“ACRL announces the publication of Using Open Educational Resources to Promote Social Justice, edited by CJ Ivory and Angela Pashia, which explores the opportunities and challenges of moving the discussion about open educational resources (OER) beyond affordability to address structural inequities found throughout academia and scholarly publishing.
Learn more about Using Open Educational Resources to Promote Social Justice in this Introduction from the editors, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. …”
Abstract: “Are transformative agreements really transformative? Is open access (OA) more than a PR tool for commercial publishers, an ornament on an otherwise impenetrable firewall, an air freshener in the landfill of corporate profiteering and shrinking library budgets? Is OA actually open, is it accessible? Where is “the public” in this? Where also is the “public” in “public library”? We pose these questions as the occasion for a critical analysis of the political economy of OA, as well as an opening to a more radical practice. Our panel presents the perspectives of librarians involved in scholarly-communication advocacy and library publishing, alongside that of a scholar-led OA publisher….”
Participants: EIleen Joy, punctum books; Dolsy Smith, The George Washington University
“ACRL announces the publication of Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy, book number 79 in the Publications in Librarianship series. Edited by Mary Ann Cullen and Elizabeth Dill, the book captures current open education and information literacy theory and practice and providing inspiration for the future. …”
“ACRL’s Research and Scholarly Environment Committee is planning a topical issue of College & Research Libraries (C&RL) around new research on how the academic and research library workforce has accelerated change in the scholarly communications environment. We are particularly interested in articles on recent research that advances the three priority areas established in ACRL’s 2019 report Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications: Creating a More Inclusive Future (available for download or purchase): people, content, and systems. In that report, the first section on people addresses embracing diversity and inclusion, improving the working lives of people engaged in scholarly communications, and increasing awareness concerning creators’ rights. The second section, content, acknowledges the opportunity for greater inclusion and openness by rethinking what scholarship “counts” and creating more representative and open collections. The third section on systems identifies several avenues to explore: supporting sustainable technological infrastructure, creating systems that permit more access to more people, building mission-aligned organizational and financial systems, and advancing innovation in academic libraries. To learn more about the report, view a recorded webinar from when it was first released. For this C&RL topical issue, the research may use any investigative methods appropriate to addressing the research question(s). These include but are not limited to: standard quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as critical evaluations, case studies, reflective essays, and (auto)ethnography. Articles resulting from collaborative research involving librarians and other higher education stakeholders, such as institutional researchers, faculty, administration, students, or community partners are particularly welcome. Given the focus of Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications on valuing different ways of knowing, the committee particularly welcomes adventurous scholarship, and we encourage work on issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion as they relate to academic libraries and scholarly communication. Proposals Proposals should be a maximum of 750 words. They should clearly outline the methodology and findings of the research, as well as its relevance to this topical issue, specifically its connection to the ACRL report Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications: Creating a More Inclusive Future, as described above. Prospective authors should submit a proposal by 5 p.m. Central on Monday, October 3, 2022, for open peer review. Submit via C&RL’s submission system (login required) and please note in your cover page that your submission is a proposal for the Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications topical issue….”
“ACRL announces the publication of a new white paper, Transforming Library Services for Computational Research with Text Data: Environmental Scan, Stakeholder Perspectives, and Recommendations for Libraries, from authors Megan Senseney, Eleanor Dickson Koehl, Beth Sandore Namachchivaya, and Bertram Ludäscher.
This report from the IMLS National Forum on Data Mining Research Using In-Copyright and Limited-Access Text Datasets seeks to build a shared understanding of the issues and challenges associated with the legal and socio-technical logistics of conducting computational research with text data. It captures preparatory activities leading up to the forum and its outcomes to (1) provide academic librarians with a set of recommendations for action and (2) establish a research agenda for the LIS community….”
“ACRL announces the publication of Stories of Open: Opening Peer Review through Narrative Inquiry by Emily Ford, book number 76 in ACRL’s Publications in Librarianship series, which examines the methods and processes of peer review as well as the stories of those who have been through it. Stories of Open is the first book to go through the Publications in Librarianship open peer review process. …”
“IIPA [International Intellectual Property Alliance] attacked subsection 12D7(a) as a threat to “academic freedom” because it gives the author of a scientific article that is the result of a research activity primarily funded by the government the right to make the article available on an open access basis. This is a truly Orwellian argument. How does preserving a scientist’s right to make her research publicly available undermine her academic freedom? The statute doesn’t obligate her to provide open access, although the Government certainly has the authority to do so as a condition of its providing the research funding. Indeed, the United States government conditions it research grants on making the resulting articles available on an open access basis. So do the EU and many other research funders around the world.
