SPARC Europe is supported by LIBER, IWI, JISC, SCONUL, SPARC, and UKB. Involvement by other organizations is enthusiastically invited.

Background

Academic libraries world-wide are facing the challenges posed by the need to provide as much information for their communities as possible, in an era of journal price inflation and emerging electronic provision.

The issues involve:

• the disproportionate levels of library budgets spent on journal subscriptions, particularly in the science, technical, and medical (STM) area;
  
• the concentration of a significant part of scholarly output in the hands of a small but highly influential number of commercial publishers;
  
• the need to provide electronic access to as much scholarly information as possible;
  
• a widespread reluctance to cancel print until electronic archiving arrangements are secure;
  
• the need for organisational structures to ensure access to digital archives;
  
• the complexities of intellectual property rights and copyright issues;
  
• restrictive license conditions;
  
• the use of published research output as a performance measure;
  
• the emerging technical standards to facilitate open archiving;

• the development of open access models.
  

About SPARC

SPARC, first organized by the Association of Research Libraries in North America, is an initiative to introduce competition, change, and alternative strategies into the marketplace. It has had some notable successes and currently operates in three main programme areas:

• the ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM provides lower cost, direct competitors to highly priced journals;
  
• the LEADING EDGE PROGRAM sponsors technological use or innovative business models;
  
• the SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITIES PROGRAM supports development of portals aimed at distinct academic communities.
  

A major component of SPARC’s work is about advocacy – actual change on campus. The CREATE CHANGE (www.createchange.org) and DECLARING INDEPENDENCE (www.arl.org/sparc/di) campaigns illustrate this focus.

Introducing SPARC Europe

As SPARC provided a useful and successful model, LIBER worked with national organizations to establish a SPARC partner initiative in Europe. SPARC Europe, an independent Foundation with a European remit and focus for its activities, acts closely with SPARC and LIBER to progress its agenda.

SPARC Europe is a member organization, made up of an allience of European research libraries. SPARC Europe's membership scheme is as follows:

• £10,000/16,000 Euros per annum for national or pan-European organisations
• £1,000/1600 Euros per annum for large research libraries/organisations
• £500/800 Euros per annum for smaller, specialist research libraries/organisations.

• Paul Ayris, UK
• Raymond Bérard, France
• Lars Björnshauge, Sweden
• Hans Geleijnse, The Netherlands
• Heather Joseph, SPARC, USA
• Bulent Karasozen, Turkey
• Norbert Lossau, Germany
• Bas Savenije (Chair), The Netherlands

Membership of the Board is formed from representatives of some national consortia and other supporting organisations, and includes members of both the academic and library communities. We hope that a balance has been struck to make the Board small enough to be effective but sufficiently representative.



Priorities

SPARC Europe is dedicated to making a difference. Through our presentations, event organisation and sponsorship, article writing, research and advocacy tools we play an important role in empowering the library community to bring changes within their own institutions and countries. Through collaboration we are able to influence at a national and international level.

SPARC Europe undertakes a number of activities in helping to support the library community in bringing positive change to scholarly communications. Our main areas of activity are:

• We encourage the development of institutional-based repositories for the work of scholars.
  
• To support the aims of the Budapest Open Access Initiative by co-operating with individuals and organisations committed to open access to research publications. SPARC Europe also supports the Open Archives Initiative and is one of the organizers of the Workshop Series on the Open Archives Initiative held in Geneva.
  
• We support scholar-led journal publishing initiatives. The SPARC Declaring Independence programme is supported by SPARC Europe through key members of editorial boards based at European institutions.
  
• We develop innovative digital publishing enterprises and models that advance fundamental scholarly objectives and values. SPARC Europe helps develop new economic models and services that provide open or affordable access to scholarship.
  
• We aid in development of project plans, provide guidance on addressing the institutional marketplace, and promote worthy developments to the SPARC Europe membership and beyond.
  
• We promote the creation and use of open access tools and sponsor both the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR)
  
• We encourage discussion of the issues identified on the Create Change web site and a companion brochure.
  
• We make presentations at European scholarly communications events. The purpose of these presentations is to raise awareness of the limitations of the current scholalry communications models and to propose new models, to raise awareness of the work of SPARC Europe, to up-date existing SPARC Europe members on progress and to attract new members and broader participation in the process of change.
  
• We encourage the holding of local scholarly communications colloquia and workshops.

David Prosser, Director
SPARC Europe
Bodleian Library
Broad Street
Oxford
OX1 3BG
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 1865 277 614
E-mail: david.prosser@bodley.ox.ac.uk