Open Access and the Library

Abstract

Once a grassroots movement, Open Access (OA) is now making its way to the heart of university libraries and research organisations more broadly. Within a research institution, libraries are usually the facilitators of the transition to OA and, in some cases, they are the driving force behind this change. This process is also changing the role of libraries. Historically, library expertise lay in procuring content (both electronic and print) and negotiating access for students and researchers. Now libraries are asked to lead on the development and implementation of new OA services, including operation of repositories, setting up university presses and supporting OA journals. Many libraries also administrate OA publication funds. Building on their understanding of scholarly practices and information needs across disciplines libraries are now working to create successful OA implementation strategies by cooperating closely with university leadership, research offices and other research administrators, and by engaging closely with researchers from across the institution. This results in a shift of focus from procuring scholarly content to becoming a more active partner in creation and dissemination. It also marks the start of what may well become a shift away from subscription budgets to OA publication budgets, with all the changes that brings for the structure of libraries and the roles of staff. Through this Special Issue, we want to explore the changing role of research and university libraries in the context of Open Access.Libraries are places of learning and knowledge creation. While this mission has been the same for centuries, the way it is delivered is constantly evolving. Over the last two decades, digital technology—and the changes that came with it—have accelerated this transformation to a point where evolution starts to become a revolution. The wider Open Science movement, and Open Access in particular, is one of these changes, and it is already having a profound impact. Under the subscription model, the role of libraries was to buy or license content on behalf of their users and then act as gatekeepers to regulate access on behalf of rights holders. In a world where all research is open, the role of the library is shifting from licensing and disseminating to facilitating and supporting the publishing process itself. This requires a fundamental shift in terms of structures, tasks and skills. It also changes the idea of a library’s collection. Under the subscription model, contemporary collections largely equal content bought from publishers. Under an open model, the collection is more likely to be the content created by the users of the library (researchers, staff, students etc.), content that is now curated by the library. Instead of selecting external content, libraries have to understand the content created by their own users and help them to make it publicly available— be it through a local repository, payment of article processing charges or through advice and guidance. Arguably this is an overly simplified model and it leaves aside special collections and other areas. Even so, it highlights the changes that research libraries are undergoing, changes that are likely to accelerate due to initiatives like Plan S. This special issue investigates some of the changes in today’s library services that relate to open access.