In the weeks leading up to MLA ’24 in Portland, we’ll profile the experts leading each of the symposium sessions by sharing their answers to questions about themselves and their session. We begin the series with the Getting to Open: Everything You Need to Know about Crafting Open Access Agreements presenters: Kathi Carlise Fountain, MSLS, and Susan K. Kendall, PhD, MSLIS.
Join them for their session on Sunday, May 19, 10:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m., pacific time. To learn about all the Symposium sessions and their presenters, please see the Symposium Session Schedule.
What are you most looking forward to seeing/eating/experiencing in Portland?
KF: Portland is my home base, so I’m excited to travel to MLA without flying on a plane. Since the convention center is a short light rail ride away from downtown, I plan to take time to pop into Powell’s bookstore and grab lunch across the street at Screen Door.
SK: I’m not going to be at MLA for very long, but now that I’ve left the medical librarian world and am working with collections on the entire academic library level, I’m looking forward to seeing medical librarian friends again.
What’s a fun or surprising fact about crafting open access agreements?
KF: Each one can be so different! Each publisher has its own approach. Each library has its own goals. We need to have good communication about expectations and realistic limits to ensure we both walk away satisfied with the result.
SK: They are all very different (as my co-presenter, Kathi says). You have to go in with an open mind and a good grasp of your goals and values so as to not get hung up on the fact that one isn’t exactly like another one you may have negotiated.
Kathi, how did you get started in librarianship/publishing?
I was an academic librarian for nearly 20 years, and I joined Oxford University Press after leaving a position with Orbis Cascade Alliance, an academic library consortia. I joke that I simply moved to the other side of the negotiating table. After managing the Alliance’s consortial ebook collection, I wanted to learn more about the ebook ecosystem from a different perspective. Seven years and a few roles later, I learned far more about publishing than I ever expected.
Susan, how did you get started in librarianship?
SK: I was a research scientist and had finally figured out that I didn’t really want to continue in that field. My sister, a public librarian, suggested I check out academic medical librarianship. I did several informational interviews with medical librarians, who were all very supportive and welcoming, and the rest is history!
What’s the main thing you want participants to take away from your session?
KF: Changing the economic model for journal publishing is challenging for us all! Publishers and libraries need to work together to find a solution that fits their goals and budget.
SK: We hope that everyone leaves the session with a checklist of points that they and the publisher will discuss and the confidence that they can choose or collaboratively craft an agreement that makes sense for both of them.