Topic: LibrariesBold efforts to push academic publishing towards an open-access model are gaining steam. Negotiators from libraries and university consortia across Europe are sharing tactics on how to broker new kinds of contracts that could see more articles appear outside paywalls. And inspired by the results of a stand-off in Germany, they increasingly declare that if they don’t like what publishers offer, they will refuse to pay for journal access at all. On 16 May, a Swedish […]

Topic: LibrariesSwedish universities have moved to cancel their contract with journal publisher Elsevier as concern over slow progress towards open access spreads. The Bibsam Consortium, which represents 85 higher education and research institutions in the country, said that its current agreement with Elsevier would not be renewed after 30 June. From Sweden cancels Elsevier contract as open-access dispute spreads | Times Higher Education (THE) […]

Topic: LibrariesUplifting monument or waste of space? Philip Johnson’s Bobst Library and a conflict between professions, a shift from book warehouses to social hubs. Photographs by Andrea Geyer. From The Natural Enemy of the Librarian - Triple Canopy […]

Topic: LibrariesAt 157ft tall and 17 floors, Cambridge University Library’s tower can be seen for miles around but has largely kept its secrets to itself and its contents (approaching one million books) have given rise to much speculation. But now in a new free exhibition, Tall Tales: Secrets of the tower, we reveal some of the truth about what the great skyscraper really holds.   From The mysterious Cambridge library tower, supposedly full of banned books, is […]

Topic: LibrariesMalcolm Gladwell asked about not liking Google and then discussing the competitive advantage of the library. The entire interview is 50 minutes but the link drops directly to the comments on Google and libraries and that discussion is around 1-2 minutes. […]