Ambition for services


Open Access and cooperation are the keys to the success of Finnish research and learning


Open Access

Research findings are made freely and immediately available to all.
For its part, the consortium enables open publication and cooperates nationally and internationally in its promotion.

Cooperation

FinELib works closely with key stakeholders to promote Open Access. Cooperation enables open publication and availability of resources.
FinELib follows the principles of agile working, responding rapidly and flexibly to changes and customer needs.

New needs and services

FinELib works with its members and stakeholders to identify emerging trends and services in order to support the membership.








FinELib’s core function

The FinELib consortium plays a part in enabling the availability of digital resources and immediate open publication

  • By acquiring high-quality resources and services effectively
  • By increasing Open Access of resources
  • By actively cooperating nationally and internationally








Focus areas of FinELib’s vision






Open publications


Description

Finnish and international scientific publications as well as trade journals should be made openly available to all.
Authors affiliated with FinELib organisations can publish their research Open Access at no additional costs to themselves.

Objectives


  • Negotiating cost-neutral agreements for large e-journal packages
  • Negotiating high-quality alternative Open Access platforms
  • Facilitating Open Access publication for researchers
  • Ensuring the broadest re-use of published material through liberal licences
  • Zero-embargos for self-archiving
  • Increasing Open Access of professional and trade journals

Key action points


  • Negotiating transformative agreements
  • Making it easier and more sustainable for researchers to publish in fully Open Access journals.
  • Developing sustainable ways to fund Open Access together with the consortium and funders
  • Negotiating agreements that allow authors to retain copyright under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence
  • Negotiating agreements that allow for self-archiving with zero embargo
  • Re-defining our top negotiation goals
  • Maintaining and increasing cooperation between national and international actors to promote Open Access
  • Redirecting funds formerly used for subscription-based reading towards Open Access

Development capabilities


Skills
  • understanding research processes and practices, publication processes, and funding
  • developing negotiation and communications skills essential for achieving our goals
Operations models and processes
  • identifying high-quality open access platforms and services in collaboration with the community
 





Versatile and agile acquisition of resources


Description

Researchers, teachers, and students have access to relevant and high-quality resources in a more versatile manner than before.
The consortium acquires resources in agile cooperation, so that organisations can use the resources for their purposes.

Objectives


  • Resources subscribed for research, teaching, and studying are available easily and cost-effectively
  • The consortium provides its members with flexible acquisition models that acknowledge organisation-specific special requirements when possible
  • Wide range of e-books for customers of public libraries
  • Finnish resources available to library customers
  • The consortium acquires new and various resources quickly (such as audio-visual and study material)

Key action points


  • Cost-effectiveness and usability in negotiation targets
  • Identifying and licensing new types of resources (such as audio-visual material and online courses)
  • Renewing the selection and acquisition process for resources (such as vertaa.fi)
  • Tendering (for example e-book services)
  • Agreements with as wide access rights as possible
  • Identifying the organisation-specific special requirements and creating models for acquisition
  • Agreeing upon resource acquisition policies for e-books and Finnish material

Development capabilities


Skills
  • management of the methods and tools required for functional cooperation
  • developing competence, particularly in the smaller member organisations of the consortium and in public libraries
Operations models and processes

 Developing an operations model:

  • for new types of resources
  • for flexible acquisition models
Tools
  • developing a platform based on sharing




Cooperation within the consortium


Description

The consortium’s culture and operation are open, dynamic, and based on mutual trust.
Open publication requires the consortium to cooperate with the management, researchers and experts of member organisations.
The rapid, unpredictable changes of transferring to open publication require agility and cooperation of the consortium in identifying and developing something new.

Key action points


  • Reviewing and updating the consortium’s steering system to allow for an agile way of working and decision-making
  • Facilitating and developing communication with our members
  • Acquisition of resources and decision-making processes that support operation
  • Consortium’s shared understanding for acquisition of resources
  • National and international cooperation supports operation
  • Identifying the phenomena that affect the consortium’s operation and changing the activities if necessary

Goals


  • Clarifying a shared ambition and agreeing on future objectives
  • Finding a way to share experiences and examples of best practices across the consortium
  • Making it easier for the members to reach out to the FinELib office and to give feedback
  • Providing support and tools for our members (such as model agreements and guidance)
  • Evaluating new products and decisions on proposals (max three months)
  • Updating the Consortium’s steering structure and improving the flow of information among members
  • Clarifying communication channels and schedules
  • Developing new approaches and consortium-level decision-making to allow an agile way of working and response to new demands and challenges
  • Reviewing and updating our acquisition policy
  • Maintaining and increasing active collaboration with national and global partners
  • Initiating projects and applying for funding to address issues affecting the membership

Development capabilities


Skills
  • Communication skills
  • Facilitation skills
  • Juridical competence
Operations models and processes
  • Shared operations models and means to support the added value generated by the consortium for the organisations
Tools
  • Developing and using appropriate communication channels
  • An interactive platform for members





Effective data-driven approach


Description

The consortium contributes to a culture of Open Access both nationally and globally.
FinELib utilizes publication and funding data in negotiations with publishers and other partners, in indicating efficiency and in developing open publication infrastructure.

Goals


  • The key data (such as publication, usage, and costs data) has been collected and made openly available
  • The data is put to use to inform service development and decision-making

Key action points


  • Gathering data on publications and funding
  • Providing analyses and indicators to monitor outcomes and to set goals for service
  • Defining data requirements, identifying data sources, and clarifying the roles associated with data collection and analysis
  • Establishing a cooperation network dealing with collecting and analysing data
  • Making use of the data of other national and international actors
  • Developing usage statistics and user interfaces
  • Studying the impact of Open Access on the usage of e-journals

Development capabilities


Skills
  • Data analysis
  • Data visualization skills
  • Understanding the scientific publication process
Operations models and processes
  • Stepping up communication and cooperation with key stakeholders (CSC, TSV, etc.)
Tools
  • Developing new tools







Development projects


Development of a management model

Development of processes

Model

Updating the consortium’s management and steering model with a special focus on

  • Future services
  • The varying needs and views of the membership
  • Appropriate decision-making forums, subjects under consideration, and participants
  • Cost division

Communication

Active communication between the consortium and stakeholders.

Effective data-based decision-making and approaches

Improving skills and competences

  • Data analysis skills
  • Data visualization skills
  • Tools

Versatile and agile acquisition of resources

Identifying and acquiring new types of resources

  • Wide acquisition vs. specific resources

Open publication

Identifying high-quality Open Access publication channels in cooperation with the community.

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