Here are a few key things that have come out in the last few days:
The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) has issued a statement in support of Controlled Digital Lending (CDL), adding a significant global endorsement to the growing acceptance of CDL approaches that has been accelerated by the pandemic. It’s important to recognize, however, as the American Library Association’s Digital Content Working Group has recently stressed, that while CDL is an important tool, it does not address the problems raised by content that is only marketed in digital form. See
https://www.ifla.org/node/93955
Today, Ithaka S+R issued a major report titled ‘What’s the Big Deal: How Researchers are Navigating Changes to Journal Access” authored by Danielle Cooper and Oya Rieger. This is a close look at how the landscape is changing as research libraries move beyond the traditional so-called “big deals” with major journal publishers, with particular attention to implications for scholars who use these journals. See
https://sr.ithaka.org/publications/whats-the-big-deal/
Finally, our friends at Hypothes.is, who have pioneered tools, infrastructure, and practices around web annotation and social reading, have rolled out a Coalition for Social Learning Across Content. This is potentially really important, and I urge you to read the announcement. CNI will be tracking this work carefully, and hopefully we’ll have a report on it at our December Member meeting. See
https://web.hypothes.is/blog/a-coalition-for-social-learning-across-content/
Clifford Lynch
Director, CNI