Category Archives: oa.ala

Scholarly Communication Librarianship and Open Knowledge | ALA Store

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“The intersection of scholarly communication librarianship and open education offers a unique opportunity to expand knowledge of scholarly communication topics in both education and practice. Open resources can address the gap in teaching timely and critical scholarly communication topics—copyright in teaching and research environments, academic publishing, emerging modes of scholarship, impact measurement—while increasing access to resources and equitable participation in education and scholarly communication.  

 
Scholarly Communication Librarianship and Open Knowledge is an open textbook and practitioner’s guide that collects theory, practice, and case studies from nearly 80 experts in scholarly communication and open education. Divided into three parts:

What is Scholarly Communication?
Scholarly Communication and Open Culture
Voices from the Field: Perspectives, Intersections, and Case Studies 

The book delves into the economic, social, policy, and legal aspects of scholarly communication as well as open access, open data, open education, and open science and infrastructure. Practitioners provide insight into the relationship between university presses and academic libraries, defining collection development as operational scholarly communication, and promotion and tenure and the challenge for open access.
 
Scholarly Communication Librarianship and Open Knowledge is a thorough guide meant to increase instruction on scholarly communication and open education issues and practices so library workers can continue to meet the changing needs of students and faculty. It is also a political statement about the future to which we aspire and a challenge to the industrial, commercial, capitalistic tendencies encroaching on higher education. Students, readers, educators, and adaptors of this resource can find and embrace these themes throughout the text and embody them in their work.

This book is also available as an open access edition at https://bit.ly/SCLAOK ”

Comments of the Library Copyright Alliance on the Proposed Rulemaking Concerning Access to Electronic Works

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“LCA supports adoption of the rule proposed by the Copyright Office. Under the current regulatory framework, 37 CFR § 202.18, the Library of Congress may provide limited on-site access to groups of newspapers electronically submitted for registration, as well as electronic serials and books submitted for mandatory deposit.1 The proposed rule would expand the categories of electronic deposits covered by the regulation with the same limitations on access as are currently in place.

As part of its Digital Collections Strategy, the Library is shifting towards an “e-preferred” approach across all its acquisition streams, including deposits received from the Office. In conjunction with the Library’s Digital Collections Strategy, the Office is encouraging the submission of works in electronic form. As more of these deposits are made in electronic formats, more of the Library’s collections are digital. Unless the existing on-site access rules are expanded to new categories of deposits, over time the public would have increasingly less access to works in the Library’s collections….

Because the proposed rule would benefit the public without harming copyright owners, LCA supports its adoption.”

[ALA action alert on bill to block implementation of Nelson memo]

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“Unfortunately, a new House appropriations bill includes a provision that would block a Biden Administration order that ensures public access to unclassified research.

We must remind Congress why access to information is vital for libraries and the users we serve….”

Maybe Publishers Should “Love” Libraries a Little Less? — As in guillotine…

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“And now, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) is backing an anti-library coalition with other association partners, even pulling in other media industries in, too?

The initial members of the Protect the Creative Economy Coalition include the American Booksellers Association, Authors Guild, Association of American Publishers, National Music Publishers Association, News Media Alliance, and the Independent Book Publishers Association, as well as the Copyright Alliance.

If the American Library Association had a spine and any real power, they’d be pushing back hard against this coalition, starting with not allowing any participating publishers to exhibit this summer at their Annual Conference, and making all of their books ineligible for awards.

That definitely won’t happen, of course, so once again, individual librarians will be left to fend for themselves, and publishers will continue to show their “love” for libraries by abusing them in court and whisper networks, while gaslighting them everywhere else.”

ALA upholds Maryland e-books law and state’s defense as federal district court issues preliminary injunction | News and Press Center

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“On February 16, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted a preliminary injunction of Maryland’s library digital book law in the case of Association of American Publishers v. Brian Frosh. The legislation, which went into effect on January 1, 2022, requires publishers who sell e-book licenses to Maryland consumers to also sell licenses to Maryland public libraries “on reasonable terms.” Court proceedings continue towards final adjudication of the complaint by the Association of American Publishers.

The American Library Association (ALA) issued the following statement from ALA President Patty Wong:

“The American Library Association is disappointed that the court issued the preliminary injunction. Regardless of the legal technicalities, the proceedings thus far have established that there is a definite injustice in library access to digital books.*

“The Maryland legislature, which voted unanimously in favor of the legislation, rightly sees the unfairness in the marketplace and used its legal authority to correct it. ALA sees the unfairness to our public libraries, which have paid for e-book licenses on unreasonable terms for far too long. Most importantly, libraries see the unfairness for Maryland residents, who rely on them for access to e-books.

“ALA unequivocally supports the Maryland law …”

Resolution in Support of Open Educational Resources

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“Resolved, that the American Library Association (ALA): 1. affirms that open educational resources can be as effective, authoritative, and of academically rigorous quality as traditionally published learning materials; 2. encourages library workers to support initiatives that promote the creation, discovery, dissemination, awareness, and preservation of open educational resources; and 3. encourages library workers to advocate for initiatives at all levels of government that support open educational resources.”

