OpenAthens, a Jisc service providing access to knowledge in the education, research and public sectors, has revealed the programme for its annual library resource conference, Access Lab. 

Speakers and delegates at the international event for publishers, providers and library and IT professionals will discuss the global challenges and opportunities they encounter when searching for resources. 

Taking place online from 20-23 March, Access Lab 2023 offers a range of free sessions running at all hours of the day to cater for an international audience in varying time zones.  

Sessions will be recorded and available to view after the event closes.  

Topics include user experience, customer case studies on moving to federated single sign-on and systems integration, the impact of cookie privacy changes, and data trends.  

Keynote speaker, Emily Singley, VP for North American library relations at Elsevier, will discuss how librarian partnerships drive innovation, improve user experience, and ensure equitable and secure access for everyone. 

Other speakers include: 

• Balakrishna Rao, director of digital and IT, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India 
• David Leffler, discovery and access librarian, Liberty University
• Chandler Christoffel, user experience librarian, University of Georgia 
• Lim Peir Jiunn, senior technical specialist, OpenAthens 

An exciting feature of the event is the Best Publisher UX Awards, now in its fourth year. Jane Charlton, international marketing manager at OpenAthens, will announce the winner on Monday 20 March at 12:50pm EDT/16:50pm GMT.  

User experience is a key theme throughout this year’s programme. OpenAthens’ e-resources manager, Emma Wilson-Shaw, will chair a panel debate discussing ‘Why consistent user experience is essential for global research (and how to achieve it)’. Delegates will be able to ask questions to the live panel.  

For more information about Access Lab 2023, including the full programme, and to register to attend, visit the OpenAthens website.