Category Archives: Library vendors

Review of Trends in Academic Research Libraries in North America

• Open Access. The release by cOAlition S of Plan S, a European initiative to make full and immediate open access to research publications a reality by 2020, has attracted a lot of critical attention from OA advocates in the United States. Meanwhile the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act was passed into law on January 14, 2019, making permanent the federal government’s commitment to Open Data and an “open by default” policy for all non-sensitive government data
https://www.coalition-s.org/about ; https://sparcopen.org/news/2019/huge-win-open-data-united-states/

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. DEI issues continue to be a top priority for U.S. academic libraries and their parent institutions. In this context, there is a helpful trend towards establishing codes of conduct for academic library conferences in the United States
https://www.arl.org/news/arl-news/4718-arl-affirms-commitment-to-advancing-diversity-equity-inclusion-#.XGQxm1xKhaQ

• Personally Identifiable Information (PII). The commercial value of PII to U.S.-based internet giants such as Facebook and Google, and the relative ease with which personal data is gathered by library vendors, has significantly increased the level of privacy concerns in all libraries, including academic libraries
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/otherpolicies/policyconcerning

• Big Deals. There is a trend in U.S. libraries to consider cancelling their so-called ‘big deal’ subscriptions with major vendors such as Elsevier, Wiley, Blackwell, Springer and Taylor & Francis
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/08/more-institutions-consider-ending-their-big-deals-publishers

• Partnerships. Partly inspired by Mellon Foundation Grants, there is a growing trend for university libraries to partner with campus museums and academic presses to meet the expanded landscapes of digital humanities and scholarly communications
https://mellon.org/programs/scholarly-communications/

Gerald R. Beasley
Carl A. Kroch University Librarian
Cornell University