COMMENTS OF THE LIBRARY COPYRIGHT ALLIANCE REGARDING COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL

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“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.

Open Access Books: How to Find, Acquire, and Use Them | American Library Association 2021 Conference

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“Over 35,000 open access academic books are now cataloged in the Directory of Open Access Books. This is, however, a subset of the titles becoming available thanks to increased funding, in both the US and Europe. Many are of extremely high quality and from well-known as well as innovative new publishers. Because library vendors struggle with the business model, there are obstacles for libraries in trying to acquire these titles. This session will explore the changing landscape of OA ebooks and describe successful strategies adopted by libraries to add them to collections, support their publishing, discovery, and use. Many libraries are interested in supporting open access, but they are challenged by both budgetary issues and workflow exceptions. This session will provide a manageable and pragmatic way forward for academic libraries of all sizes. The speakers will share how their institutions are supporting open access book publication while also adding valuable new resources for their campus communities — free of the familiar use restrictions that are so frustrating to librarians when working with ebooks….”

session part of American Library Association virtual conference, June 23-29, 2021

From Proposal to Publication: Creating Open Access Monographs & Textbooks | American Library Association 2021 Conference

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“If writing a book seems like a daunting task, writing one in an open access format might seem even more so, since many of the details of editing and production that are usually handled by publishing houses now fall to authors. Nevertheless, books remain a popular format for librarians who want to contribute to the profession, and publishing is a necessity for faculty and librarians with faculty status. Librarians and others in higher education have increasingly critiqued the rising costs of textbooks as a contributing factor to student debt, and new library publishing services frequently emphasize open monograph and textbook publishing alongside other open access content. As champions of open access, librarians and others publishing in the field of LIS should consider publishing their own works in open platforms as a way to improve access to information, learn the systems more deeply, and model practice for their patrons.

In this session, the panelists will walk participants through the process of developing and producing an open access book, from the initial proposal through production and publication. The panel will include published authors of both traditional and open-platform texts and single-authored and collaborative books, as well as individuals with expertise in open publishing platforms and library-based publishing services. Presenters will discuss reasons for considering open access and will address some of the main concerns of creating an open access book, including finding a publisher and choosing a publishing platform, reconceptualizing editorial responsibilities, dealing with production elements like layout, addressing universal design and accessibility issues, and marketing the finished publication….”

session part of American Library Association virtual conference, June 23-29, 2021

IFLA — IFLA/ALA Webinar (with NPSIG): Open Access and libraries: Lessons from COVID-19 and our path towards the future

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“IFLA has affirmed that comprehensive open access to scholarly literature and research documentation is vital to the understanding of our world and to the identification of solutions to global challenges and particularly the reduction of information inequality.  Coalition S which is hosted by the European Science Foundation, has stated that full and immediate Open Access to research results can provide fast answers to protect lives and curb disasters. It is time to make full use of that potential for other global crises that are threatening us.  UNESCO is promoting and supporting the online availability of scholarly information to everyone, free of most licensing and copyright barriers—for the benefit of global knowledge flow, innovation and socio-economic development.

Join us for an event with library leaders and learn about how they are managing Open Access efforts in the midst of COVID-19 to move forward research and access to information free of barriers during these times when libraries are deeply impacted by the pandemic. …”

[Open letter to Donald Trump]

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“On behalf of the undersigned national and regional library, research, publishing, and advocacy organizations, we are writing to express our commitment to ensuring that American taxpayers are guaranteed immediate, free, and unfettered access to the results of scientific research that their tax dollars support, and to encourage the Administration to support continued progress towards this shared goal. We strongly endorse updating existing U.S. policy to eliminate the current 12-month embargo period on articles reporting on publicly funded research, and to ensure that they are made immediately available under terms and conditions that allow their full reuse. To unlock the full value of our collective investment in science, the underlying data needed to validate an article’s conclusions, along with any corresponding software or code, should also be made immediately available….”

ALA responds to county commission decision to deny digital access to New York Times in Citrus County public libraries | News and Press Center

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“The American Library Association has issued the following statement in response to the decision by the Citrus County (Florida) Board of Commissioners to not allow the Citrus County libraries to buy a digital subscription to the New York Times after one commissioner labeled the Times as “fake news”:…”

Congress Looking into Anticompetitive Behavior in the Digital Library Market

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“The American Library Association (ALA) has delivered a written report to the House Judiciary Committee telling lawmakers that “unfair behavior by digital market actors,” including Amazon and some major publishers, is “doing concrete harm to libraries.”

The report, delivered last week to a House antitrust subcommittee investigating competition in the digital market, comes as lawmakers are taking note of the growing backlash to Big Five publisher Macmillan’s decision to impose a two-month embargo on new release e-books in public libraries. In a September 13 letter to ALA executive director Mary Ghikas, the House Judiciary Committee asked ALA to respond to a set of questions in connection with its ongoing investigation, an invitation that came just days after an ALA press event at the Nashville Public Library kicked off a public awareness campaign calling attention to issues in the library e-book market. As of this writing, an ALA online petition opposing Macmillan’s planned embargo, launched at that press event, is approaching 150,000 signatures….”