Opening Science with Institutional Repository: A Case Study of Vilnius University Library

Authors : Jūratė Kuprienė, Žibutė Petrauskien

The future strategies for opening science have become important to libraries which serve scientific institutions by providing institutional repository infrastructures and services.

Vilnius University Library provides such an infrastructure for Vilnius University, which is the biggest higher education institution in Lithuania (with more than 20,200 students, 1,330 academic staff members, and 450 researchers ), and manages services and infrastructure of the national open access repository eLABa and the national open access data archive MIDAS.

As the new platforms of these repositories began operating in the beginning of 2015, new policies and routines for organizing work with scientific publications and data had to be implemented.

This meant new roles for the Library and librarians, too. The University Senate approved the new Regulations of the Library on 13 June 2017 with the task to develop the scholarly communication tools dedicated to sustaining open access to information and open science.

Thus, Vilnius University Library performs the leading role in opening science by providing strategic insights and solutions for development of services dedicated to researchers, students and the public in Lithuania.

As it was not presented properly at the international level before, this article presents the case of Vilnius University Library which actively cooperates with other Lithuanian academic institutions, works in creating and coordinating policies, conducts research on the improvements and services of eLABa and MIDAS, and suggests and implements the integral solutions for opening science.

URL : Opening Science with Institutional Repository: A Case Study of Vilnius University Library

DOI : http://doi.org/10.18352/lq.10217

E-books in academic libraries: results of a survey carried out in Sweden and Lithuania

Authors :  Elena Maceviciute, Tom D. Wilson, Arūnas Gudinavičius, Andrius Šuminas

Introduction

This paper reports on a study of e-books issues in academic libraries in two European countries representative of small language markets – Sweden and Lithuania.

Method

Questionnaire surveys, using the same instrument, were carried out in Swedish and Lithuanian academic libraries.

Analysis

Quantitative analysis was performed using the descriptive statistics capability of SurveyMonkey.

Results

The survey’s results reveal some interesting similarities and differences in the two countries. Business models for e-book acquisition in both countries show similarities – the most popular additional model is purchase for perpetual ownership.

One significant difference is that some of the Lithuanian academic librarians appear to have less direct knowledge of e-book acquisition, relying upon the Lithuanian Research Library Consortium to effect licence agreements with publishers and aggregators.

Another significant difference is that academic libraries in Lithuania have a higher degree of access to e-books in the national language than is the case in Sweden.

Conclusion

The findings show that the factors driving adoption of e-books, is composed of somewhat different elements in the two countries. Swedish librarians regard the need to keep up with technology and access and availability as the two main forces driving adoption of e-books in academic libraries.

Lithuanian librarians see economics as the main factor, together with technology and demand from students.

URL : http://www.informationr.net/ir/22-3/paper762.html

 

 

Publishers’ responses to the e-book phenomenon: survey results from three ‘small language’ markets

Authors : T.D. Wilson, Elena Maceviciute

Introduction

This paper reports on a study of publishers’ attitudes towards e-books in the context of the global situation of e-book publishing. Comparative data are drawn from a replication of a survey carried out in Sweden, in Lithuania and in Croatia.

Method

A self-completed questionnaire survey was undertaken, offering respondents the choice of a printed questionnaire or a response through an online SurveyMonkey alternative.

Analysis

Quantitative analysis was performed using the descriptive statistics capability of SurveyMonkey.

Results

The three country survey reveals a number of similar responses from publishers on several key issues, i.e., self-publishing, the future role of bookshops, and relationships with public libraries. The results also reveal that publishers have a certain ambivalence on these issues

Conclusion

In ‘small language’ markets, the take-up of e-books represents a much smaller proportion of total sales than in the English language market. Responses to questions on publishers’ relationships with authors, booksellers and libraries show a high degree of unanimity of opinion.

URL : http://www.informationr.net/ir/21-4/paper725.html