This week, news from a major supplier of ebooks to academic libraries -- that as of later this year they will only provide access on a subscription basis – has created a very troubling disruption of longstanding relationships and workflows through which libraries have been able to acquire many ebooks reliably on a perpetual access model. This mirrors the monetization of books as consumable content and of researchers and readers as market segments that is already well advanced in commercial ebook offerings to other library sectors, and raises critical questions of sustainability and of library autonomy in curation through ongoing engagement with this supplier.
Librarians and libraries are not receiving these developments with complacency, and authors should also be aware of the power that they have – that we have together. As one commenter observes:
Actions such as investing in open monographs and open educational resources (and open more generally), as well as titles from smaller presses, can foster a more diverse and resilient information ecosystem. Especially if the big five acquiesce to this new strategy and have their content licenced through these subscriptions.
This may signal the moment to increase (international) collaboration towards open-access initiatives and collective action. With recent developments around journals, a match has been lit and — whilst not in the way intended — this strategy shift may prove transformative for our approach to books as well.
… read the rest of the quoted post here:
https://www.uksg.org/newsletter/uksg-enews-582/opinion-a-librarians-summary-of-and-response-to-the-clarivate-announcement/
