NEWS
Open access: collaboration not competition
SIGNALLING that collaboration not competition is the key to making open access work, two similarly named organisations with shared visions have signed a memo- randum of understanding to work together. In a statement (
https://tinyurl.com/OBCOJCMoU) the Open
Book Collective and Open Journals Collective said: “Through this agreement, we have committed to work closely together on other areas where our missions naturally overlap – for example, developing academic networks, sharing experience to pro- mote best practice, working with our publishing members to increase financial transparency, exploring joint advocacy and communications, and identifying opportunities to collabo- rate on collective funding and/or shared technical infrastruc- tures. “We will also continue to learn from each other as both collectives grow, recognising that, while books and journals often sit in separate silos within academia, the infrastruc- tures that support them shouldn’t have to.” The statement also suggests that the open access move- ment will need more structured coordination in general: “At a time when the open access landscape can feel fragmented and crowded, this partnership is a reminder that Diamond open access will only thrive if the infrastructures underpin- ning this model of equitable open access work together, share knowledge, and exemplify the values they stand for – collab- oration, not competition.”
The two organisations are otherwise separate: “This MoU
also helps to clarify the distinction between the two similarly named collectives. The OBC was founded in 2022 as a not-for- profit organisation connecting libraries with open access book publishers and infrastructure providers; the OJC was estab- lished in May 2025 as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company with a specific focus on supporting Diamond open access journal publishing, by helping to build sustainable, community-driven models for open access journal publish- ing. After founding, OBC went on to successfully apply to become a registered charity, a path that the OJC aims to fol- low in due course.”
And while the organisations remain separate, their shared aims mean there are personnel overlaps. They said: “While the OBC and OJC are independent initiatives, there is per- sonnel and publisher overlap, providing concrete founda- tions for future collaboration.” These overlaps include Dr Rupert Gatti, co-founder of Open Book Publishers (
www.openbookpublishers.com/) and Thoth Open Metadata (
https://thoth.pub/) is a Steward/Trustee at Open Book Collective and one of the three founding Directors at Open Journals Collective. Dr Lidia Uziel, Associate University Librarian for Research Resources and Scholarly Communication at the University of California in Santa Barbara is the current Chair of the OBC Board of Stewards and Co-chair of the OJC’s Library Board. They also share publisher and institutional stakeholders including LSE Press and Birkbeck, University of London.
Free New Skills training reaches more
MORE than 500 people have taken CILIP’s free training: ‘New Skills for the Future Library Leader’, and there is still time to sign up and learn.
The short leadership course has been designed to be as accessible as possi- ble, with two modules covering Dig- ital Skills and Futures Literacy. Both can be completed in a couple of hours, and those who have already completed the training have described it as a “vi- tal aid” for leaders which is helping to develop skills for public library teams across England. Fiona Tarn, Head of Libraries at Cam- den, said: “Development of our library team in Camden is central to our strate- gy to create a service that has relational practice at its heart. The team and the way they deliver the service to library
8 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
users is key and the Future Literacy and Digital Literacy modules produced by CILIP are a fantastic addition to our menu of training options. Highly rec- ommended.” Elysia Freeman, works at GLL and has completed the course, saying: “This course has shown me that not only do we need to acknowledge this uncertainty now, but that we can develop ways to work with it, rather than against it. “I particularly enjoyed this course because I was able to fit it around my schedule, and I found that the combi- nation of interactive elements, videos, and additional resources helped to keep me engaged each time I started a new section.
“I have already started to utilise the
ideas I developed during this course in my current position, and I know that
this knowledge will help me to become a better library leader in the future.” Julie Magee, Whalley Library, Lancashire, added: “The New Skills for the Future Library Leader training is a vital aid to help Library Leaders focus on what needs to be done to ensure libraries are best equipped for the future – whether that be building on our digital offer, utilising AI, strengthening our partnership work or creating multi-generational spaces, the list is endless. “The training gives Library Leaders
the tools and confidence to adapt and grow in this ever-changing, fast-paced world that we live in and, at the same time, be optimistic about libraries place in this future world.” Sign up and complete the free train- ing before 30 June at
https://tinyurl.com/ CILIPNSfFLL.
April-May 2026
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