“College & Research Libraries News (C&RL News), the official newsmagazine and publication of record of ACRL, will adopt an online-only publication model beginning in January 2022. The December 2021 issue will be the final print issue of the magazine. C&RL News is freely available as an open access online publication….”
“Every other year, the ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee provides a scan of higher education, detailing the current environment and its anticipated impact on libraries. While this year’s Environmental Scan is no different in terms of scope, we are now facing challenges to higher education on a scale not seen in decades. Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, and in the United States, this disruption has been compounded by the eruption of protests surrounding civil rights and other social justice issues. While the 2021 Environmental Scan covers developments over the last two years (2019 and 2020), the events of 2020 are anticipated to have lasting repercussions, and, while not the primary focus, are a common thread throughout the document….
After years of debate, more academic libraries have begun to rethink the big deal, often with support from their faculty. Florida State University, Iowa State University, the State University of New York (SUNY), the University of California, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill have all cancelled big deal packages in recent years. These decisions have been driven by evolving licensing principles, increased open access content, cost considerations, and new tools to analyze the impact of more targeted subscriptions.91 With current and inevitable future budget cuts taking place across the country, one can expect this trend to continue. Colleges and universities are facing difficult times that will impact academic library budgets, prompting major transformations in collection management, including the consideration of how to manage big deal packages.
“ACRL’s Publications in Librarianship (PIL) series—a peer-reviewed collection of books that examine emerging theories and research—is launching its third open peer review, for Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy, edited by Elizabeth Dill and Mary Ann Cullen….”
“ACRL’s Publications in Librarianship (PIL) series—a peer-reviewed collection of books that examine emerging theories and research—is launching its third open peer review, for Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy, edited by Elizabeth Dill and Mary Ann Cullen….”
“Last year the UC Berkeley Library’s Collection Services Council charged a working group to develop local best practices to guide investment in open access (OA) products and services. Advancing open access to scholarship is one of the Library’s key goals, and addressing how and when UCB invests in OA resources and materials is one path to supporting this priority. In May 2020 the working group completed its report, recommending key criteria and a workflow for evaluating open access investment opportunities.
Even though the Library is in the early stages of implementing the proposed criteria and review process, we submitted a proposal for the 2021 ACRL Conference to share our work with the broader academic library community and to receive feedback as we develop the process. We also wanted to hear how related projects address open access investments, and understand the challenges (and hopefully, solutions) others have encountered along the way.
Our panel was titled Open access investment at the local level: Sharing diverse tactics to improve access & affordability. We know that many decisions about open access investments take place at administrative or consortial levels, but librarians frequently field requests for access, resources, or partnerships at the local level through their relationships with students, researchers, and faculty. The panel aimed to share real-world examples of where and how academic libraries decide to invest in open access resources, and discuss commonalities and differences in strategies and give attendees examples they can apply in their own roles….”
“ACRL’s traveling RoadShow workshops are on hold until it’s safe to resume large in-person gatherings, but we’re working to bring you the same great content through virtual experiences. These “Off-RoadShows” have been designed to help academic library professionals tackle the greatest issues facing the profession today
The three-part OER and Affordability webcast series will help you understand the basics of open educational resources (OER) and how libraries can be involved in affordability initiatives at your institution….”
“In this moderated panel we will explore the OA funding landscape. Our panelists have considered and in some cases developed programs to cover or partially cover article processing charges which authors are required to pay to publish open access. Attending this panel you will learn more about the current landscape of OA funding as well as the issues and barriers currently faced. The session will have time for Q&A. If you already have questions, you can submit them in the registration form. This panel will run from 1:00 – 2:30 Central. Please get in touch with any questions.”
“ACRL recommended “as standard practice that academic librarians publish in open access venues.” ….In June 2019, ACRL outlined priorities and plans to reshape the current system of scholarly communications to increase equity and inclusivity. While by no means an exhaustive list of the values that institutions should discuss and balance, both of these priorities place value on a scholarly infrastructure that is new, emerging, different, and may not completely align with current evaluative practices. We urge institutions to discuss their core institutional values and priorities, and how support for open access, equity, and inclusion, and impact will be represented by the codified institutional guidelines, expectations, and rank/tenure/promotion/evaluation processes….”
The document is undated. But the announcement is dated December 11, 2020.