Job: Management Expert | KU Leuven Libraries

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Management Expert (ref. ATP-2022-746) Last updated : 12/12/2022

KU Leuven Libraries focuses on accessible collections that are preserved sustainably. In the field of the physical collections, various projects are underway that combine aspects of relocation, preservation, conservation and digitization. In this way we not only ensure optimal management and safe storage of the collections, but we also improve the service and accessibility for our users. Similar projects are also planned for all our collections in the near and further future. In order to support the policy preparation work and the implementation of these projects, we are looking for a passionate expert who can take on a leading role in this.

Unit website Function As a management expert, you will develop a policy proposal for the development of future-oriented, uniform and sustainable management for the physical collections of KU Leuven Libraries. You pay attention to the differences between the various collections. You analyze the current situation and propose concrete policy decisions in the field of collection management. As a management expert, you are the initiator of an optimization process for the services associated with our physical collections. You map out existing processes and, in consultation with the stakeholders, you look for improvements that you convert into concrete actions with them. You actively participate in ongoing projects (such as the Google Books project and #tomorrowsresearch) and monitor project implementation. For all these tasks, as a management expert, you work closely with the Strategic Working Group Collections within KU Leuven Libraries and you report to the head of the KU Leuven Libraries Library Services. Profile You have a master’s degree or you are equivalent through experience. You have several years of experience as an initiator in a project of which the relevance to this position is demonstrable. You are a community builder: you can propagate a vision and engage others to do so. You have an analytical mind and can process a multitude of quantitative and qualitative data and extract the relevant information. You are able to process quantitative data via Excel or similar applications. You can work on a project basis and you have organizational talent. You can communicate fluently in both Dutch and English. offer We offer you full-time employment (80% is negotiable) for an indefinite period. We have a wide range of courses where we want to focus on your talents and personal growth. In addition, KU Leuven offers many fringe benefits such as hospitalization insurance, group insurance, additional days off, free commuting by public transport, (electric) company bicycle and bicycle allowance. Occasional teleworking and a workplace in our beautiful University Library on Ladeuzeplein in Leuven are of course also part of our offer. Further details about the employment conditions can be found on our job site. If you are immediately available for all assignments of this position, you will start in grade 7. Promising candidates who are not yet able to take on all assignments immediately or who still have to go through a specific training course, start in grade 6. Grade 8 is exceptionally reserved for candidates who have already be able to take on additional responsibilities at the start, due to extensive knowledge and experience. Details about the employment conditions can be found on our job site.

 

Open Science day 2022 – Open Science

“The 2022 edition is conceived as a forum for discussion. After an outline of KU Leuven’s Open Science strategy by vice rector research policy Jan D’hooge, researchers will have the opportunity to discuss with him and an expert panel. The rest of the day will be devoted to two interactive panel sessions and a poster session.

The panel sessions will be dedicated to the reproducibility and replication of research on the one hand, and preprints and (open) peer review on the other hand.

As for the poster session, we welcome every topic related to Open Science, both theoretical studies and more practical contributions. Researchers can also address their own research subject, and explain how it is affected by Open Science, how they put openness into practice, or why they oppose the tendency to open up all elements of the research cycle. …”

FREE UKSG webinar – Library funding for Open Access at KU Leuven | UKSG

“At KU Leuven we believe that it is essential to apply library budgets to foster a greater diversity in the market of academic publishing. With this purpose in mind we have founded the KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access, which is exclusively devoted to stimulating the development of non-profit and community-led publishers, infrastructures and initiatives. During this presentation I will share some insights about the operation of such a fund, the type of open scholarship infrastructures and OA programmes we support, and explain our decision to cease financing article processing charges, even in a Fair OA business model….”

Open Science day 2022 – Open Science

“The Open Science day is the KU Leuven event where researchers share experiences about Open Science. 

Open to all KU Leuven researchers (PhD students, postdocs, professors)
Date: 9 May (9 am – 5 pm)
Hybrid event: online & in Leuven (Irish College)
Closing dates registration: April 25 (Leuven) – May 6 (online)….”

