Leiden / Boston / Paderborn / Singapore / Beijing – 17 February 2021

Brill, the international scholarly publisher, is delighted to announce a new Open Access collaboration with ‘Open Philology: The Composition of Buddhist Scriptures’ (OpenPhilology), funded by the European Research Council. The resulting book series Buddhist Open Philology Project will publish translations of scriptures, text editions, and studies, on the select corpus of Mahāyāna Buddhist scriptures (sūtra), the Mahāratnakūṭa collection of 49 sūtras. All volumes in the series will be published in Open Access with Brill.

While random scriptures have been translated into English and published, both as books and online, no venue exists as of yet for accessible yet reliable editions and annotated translations of these fundamental documents of the Asian Buddhist tradition. The Buddhist Open Philology Project will not only be invaluable to scholars of Asian Studies and Religious Studies, but will also be of great interest to Western Buddhists.

Prof. Dr. Jonathan Silk, Principal Investigator of OpenPhilology, comments: “The Buddhist Open Philology Project (BOPP) is a Leiden University based and ERC-funded group engaged in critical studies of Buddhist scriptures (sūtras). The publication series now launched with Brill will present for the first time Open Access available editions, with annotated English translations, of Indian Buddhist texts, based on their sources in Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese. Brill is the perfect home for this new series given its centuries long commitment to scholarly editions and its more recent innovative presentations of Open Access publications.”

“We are proud to work with Prof. Dr. Silk on developing and shaping the main results of his ERC research project,” says Dr. Jasmin Lange, Brill’s Chief Publishing Officer. “We are excited to unveil a fundamental corpus of texts on the Asian Buddhist tradition that was not available until now. Open Access has never been more appropriate.”

For more information on this project visit https://openphilology.eu/ or contact Stephanie Paalvast, manager Open Access at Brill, via openaccess@brill.com.

About Brill
Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, Brill is a leading international academic publisher in Middle East and Islamic Studies, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, History, Biblical and Religious Studies, Languages & Linguistics, Literature & Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Biology, Education, Social Sciences and International Law. With offices in Leiden (NL), Boston (US), Paderborn (GER), Singapore (SG) and Beijing (CN), Brill today publishes over 300 journals and close to 1,400 new books and reference works each year, available in print and online. Brill also markets a large number of primary source research collections and databases. The company’s key customers are academic and research institutions, libraries, and scholars. Brill is a publicly traded company and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam NV. For further information, please visit brill.com.

View this media alert online: https://brill.com/newsitem/major-open-access-collaboration-between-brill...

DUBLIN, Ohio, 16 February 2021—Fayetteville Public Library in Fayetteville, Arkansas, has signed on to implement OCLC Wise, the community engagement system for U.S. public libraries.

Wise is a holistic system that takes community engagement and collection management to a new level by combining the power of customer relationship management, marketing, and analytics with integrated library system (ILS) functionality, such as circulation and acquisitions. Wise is different; it’s designed around people, not the collection. It supports libraries’ continued shift into dynamic centers of activity and expands the impact libraries have on their communities.

Fayetteville Public Library (FPL) is putting the finishing touches on a major expansion and renovations—part of FPL’s 2030 Master Plan—which is now open to the public. Implementation of OCLC Wise is the next big step in the library’s transformation.

“The goal of Fayetteville Public Library is to create the ultimate library experience for our community every day. Why? Because we care about the welfare of everyone,” said FPL Executive Director David Johnson. “We get that same feeling from the OCLC team and their Wise system. OCLC cares about our ability to deliver the highest level of service, and they’re willing to roll up their sleeves and work alongside us. That’s what a true partnership is all about.”

As FPL staff planned their state-of-the-art expansion, they considered the needs of their community—which included new focus on job training, culinary literacy, more youth services, among others. Some staff even had an opportunity to visit DOKK1, one of the most innovative new libraries in the world, in Aarhus, Denmark.

“FPL is deeply rooted in and engaged with their local community,” said Mary Sauer Games, OCLC Vice President, Global Product Management. “The staff wants the best for their community so they have been seeking inspiration from some of the best libraries in the world. FPL’s connection to the people they serve and their vision for the future make them ideal partners for OCLC and Wise. We look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together.”

“Wise is going to be a game changer for Fayetteville Public Library patrons,” said Johnson. “Our community will be impressed that not only do we have this beautiful facility, but we’re also adding infrastructure and technologies that are focused on them. We can customize our system and services to meet our needs, and really make it our Fayetteville Public Library.”

Learn more about Wise at oc.lc/wise.

About OCLC
OCLC is a nonprofit global library cooperative providing shared technology services, original research and community programs so that libraries can better fuel learning, research and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services. Libraries gain efficiencies through OCLC’s WorldShare, a complete set of library management applications and services built on an open, cloud-based platform. It is through collaboration and sharing of the world’s collected knowledge that libraries can help people find answers they need to solve problems. Together as OCLC, member libraries, staff and partners make breakthroughs possible.

