Teresa Hackett, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, reports on a recent conference hosted by COMMUNIA on two important issues that create obstacles to the creation of a flourishing information ecosystem: exposure to legal liability by cultural heritage institutions for use of copyrighted works and refusals by rightsholders to license digital content.

In December 2023 a group of librarians and open science enthusiasts organized a workshop on Research Data Management (RDM) for Serbian researchers and librarians. They drew on the training methods and materials tested during EIFL and OpenAIRE open science train-the-trainer bootcamps held during 2023. Participants’ feedback was overwhelmingly positive, writes Milica Ševkušić, EIFL Open Access Programme Project Coordinator, who was one of the workshop trainers. 

Enhancing open science and open research skills in our partner countries is among EIFL’s strategic objectives, and one of the ways in which we aim to achieve this is by organizing train-the-trainer activities for open science trainers. EIFL Open Access Programme Manager, Iryna Kuchma, was one of the facilitators of the second EIFL Open Science Train-the-Trainer Bootcamp, which took place from 13 - 17 November 2023.

Teresa Hackett, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, summarizes the key outcomes and achievements from WIPO’s copyright committee (SCCR/44) that met in Geneva from 6 - 8 November 2023. EIFL was joined at SCCR by civil society allies from the global coalition on Access to Knowledge (A2K). 

The 18th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF 2023), with the theme ‘The Internet We want - Empowering All People’, took place in Kyoto, Japan, and online from 8 - 12 of October. The Forum attracted over 9,000 participants from 175 countries - the highest number of participants since the first IGF in 2006.

In March 2023, the President of Nigeria signed the Copyright Act, 2022 into law. EIFL’s analysis of the new law shows it to be one of the most progressive in the world with respect to libraries and library activities. Teresa Hackett, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, highlights the benefits to libraries of the new law and how it can inspire librarians and policymakers in other countries in Africa, and around the world. 

Paul Muneja, Librarian at the University of Dar Es Salaam and EIFL Country and Open Access Coordinator in Tanzania discusses the importance of institutional open access repositories to the research community in Tanzania.

From 3 - 8 September 2023 four public librarians, from Ghana, Kenya, Namibia and Uganda, took part in the EIFL Initiative for Young African Library Innovators (IYALI 2023) learning experience in Germany. Ramune Petuchovaite, Manager of the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme, who accompanied the group, asked the four librarians what inspired them most during their journey.

Elena Sipria-Mironov, librarian at the University of Tartu Library and EIFL Open Access Coordinator, discusses how open access and open science have changed the academic and scientific landscape in Estonia.

Pilate Chewe, Librarian at the University of Zambia and EIFL Open Access Coordinator, reports on Zambia’s steadily growing open access movement, and the impact of improved visibility of research through an open access repository at the University of Zambia.