Month: February 2021

The University Library is currently developing plans for integrating core student services offered in the Undergraduate Library into other campus libraries. Informed by long-term usage data and recent student surveys, the Main/Undergraduate Library Integration Project will result in new and refined combinations of student-focused services, which address both time-honored as well as emerging needs supporting academic and student life success. Appointed by the Library’s Executive Committee and with the support of the Dean of Libraries, a cohort of internal working groups drawn from librarians from across campus will develop a holistic plan to address student needs across major physical spaces, including the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center and Funk ACES Library, as well as the Main Library.

The Main/Undergraduate Library Integration Project complements existing plans to construct an archives and special collections building in the current Undergraduate Library building, and further develop the model outlined in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) Redevelopment Plan Programming and Conceptual Design Study. Library facility discussions have previously ensued during numerous listening sessions, a January 22, 2020 Town Hall, and other campus meetings, as well as through the work of a campus-wide committee—the Library Consultation Working Group.

The integration project recommendations will specifically address user needs and service models during the time period when the archives and special collections building is being constructed. The Library anticipates discussions about the longer-term future of the Main Library building to be ongoing and informed by lessons learned during the SCRC construction phase.

A description of the project’s scope is available here:
www.library.illinois.edu/staff/committee/undergraduate-library-main-library-integration-working-group/ 

Implementation of the team’s recommendations will begin in Summer 2021, with the Undergraduate Library formally closing in Spring 2022 to allow for construction of the facility for archives and special collections. Library services will continue to evolve and be assessed as the archives and special collections building project is completed. The Library welcomes feedback from students, faculty, and staff on priorities for undergraduate library services, and significant areas the team should focus on in designing spaces that encourage community building among undergraduate students while connecting them to academic and student life needs.

To provide feedback, please fill out our survey here:
https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/2042004169  

U of I researchers publishing as the corresponding author in Cambridge University Press (CUP) journals and in two PLOS (Public Library of Science) journals are eligible for a waiver of open access (OA) publishing fees for any article submitted beginning January 1, 2021. 

The new pilot license agreements, negotiated by the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), provides authors from Illinois the opportunity to publish their articles Open Access for no additional cost. The pilot agreement with Cambridge lasts two years, while the PLOS agreement will continue for three years.

“With the growing prominence of open access publishing and the use of article processing charges to fund many OA titles, the Library appreciates this effort by the BTAA to explore ways to reduce costs for Illinois authors while increasing the global impact of their research,” said Dan Tracy, head of Scholarly Communication and Publishing at Illinois.

The Read and Publish agreement negotiated by the BTAA with Cambridge University Press, includes reading access for UIUC researchers for all CUP journals (403 titles across HSS and STM disciplines) and waives article processing charges (APCs) for University of Illinois authors publishing research articles in fully open access or hybrid open access journals. This agreement does not include Cambridge OA books or fully subscription journals.

The agreement requires that authors elect to publish open access; they must opt into participation when they submit an article by choosing the open access publication option. However, if an author forgets to do so or wishes to opt-in later, it is possible to opt-in retroactively as long as the article was originally received by Cambridge in the eligible time period (January 2021 – December 2022). After publication, Cambridge will contact authors to give them a chance to retroactively opt-in if they did not do so during submission.

A full list of journals that shows those that are fully OA or hybrid OA is at www.cambridge.org/core/what-we-publish/journals.

The corresponding author must be at Illinois for the APC waiver to apply. Researchers should use their illinois.edu email when submitting their articles. Authors will choose a Creative Commons license when they select the option to participate in the program.

The agreement with PLOS provides uncapped, no-fee publishing in two highly-selective, fully open access journals (PLOS Biology and PLOS Medicine) for articles with corresponding authors from Illinois. For those with corresponding authors from non-BTAA member institutions, the publication receives a 25% discount on the article processing charges.    

More details about both agreements are on the BTAA website at www.btaa.org/library/scholarly-communication/open-scholarship.

For a list of existing waivers with other publishers, visit guides.library.illinois.edu/oapolicy/apc.