About Fayetteville Public Library
Fayetteville Public Library was founded in 1916 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Fayetteville Public Library received Library Journal’s Library of the Year award, was named an American Landmark Library by TravelSmart and Best Library in NWA by Citiscapes. Its existing Blair building was the first in Arkansas to be registered with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program. Its vision is to be a public institution that is powerfully relevant and completely accessible. Visit faylib.org for more information.

The Open Library Foundation Names New Board President and Two New Board Members
February 15, 2021 | Open Library Foundation, Press Release

PHILADELPHIA — February 15, 2021 — The Open Library Foundation, which enables the development, accessibility and sustainability of open source projects for and by libraries, is making changes to its Board.

Tom Cramer, the Associate University Librarian and Director of Digital Library Systems and Services at Stanford University will replace David Carlson as Board President. Carlson, Dean of Libraries at Texas A&M University, will maintain his seat on the Board. The Board is also welcoming Chris Keene and Paula Sullenger.

Carlson says laying the groundwork for the Open Library Foundation helps ensure the viability of open source software for libraries across the globe. “The Open Library Foundation was founded with a vision to be a home, a kind of safe haven, for open software projects that served the mission of libraries. The Foundation serves as a neutral, nonprofit organizational home to provide administrative support and ensure project sustainability. With the Foundation’s legal, operational and financial bases in good shape now, we’re ready to grow, we’re ready to realize our vision so that more projects benefit, and more people become aware of the opportunities that open source projects present.”

Cramer has been a member of the Open Library Foundation Board since 2018 and has a long history of innovation and leadership in open source projects and communities. As President of the Open Library Foundation Board, he plans to focus on expanding support for open source efforts in the library sector. “Libraries are by nature collaborative, and service organizations that work with each other to provision information. Open source efforts reflect our ethos of innovation and working in community for the larger good. The Open Library Foundation understands libraries and wants to be there for projects and innovators who need support.”

Chris Keene leads the data and technology team within digital resources at Jisc, which works with UK institutions to promote digital advancements.

Paula Sullenger is the Associate Dean for information Resources and Associate Professor at Texas A&M Libraries. Sullenger is a member of the FOLIO Community and is a current member of the FOLIO Product Council and multiple special Interest groups.

About the Open Library Foundation

The Open Library Foundation was created in 2016 as an unbiased, independent not-for-profit organization to ensure the availability, accessibility and sustainability of open source projects for and by libraries. Software developed by communities hosted by the Foundation is freely available under common open source licenses for personal, institutional or commercial use. The software is open and free in order to sustain an open collaboration of interested parties. The Foundation provides infrastructure by which the library community at large can organize, contribute to, and benefit from our projects — ensuring availability and a “safe haven” for member communities’ output that is separated from the needs and goals of any single contributor, user or affiliated party. Find out more at www.openlibraryfoundation.org.

###

For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy, Media Relations, Open Library Foundation
mediainquiries@openlibraryfoundation.org
978 223-0438

Leiden / Boston / Paderborn / Singapore / Beijing – 15 February 2021

The Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University, New York, and Brill are delighted to announce that the Encyclopaedia Iranica Online is now freely accessible at Brill’s Reference Works Platform: https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-iranica-online Encyclopædia Iranica is the comprehensive academic reference work dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.

This new online version of the Encyclopaedia Iranica offers corrected and updated older content as well as entirely new entries from the printed fascicles XVI/4, 5, and 6 that were already published by Brill. New articles will be added at regular intervals.

“The staff of the Yarshater Center appreciate Brill’s extraordinary efforts to make this new website a reality, and we look forward to working with our partners at Brill as we continue to expand and improve the content of the Encyclopaedia Iranica,” says Elton Daniel, Editor-in-Chief of Encyclopaedia Iranica.

“Brill is delighted to be the publisher of the Encyclopaedia Iranica, which is the most important reference work in the fields of Persian and Iranian studies,” says Maurits van den Boogert, Publishing Director, Brill.

For more information about this media alert contact Maurits van den Boogert, Publishing Director at Brill via boogert@brill.com, or visit the website: https://brill.com/eiro
In order to view images, log in with the following:
Username: oa
Password: oa

About the Encyclopædia Iranica
The scope of the Encyclopædia Iranica encompasses the multi-disciplinary study of all the peoples speaking Iranian languages, wherever they have lived, in all time periods; the reciprocal relations of the Iranians and their neighbors, especially those of the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, the Caucasus, and Central Asia; and the influence of Iranian civilization in a global context. It particularly endeavors to include subjects such as Shiʿite studies, Iranian ethnography and folklore, the history of science, calligraphy, music, and the arts, as well as entries on books of major significance.

