Author: Jim O’Donnell, Arizona State University, United States

IFLA’s section for Academic and Research Libraries is proud to be organizing and hosting a satellite conference in Rotterdam, on the Friday and Saturday before WLIC 2023, on Inclusiveness through Openness. This satellite is a collaboration with Erasmus University Library,  Continuing and Professional Development and Workplace Learning (CPDWL),   Serials and other Continuing Resources,   Health and Biosciences Libraries,  IFLA Open Access Group,   Women, Information and Libraries,   Max Planck Digital Library – Open Access 2020 Initiative and The British Library.

Our assumption is that we are moving into a world in which open science and open access publishing are the rule not the exception, the norm not an experiment.  Ever since “open” became an ambition in academic libraries (one of our organizers has been an OA publisher since 1990!), we have believed and assumed that a critical benefit will be opening up science and scholarship to those who are disadvantaged in the world of high paywalls and closed systems.  The time has come to make sure the publishing and library worlds are ready to deliver on that promise.

Accordingly, this conference will start with our assumption and focus on the issues that arise and the steps that need to be taken in order to make a more open world a genuinely more inclusive world.  What mistakes must we avoid?  What strategies succeed?  What considerations do we need to keep “top of mind”?  Much of our focus will be on the global south as a region whose development and advancement will be critical to the health, prosperity, and sustainability of the human family in the coming decades.  A keynote speaker coming to Rotterdam from Zambia will set the tone and a rich variety of presentations by stakeholders and colleagues from many diverse places will frame the discussion.

The website for the satellite is here.  We will meet at Erasmus University in Rotterdam for a day and a half, August 18 and 19, with a full program but with time for what we hope will be lively and productive discussion.  The question we hope will be uppermost in participants’ minds will be, how can and should IFLA understand these issues and seek to make a difference?  What, in short, is our message from the satellite conference for all the colleagues joining WLIC and sharing in the work of IFLA?

Jim O’Donnell
University Librarian
Arizona State University, United States