The role of the national library as a catalyst for an open access agenda: the experience in Sweden

From the abstract: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of national libraries in developing national open access infrastructure and policy on the basis of the experiences of the National Library (NL) of Sweden....The paper reveals that the NL Sweden since around 1990 has combined the mission of a “traditional” national library with that of a national, research library authority. It has coordinated its support for development of repositories and open access in the OpenAccess.se programme that ran from 2006 to 2009. The conclusion is that a national library can successfully act as a catalyst for closer cooperation between the main bodies of research and research libraries in advancing an Open Access agenda and developing a digital research information infrastructure. This is because it is usually placed directly under the government and thus closer to national policy making. It is often perceived as unbiased in relation to the different interests of the various parties involved. It is also able to advance development projects into sustainable services....