Academic Libraries: Neanderthals In Open Access Evolution? | Science Codex

“In April, academic and professional publisher SAGE convened a roundtable in association with the British Library to discuss the role of the academic library in an open access (OA) future - namely, how to stay relevant.  Chaired by publishing consultant Simon Inger and attended by an international panel of 14 senior librarians and other industry experts, their conclusions have been published in a report, ‘Moving towards an open access future: the role of academic libraries’.  The report is a summary of the discussion around what support and skills librarians will require in an open access future, and how institutions, publishers, funders and other parties should be supporting their library partners, including variation by discipline and geographic region.  Representing librarians from the UK, Europe, USA and the Middle East, attendees indicated that the concept of the individual library is changing. Panelists highlighted an important shift, saying that attention will shift from the library to the librarian: the information professional will be the library of the future.  Academic libraries and research communication will have to evolve as open access grows in importance, but while traditional roles may change, librarians will still play an important role in managing and advising on information and information-related budgets.”