According to the research report by Hayes, Henry, and Shaw (2021), workflow management is increasingly germane to library operations, as patron needs evolve. While academic libraries are dedicated to supporting the educational and research missions of their associated institutions, around the world these undergo transformations, under the impact of digitization and the continued need to remove barriers to knowledge access. Likewise, librarians serve both faculty and student constituencies with differing content usage preferences and profiles. Thus, albeit to different degrees, libraries ensure the success of their patrons, in correspondence to their usage patterns. This takes place on the background of a more than 30% growth in digital resource adoption between 2020 and 2021, in the pandemic period. That can, however, be hampered by a limited user friendliness of library interfaces and systems, as enterprise services become increasingly important for knowledge discovery, such as for literature search purposes. This is also likely to contribute to the information- and productivity-centric transformation of academic libraries, as they become decreasingly perceived solely as book or journal warehouses. Similarly, transitions to Open Access emphasize the growing focus of libraries on expertise and skill transmission (Hayes, Henry, and Shaw, 2021). Reference Hayes, M.A., Henry, F.A. & Shaw, R., 2021. Librarian Futures: Charting librarian-patron behaviors and relationships in the networked digital age. [online]: Lean Library. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/wp.20211103.

Open Access in Kultureinrichtungen ist das Thema der Stunde. Das gilt nicht nur insgesamt in der Open GLAM-Community, sondern natürlich auch bei Kultureinrichtungen sowohl in Berlin als auch in anderen Städten in Deutschland https://open-access-brandenburg.de/rechtsfragen_forschungsethik_open-access_openglam/ Given that Open Access can enhance scholarly integrity, universities begin including Open Science practices, such as sharing empirical data via repositories and publishing in Open Access journals, into their criteria for faculty promotion https://sparcopen.org/news/2022/the-university-of-maryland-department-of-psychology-leads-the-way-in-aligning-open-science-with-promotion-tenure-guidelines/ Digital collections in Open Access can make rare, valuable manuscripts and books available to researchers worldwide https://college.unc.edu/2022/06/digitize-manuscripts/ Library partnerships play a significant role in transitioning scholarly collections into Open Access https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2022-05-31/bloomington-library-partners-with-museum-to-open-access-to-local-historical-collections Open Science practices, such as preprint deposition, can contribute to changing the system of academic publishing, while promoting research visibility, knowledge diversity and data sovereignty https://www.researchinformation.info/feature/pandemic-brings-preprints-spotlight As new preprint servers continue to be launched, their limited scholarly community uptake and insufficient quality control mechanisms across geographic areas, language groups, and scientific fields, however, do not outweigh their long-term benefits https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01359-x University textbooks in Open Access facilitate collaborations between scholars and experts, enable the inclusion of different subject-matter perspectives and make rapid curricular responses to new developments possible https://sparcopen.org/news/2022/oer-resources-to-help-equip-growing-field-of-scholcomm-librarianship/ Transitioning scholarly journals into Open Access likely requires sustainable publication support models, external funding sources and ecosystems involving library stakeholders, such as for quality assurance https://www.uu.nl/en/background/glossa-how-a-journal-took-matters-into-their-own-hands-to-make-research-available Open Access can contribute to unrestricted discussions around global issues, such as climate change https://www.openaccessweek.org/theme/en In step with market developments, Open Access has significantly evolved in recent years https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2022/06/09/revisiting-when-is-a-publisher-not-a-publisher-cobbling-together-the-pieces-to-build-a-workflow-business/ Open educational resources, such as high school and college textbooks, remove cost-related barriers to in-demand curricular materials both locally and around the world, while contributing to the financial sustainability of the education system https://ncpolicywatch.com/2022/06/08/unc-press-initiative-aims-to-tame-the-soaring-and-burdensome-cost-of-textbooks/

