Perspective Chapter: Science and Technology Libraries in the Age of Open Science – Scenarios for the New Protagonism of Scientific and Technological Information

Abstract

Science and Technology Libraries (STL) have always functioned as supporters of scientific and technological activities. In the Digital Era, this role was considered superfluous due to the facilities offered by information and communication technologies. In this work, we consider that the recent movements of Open Science and open access to scientific publications enable libraries to become again important protagonists in the scientific community. In this context, our objective is to analyze the relationship between the library and the Open Science proposal considering the complex elements that constitute the value chain of scientific and technological research. Aspects of analysis include collaboration, multilevel governance, co-production, and co-creation, with the pragmatic envelopment of information. The chosen method is the philosophical current of critical realism presenting a conceptual framework that relates STL, Open Science, organizational collaboration, multilevel governance, and current scientific information.