Now that artificial intelligence (AI) tools are being widely used across academic publishing, how can we make informed assessments of these utilities? We need evaluations of AI tools within the context of how they are actually used – by checking with users. Information professionals are ideally placed to carry out these evaluations. The author suggests an outline of where AI is currently being used successfully, and outlines a methodology for assessment of new tools. The goal is not to endorse or to discredit AI, but to enable us to make intelligent and informed appraisals, without the need to learn coding.

A recent white paper describes the three key challenges faced by information professionals when working with R&D groups, along with tips on how to tackle these challenges. Springer Nature partnered with information industry expert, Bates Information Services, who interviewed four information professionals working within STEM fields, to learn more about their experiences of working with R&D departments. The findings from those interviews were brought together not only during the Special Libraries Association session 2022 Annual Conference, but also in a new white paper, addressing some of the key challenges faced by information professionals when working with R&D groups.

The Library of Congress has selected the open-source FOLIO library services platform for its next generation library management system. FOLIO’s innovative architecture allows for maximum flexibility and extensibility, which will enable the platform to grow as LoC’s needs evolve. The Library’s FOLIO implementation will be supported by EBSCO FOLIO Services. Most importantly, BIBFRAME is a mandatory requirement, meaning native support for the creation, storage, and indexing of BIBFRAME descriptions. This is a major milestone for the BIBFRAME Initiative.

The ICOLC Strategies for Open Collaboration in Library Consortia Task Force was initially formed to develop strategies for consortia and libraries to interact with vendors and the open source community to address pricing, standards/interoperability, and access challenges. This report, Strategies for Collaboration: Opportunities and Challenges to Build the Future We Need, has articulated a broad vision for how libraries and consortia should radically rethink operations long-term. Suggestions are provided for immediate steps to be taken – with existing vendors, with the open source community, and with each other – to move libraries  toward that future. While this report  is aimed primarily at library consortia, the strategies described will also be useful for individual libraries.

IFLA Journal is an international journal publishing peer reviewed articles on library and information services and the social, political and economic issues that impact access to information through libraries. The October 2022 issue of IFLA Journal was developed in collaboration with the IFLA Advisory Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) to mark the 20th anniversary of the IFLA Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom.

In June 2022, the American Library Association (ALA) held its 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition, its first major in-person conference since the pandemic began. Major themes that resonated throughout the conference included book bans and censorship; issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion; examples of successful library programming during the pandemic; library funding strategies; patron and library worker safety; information access; and technology trends and challenges.

The LIBER Annual Conference took place from 6 – 8 July 2022 in Odense, Denmark.

All presentations from the LIBER 2022 sessions have been uploaded to LIBER 2022 Zenodo Community Page. Official photos (by Saif Shneyin) can be found on Flickr here.

Since their launch in 2015, the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals have become embedded in the research community. Many funders want to see how research aligns to SDG targets and there are now programmes in place to measure university contributions to the goals. But how can libraries contribute to this vital work?

Christine Ollendorff, Directrice de la documentation et de la prospective à Arts et Métiers Science et Technologies et Claire Nguyen, Directrice adjointe et responsable du service de la politique documentaire du SCD de l’université Paris-Dauphine, analysent pour le BBF les impacts de la science ouverte sur la politique documentaire et l’évolution des compétences des professionnels.

First released in 2017, the COUNTER Code of Practice (CoP) now in Release 5, incorporates the concept of continuous maintenance. Last year, COUNTER’s volunteer teams, led by the Technical Advisory Group, have been working on a more significant update to the Code of Practice designed to better facilitate Open Access reporting, among other matters, and we’re now opening our work up to community consultation.

The full consultation can be downloaded as a Consultation document and is also available on GitHub.