Libraries can play an active, strategic role in transitioning scholarly monographs into Open Access https://www.jisc.ac.uk/blog/infrastructure-is-key-to-supporting-the-sectors-shift-towards-open-access-for-monographs-27-may-2022 In emerging markets, such as in Africa, misconceptions about Open Access continue to linger, due to low levels of awareness of the implications that Open Science has for scholarly stakeholders, e.g., publishing costs, quality assurance and copyright issues https://theplosblog.plos.org/2022/05/expanding-globally-listening-locally-open-science-in-africa/ Transitioning scholarly journals, as well as monographs, into Open Access makes available objective, evidence-based scientific results to the broadest possible audience around the world https://journals.lww.com/jbjsoa/Fulltext/2022/06000/JBJS_OA_Awards__Recognizing_Excellence_Among_Open.13.aspx Public libraries provide unrestricted access to creative works, scholarly knowledge and verified information https://www.6sqft.com/nyc-public-libraries-want-you-to-read-these-10-banned-books/ This Subscribe-to-Open (#S2O) Transparency Report of #EDPSciences discusses publication statistics, the transformative S2O model, and the revenue received from the Fonds National pour la Science Ouverte and the CNRS https://openresearch.community/documents/ruimy-anne-et-al-edp-sciences-smai-subscribe-to-open-program-2022-transparency-report-les-ulis-france-edp-sciences Open Science infrastructures can assist scholarly organizations with the online hosting and library discoverability of digital content in Open Access http://blog.archive.org/2022/05/25/music-library-association-opens-its-publications-at-internet-archive/ For developing countries and emerging markets, Open Science practices, and infrastructures, can facilitate the production of scientific knowledge, remove global and local barriers to the sharing of scholarly results and promote content discovery https://libsense.ren.africa/en/cote-divoire-braces-up-to-implement-unesco-recommendations-on-open-science/ Open Access can make critical scientific information, such as in the fields of healthcare and medicine, permanently available for stakeholder communities at research institutions and beyond https://walledculture.org/during-the-covid-pandemic-some-publishers-didnt-just-fail-libraries-they-exploited-them/ During the COVID-19 pandemic period, academic libraries around the world have been facing challenges related to internal budget pressures, external financial crises, publisher negotiation difficulties and digital book supply-demand discrepancies https://openresearch.community/documents/international-federation-of-library-associations-and-institutions-ifla-how-well-did-copyright-laws-serve-libraries-during-covid-19-research-report-the-hague-den-haag-netherlands-ifla-2022 Recent reports from Springer Nature indicate that in 2021 the usage levels of scholarly articles in Open Access were almost three times higher than those for closed-access, paywall papers https://group.springernature.com/gp/group/media/press-releases/oa-content-up-40-percent-across-springer-nature-tjs/23107468 Article processing charges can deepen inequalities between researchers in low-income countries and their counterparts in high-income ones, which demands multilateral, global, cooperative solutions https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01414-7  As recent findings suggest, in the scholarly publishing sector, the market forces of supply and demand go hand in hand with the economies of scale, since Open Access journals with higher processing charges also tend to publish less articles and vice versa https://www.the-scientist.com/critic-at-large/opinion-is-open-access-worth-the-cost-70049

Making digital collections of scholarly materials, such as rare manuscripts, available in Open Access can advance knowledge in specialized fields, stimulate research projects and reduce the publication costs of academic output https://www.lib.umich.edu/about-us/news/everything-old-new-again Open Science can also enable local citizen science initiatives, as it makes available qualitative and quantitative research methods for applications that address local issues, empower community stakeholders and promote inclusion https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/igp/news/2022/apr/how-does-citizen-science-change-us The continued advance of Open Access will likely require reducing the complexity of funding reporting and information management, while rebuilding digital collections around open data, discoverability infrastructures and system interoperability https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-new-librarian-torsten-reimer-data-research-scholarship-open-access Open Science models can ensure that library-level provisions for scholarly book access remain sustainable, promote equitability and prevent exclusion https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3499633-if-publishers-have-their-way-libraries-digital-options-will-see-major-cuts/ Open Science resources, e.g., open-source software, can be expected to increase the reproducibility of scientific research, collaborations among scholars and interoperability between digital systems, while facilitating the verification of research findings https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/436429-making-brain-research-easier-with-open-source-software La ciencia abierta se define como un constructo inclusivo que combina diversos movimientos y prácticas con el fin de que los conocimientos científicos estén abiertamente disponibles y sean accesibles para todos, así como reutilizables por todos https://www.universidadsi.es/ciencia-abierta-y-sus-implicaciones-en-la-universidad/ Open Access to scholarly journal archives makes seminal articles freely accessible for scholarly and non-specialist communities, while enabling the unrestricted tracing of research field evolution and reactions to groundbreaking events https://associationsnow.com/2022/05/the-way-things-were-why-open-access-to-the-acm-digital-library-matters/ Though no commonly agreed definition of Open Science exists at present, it is not reducible to Open Access, since Open Science as a larger phenomenon comprises other aspects, such as open data, evaluation processes and information sharing http://www.ub.edu/ire/en/open-access-and-open-science-not-one-and-the-same-thing/

