Open Access and the Library

Abstract

Libraries are places of learning and knowledge creation. Over the last two decades, digital technology--and the changes that came with it--have accelerated this transformation to a point where evolution starts to become a revolution. The wider Open Science movement, and Open Access in particular, is one of these changes and is already having a profound impact. Under the subscription model, the role of libraries was to buy or license content on behalf of their users and then act as gatekeepers to regulate access on behalf of rights holders. In a world where all research is open, the role of the library is shifting from licensing and disseminating to facilitating and supporting the publishing process itself. This Special Issue investigates some of the changes in today's library services that relate to open access.