Illuminea April issue: Interview with Sarah Thomas: "The library of the future is all around us"
12 April 2010The April edition of Illuminea, Oxford University Press’ quarterly librarian newsletter, looks at the dissemination of knowledge in publishing and libraries. The issue focuses on the digital changes that are affecting the way we procure information as well as the progress being made in developing countries to access new research.
Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s Librarian and Director of the Bodleian Libraries, addresses the future of the librarian in light of digital changes, in the first of Illuminea’s series of interviews with industry professionals. She says, “The information world has become much more complex. The librarian of the future will have to navigate this sea of information. The skills needed are traditional ones but they will be applied to a much more complex landscape than we ever had in the past”.
In Illuminea’s comment pages, Tim Barton, President of OUP USA, takes a fresh look at the Google Settlement. He explores the possibilities for authors, publishers and readers alike if the settlement comes into force, and extols Google’s efforts as “a remarkable achievement”.
Illuminea’s lead article looks at how OUP and the Wellcome Trust have worked together to provide online access to the Oxford Textbook of Medicine in low- and middle-income countries. The initiative compliments other ventures taking place in the developing world, as described in the article ‘Closing the Knowledge Gap’. The piece focuses on projects like Research4Life, HINARI (Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative), and AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture), which aim to provide the developing world with access to critical scientific and social science research.
Other articles cover the launch of Oxford Dictionaries Online, Oxford Journals’ twitter presence, OUP’s collaborations with the BBC College of Journalism and Berg Encyclopaedia of World Dress and Fashion, and the journals’ HighWire platform. The newsletter is also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish.
For more information, please contact:
Lizzie Shannon-Little
+44 (0)1865 353043
Communications Executive
Academic and Journals Divisions
Oxford University Press
Notes to Editors
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