Transitions to Open Access need to be accompanied by changes in journal evaluation criteria that stress inclusivity and diversity, such as in terms of publication languages used and center-periphery asymmetries https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-views-of-europe-2022-5-predatory-journals-feed-on-incentives-not-ignorance/ For confirmatory research seeking to test analytical hypotheses with the help of empirical data, Open Access to study design is likely to have a beneficial effect on the validity and reliability of scientific results https://theplosblog.plos.org/2022/04/preregistered-peer-reviewed-research/ As recent findings indicate, at large-enrollment universities the usage of Gold Open Access content has demonstrated growth in both absolute and relative terms in recent years https://deltathink.com/news-views-how-does-the-growth-of-a-particular-publishers-open-access-content-factor-into-the-relative-value-of-a-big-deal-part-2-the-findings/ Insufficient levels of policy enforcement, repository funding and researcher awareness can reduce the effectiveness of Open Access initiatives, such as for clinical trial data sharing https://www.transparimed.org/single-post/covid-clinical-trial-registr On the background of its continued growth, Open Access remains a complex phenomenon, since it serves different constituencies, can be supported by divergent business models, allows for intellectual property rights retention and facilitates content reuse https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/why-does-open-access-make-publishing-more-complicated Digital collections of scholarly materials in Open Access can remove barriers to cultural heritage for both research communities and the general public https://rism.info/electronic_resources/2022/05/12/chopin-heritage-in-open-access.html  The Open Access sector is likely positioned on the intersection of both convergent and divergent interests of different scholarly publishing stakeholders, such as scientists, librarians, funders and publishers https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2022/05/17/20-years-of-public-access-to-the-results-of-federally-funded-research-an-interview-with-the-scholarly-publishing-roundtable-part-2/ While regulatory initiatives can be expected to promote the adoption of Open Access, different stakeholder groups are likely to favor dissimilar approaches to Open Science mandates and the role of market mechanisms in the publishing sector https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2022/05/18/20-years-of-public-access-to-the-results-of-federally-funded-research-an-interview-with-the-scholarly-publishing-roundtable-part-2-2/ Metadata management plays a critical role in making digital collections in Open Access discoverable across platforms, while enriching their representation in databases https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2022/05/18/wikidata-artists-files/#.YodeB1RBxD8

To realize their full potential for under-served groups, Open Educational Resources may need to be approached from post-colonial perspectives https://edtechhub.org/2022/04/08/decolonising-open-educational-resources-oer-why-the-focus-on-open-and-access-is-not-enough-for-the-edtech-revolution/

Open Access to digitized artifact collections, such as those of art museums, can provide usage metrics, inspire artifact and financial donations and enable metadata enrichment, despite concerns about model sustainability and support ecosystem presence https://medium.com/open-glam/avoinglams-response-to-the-writing-of-kimmo-lev%C3%A4-director-general-of-the-finnish-national-gallery-960869a51c45 As Open Access shifts cost burdens from reader-facing paywall frameworks to author-facing publication contributions, equity concerns remain, while novel publishing models seek to ensure scholarly output access without imposing author-related restrictions https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2022/04/26/guest-post-open-access-and-the-direction-moving-forward/

