11 December 2020
The eNews co-editors, Josh and Helle, asked the current Board of Trustees to reply to three important questions, exploring UKSG’s response to current challenges and their vision for the future:
- 1. How is UKSG adapting to the dynamic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic?
- 2. How will UKSG stay connected beyond the UK in a post Brexit world?
- 3. Given these two challenges, what does the future of UKSG look like?
In this week’s editorial the UKSG Trustees answer our third question: Given these two challenges, what does the future of UKSG look like?
Despite the present dark outlook there is optimism among the board although, Lorraine Estelle acknowledges that there are challenges ahead: "The global pandemic combined with Brexit is a challenge for all UK organisations and businesses, and UKSG is no exception. We have been sustained by holding an annual and much-loved conference, and this has enabled us to provide many low cost or free events for the wider community, including seminars, workshops and training events. It will be tough, but I am optimistic. We have a robust new governance structure in place, and the roles are filled by talented and energetic professionals, and we have a super hardworking and agile executive team."
Anna Grigson agrees: "It will no doubt be a very different future from the one we might have expected at the start of 2020. But our vision and values remain just as relevant as they have ever been, and I am sure that UKSG will evolve to make sure that we continue to bring value to our members."
Katherine Rose: I believe that UKSG has a crucial role to play in connecting our sector during this challenging time. We have seen the need for immediate access to vital research and our members are meeting global challenges in their daily work. Collaboration and communication between the different parts of our industry will be key to not only surviving but thriving. As the world is changing around us, UKSG is well-placed to support our sector and ensure that every player finds the opportunities in these challenging times.
And Joanna Ball agrees: There are international members on all of our sub-committees, we share case studies and articles from across Europe and the world in our journal Insights, and encourage a diverse range of speakers at our conferences and events.
Charlie Rapple supported this with: UKSG was created to nurture and strengthen relationships between the different organizations in our sector - libraries, publishers, and providers of related services. The turbulence of 2020 only strengthens the need for those relationships, as all parties will be affected and will need to understand and support each other’s challenges. Our events, committees, publications and other activities have always provided a forum for sharing experiences - the response to our online conference in November shows that the community is still very much looking to UKSG to play that role. So in the short term, UKSG will look a bit more “virtual”, but despite this will continue to be a catalyst for new relationships, new experiences and new ideas.
While Graham Stone reminds us that: Despite the inevitable tightening of finances, Insights remains a non-APC Gold OA journal and we look forward to continue publishing articles from around the world, which have direct relevance to the wider UKSG community.
The last three interviewees look forward to a strong and healthy community: Dominic Broadhurst: "People are inherent social beings and all parts of scholarly community benefit from this interaction. The trick will be how to facilitate this, perhaps on more local/regional levels, whilst developing our online presence in ever more innovative and participative formats."
Colleen Campbell: "I see UKSG moving forward as an increasingly diverse and evolving community of practice, both in terms of member geography and sector focus, or specialty. It is really exciting to be in this space where the impact of our work together is so incredibly tangible!"
And on this positive note Andrew Barker concludes: "The future looks bright – we have never been needed more than we are now. Let’s go back to 1977 when UKSG was founded by John Merriman – we were founded to connect the knowledge community – each part of that knowledge community has a huge role in one particular aspect of scholarly communication. However, each part of it does not always understand the other parts which make up the whole. Our role has always been to drive understanding of each other and to ensure a better future where we work together for the wider benefit of the sector. The need to communicate, to work together as a global community is more important than ever, particularly given the pandemic. UKSG has a hugely important role to play in ensuring that we are connected as a sector and that the work that underpins all we do - the research happening across universities right now - finds an outlet through the joining together of all our skills. We need to continue working together to build a better future for everyone not just for UKSG. Our role is to help to pull us all together. It’s what we have been doing since 1977, and it’s going to be more, not less important as we move through, and beyond, these uncertain days."
This is our last newsletter for 2020 - the UKSG eNews editors hope you all enjoy a wonderful and safe festive season, with best wishes from Helle and Josh. See you on the 8th January 2021!