Libraries Commission
The Commission of Directors of Libraries and Documentation (CABID) held its second ordinary meeting of 2026, on October 21 and 22 in Santiago, with the participation of representatives from the universities of the Council.
The meeting, held at Alberto Hurtado University and Diego Portales University, allowed participants to share experiences and address topics such as open science, bibliographic resources, and new needs of university communities.
Strengthening collaboration between university libraries and advancing joint strategies to respond to the challenges of higher education was one of the main purposes of the Second Ordinary Meeting 2026 of the Commission of Directors of Libraries and Documentation (CABID) of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH).
The meeting took place on October 21 and 22 in Santiago, with sessions organized by Alberto Hurtado University (UAH) and Diego Portales University (UDP), respectively. The event brought together representatives from the libraries of the 30 universities belonging to the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) to exchange experiences and address common challenges in information management and support for academic activities.
The president of CABID and head of the Library Unit at the University of O'Higgins, Bernardo Rojas, highlighted the progress made during the meeting, particularly in the governance of the Commission, the review of proposals for transformative agreements with publishers and the work of the subcommittees.
“This work strengthens our structure as an advisory council, increases our negotiating power and, above all, our ability to collaborate for the benefit of the universities that make up CRUCH,” he said.
Open access and collaborative experiences
During the first day, held at the Heritage Campus of the Alberto Hurtado University, topics such as open access to scientific publications, transformative agreements with academic publishers and shared management of bibliographic resources were addressed.
Among the experiences presented, the consortium purchasing initiative of the Association of Universities Entrusted to the Society of Jesus in Latin America (AUSJAL) stood out, along with the BiblioMatch tool, oriented to the analysis of bibliographic collections.
The second day took place at the Nicanor Parra Library of Diego Portales University, where initiatives to promote the use of bibliographic collections were shared and the Tesis.udp.cl project was presented. The program also included sessions of the Information Resources, Communications, and Inclusion and Mental Health subcommittees, as well as a presentation by the InES Open Science CABID Technical Committee.
The discussions on open science and access to information also addressed the role university libraries should play in the face of digital transformation. In this context, Bernardo Rojas stated that “our challenge must be to lead the democratization of knowledge in our institutions. We must promote and develop digital services that foster open access and respond to the needs of our university communities.”.
The president of CABID stressed that these challenges require joint efforts: “Collaboration is our greatest strength, but also the best way to move towards a more integrated and future-proof library network.”.
Text: CRUCH Communications
Related news: Alberto Hurtado University Y Diego Portales University
Photographs: UAH and UDP
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