Access Lab 2024 program announced!

Register for OpenAthens’ leading industry conference to discuss global challenges and opportunities in access to resources. 

OpenAthens is thrilled to announce their Access Lab 2024 program, taking place 26 – 27 February 2024, online. This year’s theme ‘Balancing values’ examines the tension between balancing technological opportunities with the challenges they present for our community.  

OpenAthens is part of a global community, and to make it easy for you to join the event will run over two days in different time zones to suite you.

• Monday 26 February, 14:00 – 18:00 GMT (EMEA and AMER regions)
• Tuesday 27 February, 12:00 – 14:30 AEDT (APAC region)

Just as its name suggests, Access Lab provides a safe space to explore, discuss and learn from your peers. This year, customers and partners came together to form a program group to help shape the program. You can expect to hear case studies, best practices and discussions to get you thinking about improvements you could make in your own organization. Along with plenty of advice and practical takeaways to help you along the way. 

Access Lab 2024 program 

OpenAthens is delighted to announce that Luba Pirgova-Morgan, research fellow at the University of Leeds will give the opening keynote on ‘AI and Libraries: Friends or Enemies?’ Luba’s keynote will discuss key findings from her recent report. She will also discuss the potential application of AI for personalizing library services and balancing these opportunities with privacy and other ethical concerns.

Luba said: 

“With recent AI technological developments, the Access Lab platform presents a wonderful and timely opportunity to discuss how ‘library power’ can guide the harnessing of AI tools in the library space as well as provide a shared, comfortable, and familiar place for a balanced public engagement of AI conversations.”

You will also hear a library case study from Russell Palmer, assistant director, GALILEO. Russell will share how GALILEO leveraged federated authentication, vendor relationships, systems interoperability, accessibility and UX design to better serve their users since moving to OpenAthens five years ago. He will go on to outline the directions GALILEO will take in the future. 

Other sessions include:  

• Browser changes: the impact on authentication for library users
• Panel debate on balancing AI innovation and library ethics
• Several OpenAthens ‘how to’ sessions on privacy, vendor onboarding and reporting 
• How to get involved in the OpenAthens Community and product development.  

A highlight of the event is the UX Awards. Now it its fifth year, we’ll celebrate the vendor that demonstrates strength in innovation, and durability and sustainability in their investment and organization-wide approach to UX. The 2024 award winner will be announced on Monday 26 February at 11:55 EST/ 16:55 GMT.

Take a look at the Access Lab 2024 program for more information and to register.

Who can attend? 

Whether you are a publisher, provider, library or IT professional, Access Lab provides the opportunity to join our global community to share knowledge, challenges and updates from across the industry. The OpenAthens team will be on hand to answer any questions you may have and explain how they can help you make things simpler! 

How to register  

Registration for Access Lab is now open. Simply register for the conference to attend live or watch sessions on demand after the conference.

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