BC Library Conference 2016

Generously Sponsored By: Simon Fraser University Library

Librarians have long known that the traditional scholarly communication system is broken. Our colleges and universities pay the salaries of authors, reviewers, and editors who provide free, high-quality content to commercial publishers, who then charge us again for access to that content, at rates that far exceed inflation. Through big deals, institutional repositories (green open access), library-based publishing (gold open access), open access advocacy, author processing charge (APC) funds, and other strategies, academic libraries have worked hard to develop solutions to this problem. Recently, the declining value of the Canadian dollar has made this frustrating situation increasingly intolerable. Fortunately, a new approach is emerging, one that will be built on the solid foundation of collaboration and trust that exists between key national stakeholders: the Canadian Scholarly Publishing Co-operative project. This project is investigating the viability of establishing a Canadian publishing co-operative that includes academic libraries, scholarly societies and journals, national and provincial funding agencies, and academic-based publishing initiatives, such as the Public Knowledge Project at SFU and Érudit at the Université de Montréal. Together, we can develop a world-class scholarly publishing infrastructure owned and operated by Canadian scholars and libraries, focused on the needs of Canadian scholars and libraries, and serving as an alternative model for the world. Come to our session to find out how you and your library can help us, together, “go big and come home".

Speakers:

Bronwen Sprout is Head, Digital Programs and Services at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Library where she oversees the Library's digitization, digital repository, digital preservation, and scholarly communication activities. Bronwen is the PKP PLN Coordinator.

Brian Owen is the Associate University Librarian for Technology Services and Special Collections at the SFU Library. He is also the Managing Director for the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) which is responsible for the development and support of Open Journal Systems (OJS) an open source software publishing platform actively used by over 8,600 scholarly journals in 2015. He is an Associate with SFU’s Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing and SFU’s Master of Publishing Program.

Kevin Stranack is the Community Services & Learning Coordinator for SFU Library’s Public Knowledge Project. His responsibilities are currently focused on leading the UX redesign process for the project’s open source software, managing the MacArthur-funded Open Access Publishing Cooperative Study (2015-2017), and directing the PKP School for building open publishing capacity. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of British Columbia’s School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies. Kevin received his Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia in 2002 and his Master of Adult Education from the University of Regina in 2013.