The European higher-education press is wondering what’s next for Europe v. Elsevier:

• Switzerland and Austria will join France in planning Germany-style confrontations.
• FinELib is feeling defensive, suggesting many are asking it tough questions.
• The Dutch, having kicked off all this delightful fuss in the first place, plan to join the Germany-style fun as well.

The Loon additionally suspects, based purely on her Twitter notifications, that Sweden may be slipping a card or two up its sleeve. This is not, she hastens to say, a source anyone should consider reliable! But it certainly caught her beady red eye—the Swedes have never been particularly interested in her before, so it must be the subject matter, not so?

Through the grapevine, the Loon hears that at least some elements inside Elsevier are rattled to the point of asking major Big Deal customers (the Loon declines to be more specific than this, not wishing to get anyone in trouble) whether Germany has been sniffing around them looking for solidarity. Has Germany? The Loon does not know and cannot guess. They might have, or they might have plenty of other work to do, quite reasonably feeling that their sterling example is enough.

Now, then. The Loon has a few words of comfort and counsel for Finnish open-access advocates, who must be feeling rather bruised and disappointed and angry just now. This outcome happens, especially one’s first time out. It is absolutely normal and nothing to be ashamed of, nor does it mean Finland is doomed to bear Elsevier’s yoke forever. Moreover, as best the Loon can tell, Finnish advocates are taking the ideal next step: pushing hard for visibility into the terms of the deal. Two benefits accrue to this: putting Elsevier on notice that it cannot act in the dark, and putting library-side negotiators on notice that caving to Elsevier is no longer the easy way out with respect to faculty relations.

Remember, Finland, the Dutch did not get an ideal deal their first time either. They’re getting another chance. So will you! The Loon is still rooting for you!

• ← The mote and the beam: or, a reason OER has gone more smoothly than OA in libraries
• Communicating upward and outward about serials →