Highlights of LIBER 2018

Highlights of LIBER 2018

LIBER’s 47th Annual Conference in Lille, France brought 440 research library professionals together for a week of discussions focused on doing more with Open Science, and on related topics such as metrics, research data management and copyright reform.

For those who couldn’t join us in Lille, we present the conference highlights.

1. New LIBER President, Vice President & Board Member

Jeannette Frey, Director of the Bibliothèque Cantonale et Universitaire (BCU) Lausanne, was appointed as LIBER’s 12th President at LIBER 2018.

Her appointment was one of three changes to LIBER’s Executive Board during the 2018 Meeting of Participants. LIBER libraries also appointed Julien Roche, Director of Libraries at the University of Lille, as Vice-President and Lars Burman of Uppsala University Library as a member of the Executive Board. In addition, former LIBER President, Kristiina Hormia-Poutanen, is now a special advisor to the Board on the Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP). Read more.

2. Open Science Roadmap Launch

At the start of the conference, LIBER launched its Open Science Roadmap: a practical guide outlining the specific actions libraries can take to champion Open Science, both within and beyond their own institutions. We distributed 650 hard copies of the Roadmap at LIBER 2018, and encourage everyone to download and share it widely. Read more.

3. French National Open Science Plan Launch

It was an honour to have the French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Frédérique Vidal, launch France’s National Plan for Open Science at LIBER 2018. The full text of her speech, and the English translation of France’s Open Science plan, are both available on the LIBER website.

4. New Library Leaders

A new set of graduates successfully completed our Emerging Leaders programme. Registration for the next round of this successful two-year leadership course for upcoming library directors will take place towards the end of 2018.

5. Focus on Working Groups

At this year’s Knowledge Cafes, we put LIBER’s nine working groups in the spotlight. They have all been working hard, and have recently produced a number of materials and initiatives. For example:

In addition, two new groups — Digital Skills for Library Staff & Researchers and Linked Open Data — held workshops at the conference. See the report of the Digital Skills workshop.

6. LIBER Innovation Award & Best Poster Winners

Of the 40+ parallel talks and 12 posters, three were chosen as winners of the LIBER Award for Library Innovation – an honour initiated by LIBER and supported by OCLC. The winners were:

The best poster award went to Charlotte Wien for her poster The Gaybrarian, the Gargoyle and their sexy counterparts – On Librarian
Stereotypes.

See You Next Year!

We look forward to seeing you all next year in Dublin, Ireland for LIBER 2019 (26-28 June) at Trinity College Dublin.

54th LIBER Annual Conference