Why do we live in a world where libraries are illegal - An interview with Alexandra Elbakyan

Abstract

Sci-Hub is since 2011 the world´s most celebrated – and despised – ‘shadow library’, performing ’pirate style’ copying and re-publishing for free of subscription based academic articles. The initiator, Alexandra Elbakyan (aged 32) of Kazakhstan, has given a number of interviews but here, Finnish library activist and philosopher Mikael Böök in an e-mail interview asks his own specific and very current questions. Just now she’s in the news with a lawsuit against her by Elsevier, Wiley etc. We also get her opinions on ‘Plan S’, on joining IFLA and on her alleged Russian communist espionage.

Keywords

• ifla
• library access
• library subscriptions
• open access
• plan s
• sci-hub
• shadow libraries