Last week, the University of California, whose ten campuses comprise one of the largest research institutions in the world, decided not to renew its subscription with Elsevier. This monumental decision follows other initiatives in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that likewise aim to expand open access options and prevent unsustainable cost increases to journal subscription packages.
We support the University of California in their stand. Principle-based negotiations and decisions reflect the growing importance of open research to advance global knowledge and transform scholarly communications, as well as respond to the untenable licensing costs that university libraries pay with their limited public funds.
Bold moves such as last week’s University of California decision happen when there is campus-wide support. In the case of the University of California, this decision was supported by the libraries and by its Academic Senate, and followed the publication of faculty-driven principles on scholarly communication. This commitment is a result of a system-wide initiative that has been developing over years between University of California faculty and librarians to build awareness and support for open access.
CARL and CRKN are committed to working together and with other Canadian stakeholders to articulate an effective made-in-Canada approach to advancing open access. Since the news broke last week, we have been pleased by the responses from the Canadian research community. The voices of researchers in the transition from subscription to open access are essential. We support and encourage strengthened dialogue between scholars and librarians as we seek to address the challenges.
Through sustainable licensing and open access agreements, partnerships, projects and joint strategies, CARL and CRKN look to collaboratively develop a strengthened Canadian approach to open access. We encourage continued conversations on campuses all over the country as we work with members and stakeholders on national initiatives that support more open and ultimately more equitable access to research output.
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Ross
Director of Marketing and Stakeholder Engagement, CRKN
rross@crkn.ca
613-791-8334
Susan Haigh
Executive Director, CARL
susan.haigh@carl-abrc.ca
613 482-9344 x 101
About
The Canadian Research Knowledge Network is a partnership of Canadian universities, dedicated to expanding digital content for the academic research and teaching enterprise in Canada. Through the coordinated leadership of librarians, researchers, administrators and other stakeholders in the research community, CRKN undertakes large-scale content acquisition and licensing initiatives in order to build knowledge infrastructure and research and teaching capacity in Canada’s universities. For more information, visit: www.crkn.ca.
The Canadian Association of Research Libraries provides leadership and fosters collaboration among Canada’s 31 top research libraries to advance scholarship and higher education. For more information, visit www.carl-abrc.ca.