As an academic reference work, it seeks to cover all aspects of Iranian history and culture as well as all Iranian languages and literatures, facilitating the whole range of research in Iranian studies in fields ranging from archeology to the social and natural sciences. However, biographies of living persons are excluded. Entries, authored by the best available authority, are peer-reviewed and signed, include in-text documentation, and provide bibliographies appropriate to the subject.

About the Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University
The Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies was established at Columbia University in 2018 with the support of a generous gift from the Persian Heritage Foundation in honor of Professor Ehsan Yarshater’s remarkable scholarship and his lifelong dedication to the study of Iran’s culture and history.

The Yarshater Center aims to promote and to strengthen the late Professor Yarshater’s vision of Iranian Studies, encompassing a broad range of subjects in all periods and in a global context. As part of this mission, the Yarshater Center hosts special lecture series, seminar series, conferences, and symposia, and it produces scholarly publications, particularly two major long-term publication projects, the Encyclopædia Iranica and A History of Persian Literature.

About Brill
Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, Brill is a leading international academic publisher in Middle East and Islamic Studies, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, History, Biblical and Religious Studies, Languages & Linguistics, Literature & Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Biology, Education, Social Sciences and International Law. With offices in Leiden (NL), Boston (US), Paderborn (GER), Singapore (SG) and Beijing (CN), Brill today publishes over 300 journals and close to 1,400 new books and reference works each year, available in print and online. Brill also markets a large number of primary source research collections and databases. The company’s key customers are academic and research institutions, libraries, and scholars. Brill is a publicly traded company and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam NV. For further information, please visit brill.com.

View this media alert online: https://brill.com/newsitem/encyclop-dia-iranica-online-now-freely-access...

Leiden / Boston / Paderborn / Singapore / Beijing – 15 February 2021

The Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University, New York, and Brill are delighted to announce that the Encyclopaedia Iranica Online is now freely accessible at Brill’s Reference Works Platform: https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-iranica-online Encyclopædia Iranica is the comprehensive academic reference work dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.

This new online version of the Encyclopaedia Iranica offers corrected and updated older content as well as entirely new entries from the printed fascicles XVI/4, 5, and 6 that were already published by Brill. New articles will be added at regular intervals.

“The staff of the Yarshater Center appreciate Brill’s extraordinary efforts to make this new website a reality, and we look forward to working with our partners at Brill as we continue to expand and improve the content of the Encyclopaedia Iranica,” says Elton Daniel, Editor-in-Chief of Encyclopaedia Iranica.

“Brill is delighted to be the publisher of the Encyclopaedia Iranica, which is the most important reference work in the fields of Persian and Iranian studies,” says Maurits van den Boogert, Publishing Director, Brill.

For more information about this media alert contact Maurits van den Boogert, Publishing Director at Brill via boogert@brill.com, or visit the website: https://brill.com/eiro
In order to view images, log in with the following:
Username: oa
Password: oa

About the Encyclopædia Iranica
The scope of the Encyclopædia Iranica encompasses the multi-disciplinary study of all the peoples speaking Iranian languages, wherever they have lived, in all time periods; the reciprocal relations of the Iranians and their neighbors, especially those of the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, the Caucasus, and Central Asia; and the influence of Iranian civilization in a global context. It particularly endeavors to include subjects such as Shiʿite studies, Iranian ethnography and folklore, the history of science, calligraphy, music, and the arts, as well as entries on books of major significance.

As an academic reference work, it seeks to cover all aspects of Iranian history and culture as well as all Iranian languages and literatures, facilitating the whole range of research in Iranian studies in fields ranging from archeology to the social and natural sciences. However, biographies of living persons are excluded. Entries, authored by the best available authority, are peer-reviewed and signed, include in-text documentation, and provide bibliographies appropriate to the subject.

About the Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University
The Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies was established at Columbia University in 2018 with the support of a generous gift from the Persian Heritage Foundation in honor of Professor Ehsan Yarshater’s remarkable scholarship and his lifelong dedication to the study of Iran’s culture and history.

The Yarshater Center aims to promote and to strengthen the late Professor Yarshater’s vision of Iranian Studies, encompassing a broad range of subjects in all periods and in a global context. As part of this mission, the Yarshater Center hosts special lecture series, seminar series, conferences, and symposia, and it produces scholarly publications, particularly two major long-term publication projects, the Encyclopædia Iranica and A History of Persian Literature.

About Brill
Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, Brill is a leading international academic publisher in Middle East and Islamic Studies, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, History, Biblical and Religious Studies, Languages & Linguistics, Literature & Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Biology, Education, Social Sciences and International Law. With offices in Leiden (NL), Boston (US), Paderborn (GER), Singapore (SG) and Beijing (CN), Brill today publishes over 300 journals and close to 1,400 new books and reference works each year, available in print and online. Brill also markets a large number of primary source research collections and databases. The company’s key customers are academic and research institutions, libraries, and scholars. Brill is a publicly traded company and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam NV. For further information, please visit brill.com.

View this media alert online: https://brill.com/newsitem/encyclop-dia-iranica-online-now-freely-access...