Transitional agreements facilitate journal-level transitions to Open Access, while being compatible with Plan S requirements https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2022/april/acs-publications-commits-entire-hybrid-journal-portfolio-to-become-transformative-journals.html Open Access to image reproductions of artworks removes cost-related barriers to the publication of scholarly monographs and collected volumes in the domain of art history, while promoting the dissemination of novel approaches and ideas https://medium.com/open-glam/emersons-nature-and-the-commons-42ef5312654a While support for Open Access to peer reviews appears greater among junior academics and scholarly authors than on average across stakeholders in the field of economics, e.g., active reviewers, uncertainty lingers concerning its benefits and implications https://voxeu.org/article/economists-want-see-changes-their-peer-review-system-let-s-do-something-about-it Though Open Science makes inroads across scientific disciplines, in the domains of humanities and social sciences it is likely to be encountering challenges related to field-specific research procedures, investigation methods and data formats https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2022/04/21/what-does-open-science-mean-for-disciplines-where-pen-and-paper-are-still-the-main-working-methods/

Though Open Access publishing facilitates intellectual property rights retention for scholarly authors, business model and national legislation differences can constrain the degree to which Open Science principles are implemented https://www.agendadigitale.eu/cultura-digitale/il-diritto-morale-di-ripubblicare-in-open-access-le-opere-scientifiche-cosa-deve-fare-litalia/ The French National Center of Scientific Research recommends its associate scholars to primarily publish their works in venues that do not involve author- or reader-facing fees, in an effort to promote the transition to Open Access https://www-cnrs-fr.translate.goog/fr/cnrsinfo/le-cnrs-encourage-ses-scientifiques-ne-plus-payer-pour-etre-publies Digital Object Identifers (DOIs) allow for stable links to scholarly publications, support metadata associations between versions of record, related documents and data sets and can be issued by multiple registration agencies providing additional services https://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/2022/04/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-dois-or.html

As recent data on article processing charge levels indicate, the publishing market for scholarly articles in Open Access undergoes maturation, as price increases slow down, the journal market further segments and demand grows in middle to high price ranges, as the market review by Dan Pollock indicates: https://deltathink.com/news-views-open-access-charges-continued-consolidation-and-increases/.

In their recent piece on article processing charges (APC) waiver programs, published in Science Editor on February 21, 2022, Sara Rouhi, Romy Beard, and Curtis Brundy note that, even though the transition to Open Access publishing programs gathers pace, APCs likely pose a cost barrier to scholarly authors, while representing an author equity issue. At the same time, journal publishing models not based on Open Access invariably involve reader-facing paywalls, which amounts to a reader equity issue, since readers without relevant academic affiliation or disposable funds are not able to access scholarly content. In other words, the transition to Open Access resolves the reader equity issue by removing reader-facing barriers to scientific content at the expense of introducing the researcher equity considerations, as scholarly journals need to remain financially viable after they make their output freely accessible.  In her opinion piece, Sara Rouhi, the Director of Strategic Partnerships at PLOS, has approached the APC equity issue by contrasting equality and equity, while indicating that Global South researchers from low- and middle-income countries likely suffer from funding limitations, as compared to their Global North colleagues. Similarly, Romy Beard, formerly the Licensing Programme Manager at Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) working with libraries and consortia from developing and transitioning economy countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, has contrasted the exigencies of the pay-to-read and pay-to-publish approaches, while indicating that APC discount policies fall short of fully redressing the inequities between the Global North and Global South countries. Yet, higher levels of APC waiver awareness, information availability and application uniformity can be expected to alleviate these disparities. In response, Sarah Rouhi explores the publisher perspective on APC waivers, such as at the PLOS, while exploring the attendant aspects of financial sustainability, cross-discipline differences, workflow shortcomings and inclusion effects. By presenting an institutional perspective, Curtis Brundy, responsible for collections oversight and scholarly communications at the Iowa State University Library, draws attention to the growing prevalence of transformational agreements that have the APC-offsetting arrangements built-in.

Whereas the pandemic period has seen preprints significantly influence public policy-making and lead to life-saving discoveries, preprint retractions also indicate the need for gatekeeping mechanisms, such as peer reviews, to prevent irresponsible use, as Clare Watson argues in a review article titled "Rise of the preprint: how rapid data sharing during COVID-19 has changed science forever," Nature Medicine, (2022).