if institutions are to retain access to content.

Universities are under heavy pressure to reduce all expenditure and divert financial resources to areas of immediate concern including online teaching and implementing measures to limit the spread of COVID-19….”

Universities will cancel deals with publishers if they don’t respond to current financial pressures – warn major sector bodies | Jisc

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“Research Libraries UK (RLUK), SCONUL, the professional association for academic and research libraries and Jisc say that immediate reductions are necessary if institutions are to retain access to content.

Universities are under heavy pressure to reduce all expenditure and divert financial resources to areas of immediate concern including online teaching and implementing measures to limit the spread of COVID-19….”

Taylor & Francis scraps extra charges after university protests | The Bookseller

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“Taylor & Francis has backtracked over plans to charge extra for access to older research papers online, after more than 110 universities signed a letter of protest.

The latest renewal of UK universities’ deal with the publisher, which is yet to be signed, only covers papers published in the last 20 years, reported Times Higher Education. Research released before this would have to be bought in a separate package by university.

The 20-year span of papers included in the main deal would have moved forward in time with each year. This would mean the archive would increase and costs would escalate further as researchers attempted to access papers from 1997 onwards, described by academics as the beginning of the born digital record. 

In an open letter dated 13th February, head librarians from more than 110 UK and Irish institutions, as well as representatives from Research Libraries UK, the Society of College, National and University Libraries (Sconul), and the Irish Universities Association, urged Taylor & Francis to drop the extra charges.

“A “moving wall” approach for non-subscribed titles within the journal package will increase administration activities and costs substantially for libraries and for Taylor & Francis, impose direct additional licensing costs, and create confusion and annoyance for your customers and our reader communities,” the letter reads….”