Within the global transition to open access, libraries are trying to understand the total cost paid to publishers, both for subscriptions to content and for publishing of open access articles by their corresponding authors. While libraries know what they pay for subscriptions, determining open access publishing costs - namely the amount of Article Processing Charges (APCs) - paid to publishers can be difficult. One way of estimating the amount spent on APCs is to look at publication output data, and calculate based on average APC data. 

EIFL has signed a new agreement with Mathematical Sciences Publishers (MSP) that provides free access to MSP’s 17 journals specialized in mathematics and related sciences.

The agreement is valid until December 2022, and is open to libraries in 29 EIFL partner countries:

In a letter to Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, EIFL urged the President to sign into law the long-awaited Copyright Amendment Bill without delay. The Bill, amending the 1978 Copyright Act, was approved by the legislature in March 2019 and awaits the Presidential assent. The Bill introduces new exceptions for libraries, education and people with disabilities, and brings copyright rules in South Africa into the digital age.

Rima Kupryte, EIFL Director, and Iryna Kuchma, EIFL Open Access Programme Manager, will meet stakeholders to discuss the  Myanmar Education Research and Learning Portal (MERAL) 

The meeting, with the project working group, will review content policy and the structure, functionalities and management of the portal.

The 40th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) takes place in Geneva from 29 June to 3 July, 2020.

EIFL will participate in the session when delegates from WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) member states will discuss limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives, education and research, and a proposed treaty for the protection of broadcast organizations, among other topics.

In particular, member states will continue negotiations to reach agreement on the future work programme on limitations and exceptions.

A team of librarians from EIFL partner countries, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda/USA, participated in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR/39) that met in Geneva from 21-25 October 2019. 

Five public librarians from four countries in Africa will travel to the USA where they will take part in the Public Library Association (PLA) 2020 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, as part of the Initiative for Young African Library Innovators 2020 (IYALI 2020). 

EIFL has signed another three-year agreement with Prio Infocenter AB to allow institutions in 39 EIFL partner countries to subscribe to the Urkund plagiarism checker at discounted rates.

Plagiarism refers to copying another person's material and using this material as if it were your own work, without quoting the originator or stating a source.

Iryna Kuchma, EIFL Open Access Programme Manager, and Gwen Franck, EIFL Open Access Programme Coordinator, will participate in the OpenAIRE General Assembly.

Kuchma will moderate a breakout session on training and support for the OpenAIRE Standing Committee, and a session on training for OpenAIRE Advance. 

Kuchma and Franck will moderate the meeting of 12 OpenAIRE NOADs (National Open Access Desks) from Eastern Europe.

Iryna Kuchma, EIFL Open Access Programme Manager, will facilitate a half-day workshop on open science training during the 9th International Youth Science Forum 'Litteris et Artibus'.

The workshop will cover the following tips for trainers:

EIFL and EIFL’s partner library consortium in Côte d'Ivoire, Consortium des Bibliothèques de l‘Enseignement Supérieur de Cote d‘Ivoire (COBES-CI), will host a series of workshops on open access (OA) as part of Open Access Week 2019 celebrations. The OA Week celebrations in Côte d'Ivoire are organized in partnership with Ministre de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique, UNESCO and the telecommunications company, MTN CI. 

Highlights of the week - 

Six more mobile regional libraries in Ghana are being equipped with laptop computers. 

The EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) was launched with a grant from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2009. The programme aimed to spark innovation in public libraries in developing and transition economy countries. Ramune Petuchovaite, EIFL-PLIP Manager, reflects on a decade of EIFL-PLIP.

EIFL has renewed its current agreement with Edward Elgar Publishing until December 2022. Under this renewed agreement, libraries and consortia from 30 EIFL partner countries are eligible for free access Edward Elgar’s 10 journals, over 750 development studies and environment e-books, and can publish at a discounted APC (Article Processing Charge) rate in open access in their journals.

Deborah Jacobs, former director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries Initiative celebrates 10 years of the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) in this guest blog for EIFL.

Article title: Universities welcome new national open access policy

Publication/media outlet: Universities World News / Africa Edition

Date published: 31 October 2019

EIFL project/programme: EIFL Open Access Programme

Language of article: English

Read now: Click here to read the article as published by Universities World News

Thinking about setting up your open access repository with DSpace and don’t know how to get started and install and configure the software? Already using DSpace and have some questions about customization, back-up procedures, troubleshooting and other repository maintenance issues? Thinking about upgrading to a newer version and need some advice? Not sure whether you’re filling in metadata correctly? Have questions about content submission workflows?  Any other questions about handling DSpace?

Fifty Zambian librarians representing public, special, school and academic libraries in northern Zambia have been invited to attend a one-day workshop on project management in libraries, and communications and advocacy.

Training is being conducted by five Zambian public library trainers: Kalaba Mweni from Mansa Provincial Library; Constance Chilipa from Solwezi Provincial Library; Thomas Mubanga from Kasama Provincial Library; Dominic Chitondo from Kitwe City Council Public Library, and Pezo Kajimalwendo from Ndola City Council Public Library. 

Five Zambian public library trainers are to conduct a one-day workshop on ICT skills and communications and advocacy for 30 librarians representing public, special, school and academic libraries. The trainees come four provinces: Lusaka, Southern, Western and Eastern provinces.

EIFL’s new agreement with the academic publisher De Gruyter offers authors from EIFL partner countries the option of publishing their articles in open access for free or at discounted Article Processing Charges (APCs) in De Gruyter’s over 440 fully open access and hybrid journals. 

The agreement, which is valid until December 2021, also provides free and discounted access to De Gruyter journals.