UvA backs down: collective subscription to ScienceGuide to continue
As of 1 March, the UvA will once again have a collective subscription to ScienceGuide. The UvA had cancelled this subscription as of 1 January, but subsequently faced a barrage of criticism from current and former employees who were no longer able to access the latest (political) O&W news from The Hague free of charge.
The collective subscription cost the UvA € 9,500 per year, in exchange for which (former) employees and students had free access to the ScienceGuide website. However, the UvA cancelled the collective subscription via the University Library. A spokesperson for the UvA told Folia that they recognised that the press must be able to perform its supervisory role, but added that the UvA did not consider it necessary “to finance this”.
Works Council
The cancellation was met with all kinds of angry reactions, but the UvA initially stood its ground. The angry (former) employees also contacted the UvA’s Central Works Council (COR) with a request to put the matter on the agenda of the Executive Board. This was done. The COR also informed the Executive Board that it would be a good idea to resume the collective subscription.
The angry reactions and the intervention of the COR seem to have been successful: the Head Acquisitions of the University Library sent an email to Science Guide today stating that the UvA “would still like” to restart the collective subscription on 1 March. “If possible, until December 2026. We would then like to communicate annually in December whether we wish to renew for another year.”
An invoice for €7,917
ScienceGuide editor-in-chief Frans van Heest is pleased and had not expected anything else, especially since the UvA will have a new president in two months’ time, who, according to Van Heest, is enthusiastic about ScienceGuide. Van Heest is now sorting out the technical details so that everyone can log in again on or shortly after 1 March.
The €9,500 annual subscription fee has not been increased and will be charged for ten months this year, says Van Heest. A quick calculation shows that the UvA can expect an invoice for €7,917. “I would also like to thank the UvA community for their enthusiasm for ScienceGuide,” says Van Heest. “We will do our best, as always.”
