OpenAthens invites proposals for Access Lab 2024

NISO Member News

Bristol, UK | September 18, 2023

OpenAthens is excited to announce that their 2024 online conference, Access Lab, will take place on 26 - 27 February 2024.  You are invited to submit your session proposals for the conference program by Friday 3 November 2023. 

What is Access Lab? 
Access Lab is OpenAthens’ annual international conference where libraries, publishers and library users meet to discuss challenges facing the information industry and find solutions to problems. The conference explores industry developments, provides real life case studies and holds topical panel discussions where you get the chance to ask the questions. 

Details on how to register will be sent soon! 

Join as a speaker 

OpenAthens is looking for speakers for Access Lab 2024 and you could be exactly who they are looking for. Are you a publisher or a librarian? Would you like the opportunity to discuss your challenges with your peers and find solutions that could make your life easier? 

You can submit proposals for plenary talks, panel debates, roundtable discussions and case studies. Some topics for this years’ conference include:

• Impact of climate change on library services 
• Impact of cost-of-living crisis on library budgets, doing more with less 
• AI/ machine learning  
• Browser changes 
• User experience and product UX 
• Open Access 
• Federated authentication/ seamless access 

How to submit your session idea 
Get inspired to speak at Access Lab 2024 by watching the 2023 Access Lab sessions and submit your proposal by Friday 3 November 2023 by completing the short online form.  

Our focus for the 2024 conference 

Access Lab generates interest globally. And to help you join from wherever you are, two online events will run at different times to allow maximum participation from all around the world. Online doesn’t suit everyone, so you can look forward to in-person regional forums to build connections, learn from your community and find practical takeaways. Dates and further information will be released soon. 

Students, libraries and publishers continuously face challenges and barriers in accessing knowledge. As a result, you may need to seek advice and guidance from peers and experts within the industry. Access Lab provides a safe space to share learnings, discuss and debate. The conference also has a great reputation for panel debates, which previously covered topics such as: user privacy, user experience, the digital divide, the importance of data, and the impact of browser changes. Industry professionals will also share knowledge and highlight a variety of case studies from around the world.  
 
UX award 2024 

At the conference, Jane Charlton, senior marketing manager – community and content will announce the winner of the OpenAthens 2024 UX award. Now in its fifth year, the UX award puts the spotlight on publishers and library service vendors that put users at the heart of their service design. All with the simple aim of providing easy access to content and services. Panel judges made the decision to expand next year’s award beyond publishers to library systems vendors, research and analytics tools, and other library products and services. Visit the award webpage for more information and to submit your application by 17 November 2023. 

If you have any questions or are interested in sponsoring the event, please contact Laura Bloomfield Hall, senior events manager; laura.bloomfieldhall@openathens.net. 

About This Organization

About OpenAthens

We make it easy for people to access knowledge through single single-on. Our mission is to enable people to achieve great things by connecting them to knowledge and information, whenever and wherever they need it.  

We strive to be the world’s most user-friendly single sign-on experience and help more than 2,600 organisations world-wide to provide simple and secure access to online resources for their end users.  

OpenAthens is part of Jisc.