In In Oldenburgś Long Shadow: Librarians, Research Scientists, Publishers, and the Control of Scientific Publishing, Jean-Claude Guédon assesses the state of academic publishing as of 2001, including library activities and commercial publisher strategies. This early contribution to the open scholarship / scholarly communication conversation was originally presented in a talk to the Association of Research Libraries. Guédon argues that libraries need to take a more prominent role in the dissemination elements of scholarly communication by actively supporting and being involved in open archive initiatives. He writes, “Librarians must develop strategies favouring the outcomes best corresponding to the deepest values of their profession, in particular the desire to keep the knowledge commons open” (64). Guédon also suggests that although the emergence of library consortia have proven benefits (e.g., shared resources, heightened impact), they need to work with other stakeholders as well—including the “gatekeeping scientists” (31)—in order to effect real change in current academic publishing practices.

 

Work cited

Guédon, Jean-Claude. 2001. In Oldenburgś Long Shadow: Librarians, Research Scientists, Publishers, and the Control of Scientific Publishing. Washington, D.C: Association of Research Libraries. http://www.arl.org/storage/documents/publications/in-oldenburgs-long-shadow.pdf