Leveraging a Transformative Agreement to Incentivize Funder Spend
Can a library/publisher transformative agreement attract funder spend?
@lisalibrarian unpacks the SAGE/UNC-Chapel Hill pilot program.
Roadblocks to Better Open Access Models
The conversation around open access has shifted from “should we?” to “how are we going to?” The failings of the author-pays model are becoming increasingly evident. Finding better models is proving to be both urgently necessary and extremely difficult.
Where is the Publication Puck Going? Making Research Available “Upstream” of Publication
Could scholarly publishers’ skills and capacity be re-positioned to serve researchers at earlier stages in the research process, “upstream” of publication? Charlie Rapple shares findings from a survey of the communications needs of almost 10,000 researchers.
Stanford University Press and the Wrong Lesson of the Humanities
What if, instead of enacting a caricature of Silicon Valley, Stanford recognized the future and threw its arms around Stanford University Press? That would be the smart move.
Invest in Open Infrastructure: An Interview with Dan Whaley
Several of the foremost enterprises in open source recently joined forces with a group of universities that direct funding to support open source, to call for greater resources to be invested in support. This Invest in Open Infrastructure initiative, though nascent, may be the best hope to date of some kind of common collective action in support of open infrastructure. Today, we interview one of its leaders, Dan Whaley.
Guest Post: The Surprisingly Low Burden of Subscriptions at Institutions
Analyzing subscription expenditures at the institutional level suggests that for US institutions, subscriptions represent a very slight burden on university budgets, while delivering value to many stakeholders.
Will Transformative Agreements Unravel Library Consortia?
Will cost share allocations for transformative agreements threaten the cohesion of library consortia?
Where Does a University Press Sit in its Parent’s Priorities?
The unfortunate news about cutbacks at Stanford University Press makes it clear that all presses must develop strategies to make them more central to the university’s set of priorities.
Guest Post — The Library is the Brand
Libraries provide vital digital services to their host institutions. If these services carry clear library identity branding, it strengthens the library’s position in the university and enables it to secure the budget and political capital necessary to do its work.
Finding the Right Training and Career Development Opportunities for Your Organization
Your desk is covered with brochures about getting new skills to meet growing needs, and course offerings for continuing education credits. Your inbox is filled with notices about meetings and webinars. How do you decide which is worth your time?
Ask The Chefs: Prioritizing Organizational Choices
There is always a new tool, method, or model, but no organization can do it all. This month we asked the Chefs about methods for prioritizing choices.
Writing Styles, Roald Dahl, and Writing Huts
We all have our individual approaches to work. Here, author Roald Dahl offers a tour of his process and his backyard writing hut.