LIBER (Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche – Association of European Research Libraries) is the main network for research libraries in Europe. Founded in 1971, the association (a Foundation or ‘Stichting’ under Dutch law from 2009) has grown steadily to include more than 440 national, university and other libraries from over 40 countries.
LIBER works to represent the interests of European research libraries and their researchers. They lobby policymakers on issues such as Copyright and Open Access and collaborate with their member libraries on European-funded projects. LIBER also hosts events which create opportunities for library professionals to meet and learn from each other.
We spoke with Elizabeth Bethlehem, Communications Manager at LIBER Europe, about their support of Open Research Europe (ORE) as one of our expert partners.
Why is Open Science important to your organization?
Open Science is at the heart of everything we do at LIBER, from our strategy to the activities conducted by our network of European Research Libraries. Research Libraries are very well placed to provide a core mechanism for the uptake of Open Science. Therefore, we deem it a crucial topic to address and we do so in various ways:
- LIBER Open Science Roadmap launched in 2018.
- Working Groups, such as Open Access and Copyright & Legal Matters.
- EU-funded Projects (of which ORE is one such initiative) which stimulate ideals, policies and best practices of transparency, openness, reproducibility, impact, and democratisation of research.
- Advocacy Campaigns, such as our recent #ZeroEmbargo Campaign.
- Participating in European and Global Initiatives Fostering Open Science. For example, LIBER is a member of the EOSC Association and the Research Data Alliance.
What motivated you to partner with F1000 on ORE?
The adoption of Open Science is a major priority for LIBER, as is promoting innovative scholarly communication, fostering digital skills and services, and engaging with world-class e-infrastructures. In this context, LIBER has established working relationships with other relevant organizations and initiatives in Europe – organizations that share the same values and work towards making Open Science the default.
Open Research Europe stands for values which are very much aligned to the core work done by LIBER in collaboration with our network of over 440 participating research libraries. Working together with F1000 and other project partners of ORE enables us to not only further encourage such values and support our libraries in reaching open science goals, but also in providing the input of specialists (i.e. research librarians) in the establishment and uptake of ORE.
Research libraries support research and academia, preserve European cultural heritage, improve access to collections in European research libraries, and provide more efficient information services and training. Alongside this, the ORE platform enables research libraries to offer those they serve an open access platform to which they can submit and possibly publish their work for free. ORE provides an easy-to-use, impactful, and transparent open peer review – all in a trusted environment. This is of high importance and greatly beneficial to our network of research libraries.
How do you engage research libraries to utilise the Open Research Europe platform?
LIBER works very closely with its network of volunteers that participate in the Executive Board, Steering Committees and Working groups, actively engaging them in the activities of all its European initiatives, including ORE.
Information on ORE developments is shared with our network of research libraries and library professionals regularly through LIBER’s online communication channels (LIBER Insider Monthly Mailer, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn). At the same time, we foster an environment for discussion with a series of interactive workshops and webinars, in collaboration with other LIBER bodies (such as the LIBER Executive Board and the LIBER Steering Committee of Innovative Scholarly Communication).
These activities, which will be intensified in the upcoming months, aim to engage research libraries in the developments of ORE in terms of implementation and sustainability, and the benefits thereof for the research community. Our activities will raise awareness about the platform, demonstrate how to use it, collect input, and contribute to advocating its uptake in support of Open Access and Open Science.
More details about these activities will be made available via our dedicated ORE page on the LIBER website and on our dedicated Events Calendar.
You ran a survey towards the end of 2020. Can you tell us about it, and what the main findings were?
As a core member of the Open Research Europe project team, LIBER launched a survey in the autumn of 2020. The survey aimed at providing insights related to the awareness, perceptions, and experiences when it comes to open science practices and tools from the perspective of research librarians in Europe. The LIBER survey ran from the 1st of September until the 16th of October 2020 and was sent to LIBER’s 440 members (mostly comprising professionals working at national libraries, special libraries, and university libraries within the EU).
Almost two–thirds of the respondents (60%) positively confirmed their awareness of the ORE project. The results of our survey show that respondents are ready to involve other stakeholders in the promotion and support of the project, as long as their concerns will be taken into consideration.
The survey and key takeaways can be found here.
Read more about LIBER here. Sign up to receive LIBER’s monthly mailer (the LIBER Insider) or follow the organization’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Profiles.