Library funding for open access at KU Leuven

Abstract:  As main buyers of scholarly literature, research libraries have always provided essential economic support for sustaining the market of academic publishing. With the switch to open access (OA), libraries are now faced with transitioning this support from the demand (subscriptions) to the supply (publications) side. The way in which this is currently done, in general, risks strengthening the preponderance of the for-profit approach to scholarly communication. We therefore believe that it is essential to apply library budgets to foster a greater diversity. That is exactly the purpose of the Fund for Fair Open Access, set up by KU Leuven Libraries in 2018, which is exclusively devoted to stimulating the development of non-profit and community-led initiatives. This is achieved by library memberships to sustain open scholarship infrastructure, by supporting diamond OA programmes and by subsidizing OA books published by Leuven University Press. In this article, we will demonstrate the accomplished successes of the fund and share some insights we have gathered along the way, such as our decision to cease financing article processing charges, even in a Fair OA business model.

 

Library Funding for Open Access at KU Leuven

As main buyers of scholarly literature, research libraries have always provided essential economic support for sustaining the market of academic publishing. With the switch to open access (OA), libraries are now faced with transitioning this support from the demand (subscriptions) to the supply (publications) side. The way in which this is currently done, in general, risks strengthening the preponderance of the for-profit approach to scholarly communication. We therefore believe that it is essential to apply library budgets to foster a greater diversity. That is exactly the purpose of the Fund for Fair Open Access, set up by KU Leuven Libraries in 2018, which is exclusively devoted to stimulating the development of non-profit and community-led initiatives. This is achieved by library memberships to sustain open scholarship infrastructure, by supporting diamond OA programmes and by subsidizing OA books published by Leuven University Press. In this article, we will demonstrate the accomplished successes of the fund and share some insights we have gathered along the way, such as our decision to cease financing article processing charges, even in a Fair OA business model.

Opening The Future: A new funding model for OA monographs | The Scholarly Tales @ KU Leuven’s Faculty of Arts

Opening the Future is a collective subscription model for OA books. Libraries can sign up for  its membership scheme, which implies that they grow their collections and support Open Access at the same time. The objective is to raise small contributions from a large number of academic libraries, so that no single institution bears a disproportionate burden.

How does it work?

A library subscribes to a backlist package of non-OA books offered by a publisher. The publisher makes this backlist package of non-OA books available to subscribers only (in other words: books in this package remain non-OA), but uses the subscription money to publish new books in OA. These new books are thus made available to everyone in OA, benefitting scholars and institutions around the world.

Fair OA publishers, infrastructures and initiatives supported by KU Leuven | KU Leuven Open Science

KU Leuven promotes non-commercial and community-owned approaches of OA, especially through the KU Leuven Fund for Fair OA. On the one hand, the fund supports innovative publishing initiatives and infrastructures. On the other hand, the fund covers membership costs for consortia and advocacy organizations focusing on a non-commercial approach to scholarly communication. On this page you can find an overview of everything that KU Leuven endorses.

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KU Leuven supports a fair approach to scholarly publishing – Open Access Belgium

“KU Leuven launches the KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access, enabling the publication of scholarly books and articles in a way that is cost-effective, puts academics back in charge and benefits the public at large. For many years now, opposition against a commercial approach towards scholarly publishing has been growing stronger and stronger. The for-profit model leads to publications which are prohibitively expensive, either for the reader or for the researcher, and typically puts commercial partners in control of the dissemination of scholarly work since researchers have to transfer critical aspects of their author’s rights in order to get published. Alternatives such as Green Open Access (whereby researchers make an archival copy of their publication freely available to all), in most fields, do not challenge the traditional commercial publication model enough. Therefore, another alternative is on the rise, namely Fair Open Access. Publications in Fair Open Access are immediately freely available to all, are produced according to cost-effective (rather than commercial) principles and guarantee full control of researchers over the entire publication process. KU Leuven has been supporting Green Open Access for many years already, and now intensifies its efforts to maximize scholarly exchange, collaboration and innovation by creating the KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access, administered by KU Leuven Libraries. This fund provides financial support for the production costs of books published by Leuven University Press as well as articles in selected journals, on the condition that these journals are published according to the Fair Open Access model and maintain the highest academic standards. More information and application forms can be found here.”