Contents and leader iResearchnformation June/July 2021 l Issue 114 OERs: the future of education? 4


The pandemic has provided a tantalising glimpse of the potential of open educational resources. Rebecca Pool asks: will these freely-accessible learning materials become our new normal?


Measuring the impact of OA content


10


Tim Lloyd considers how open access agreements are critical for developing sustainable open access business models


Feature case study


Springer Nature reveals a more comprehensive and systematic understanding of books’ role in scholarly knowledge dissemination


The hunt for equitable search 12


We should meet users’ needs, no matter who they are, where they are from, or which language they speak, writes Ashleigh Faith


The future of library search 14


Library search tools and services have a bright future – if they support users in their preferred workflows, writes Matthew Hayes


Tilting the balance back towards libraries


Jason Priem tells of his hopes for a ‘long- overdue’ change in academic publishing


16 11 Riding the wave of innovation 18


Sam Herbert, co-founder of 67 Bricks, casts his eye over the industry – and tells of his early love of surfing


Addressing cyber security ‘OA should be the default’


How efficient tools showcase a library’s impact


20


You could do worse than to follow the advice of an iconic 90s rapper, writes Susie Winter


21


Transition to open access must be made as smooth as possible, writes Chris Banks


22


Many libraries have had to strengthen their digital presence to survive – especially over the last 12 months, writes Cintia Dabes


Job searches in Covid times 24


Manisha Bolina and Heather Staines share some insights about looking for scholarly communications positions in a pandemic


News


A radiance of reports from around the scholarly communications industry


Suppliers directory 33 26


In recent months Research Information has carried several reports calling for a levelling-up of the scholarly communications playing field – and this issue continues that trend. On page 16 we carry an interview


with Jason Priem of Our Research, who tells of his hopes for a ‘long- overdue’ change in academic publishing and a ‘tilting back’ of the balance towards the needs of academic libraries – and that the organisation’s product UnSub will ‘begin to turn off the faucet of money flowing from universities to toll-access publishing houses’. A similar theme is explored in


Rebecca Pool’s feature on page 4, which explores a growing interest in the development of open education resources (OERs) as universities increasingly struggle to afford the ebooks and journals required for their students and researchers. Rebecca’s feature shows how,


increasingly, since the onset of the pandemic, educational organisations are providing materials through open repositories and bespoke online publication platforms. It’s an area of the industry that will no doubt provoke much further interest in the coming months and years. This period of change has led to


Editorial and administrative team Editor: Tim Gillett tim.gillett@europascience.com +44 (0) 1223 221040 Specialist reporter: Rebecca Pool Design: David Houghton/Zöe Andrews Partnership and events executive: Charlie Mitchell charlie.mitchell@europascience.com


Advertising team Advertising manager: Mike Nelson mike.nelson@europascience.com +44 (0) 1223 221039


Corporate team Managing director: Warren Clark


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many new opportunities – some enforced, some as a matter of choice – and on page 24 two readers provide some excellent tips on identifying, researching, and interviewing for new roles in the scholarly communications industry. While in parts of Europe the pandemic appears to be on the wane, it seems likely that such advice might be helpful for a while to come yet.


@researchinfo June/July 2021 Research Information 3


Leader: Tim Gillett Imperfect balance?


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