In memoriam: Irene Barbers
09 January 2025We are sorry to share the very sad news that our colleague Irene Barbers has been killed in a car accident. Irene, most recently the Head of Acquisitions at Forschungszentrum Juelich in Germany, has been a mainstay of the COUNTER community for many years. She was a member of the Executive Committee and latterly the Board of Directors. Our thoughts are with Irene’s family and friends.
“Irene was the driving force behind our efforts to translate COUNTER’s educational materials into German. As well as making cogent and impactful contributions to our strategic and operational activities, she presented on our behalf at several online and in person events, and was a powerful voice advocating for standards in the knowledge community. She will be deeply missed.”
Tasha Mellins-Cohen, Executive Director, COUNTER
“I was deeply saddened to hear about the recent passing of Irene Barbers. I had worked with Irene for nearly 10 years at COUNTER and found her to be one of the most dedicated, committed, and respected people you could wish to work with. She was a joy to be around and has made an enormous contribution to the scholarly community. She will be deeply missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing her.”
David Sommer, Chair of the COUNTER Executive Committee
“A valued colleague and fellow member of the COUNTER Board of Directors in recent years, Irene brought her significant expertise and insights to any of our Board discussions. I really appreciated the way she applied her clear, thoughtful perspective and pragmatic approach to any topic, and she was hugely respected by the Board. She was a committed and enthusiastic advocate of COUNTER and has made a valuable contribution to the scholarly communications community more broadly. Most importantly though we will miss her warmth, humour, kindness and generosity of spirit. Our thoughts go out to her friends and family.”
Jo Lambert, Chair of the COUNTER Board
The Central Library of Forschungszentrum Jülich has commemorated Irene, and has set up an electronic book of condolence (in German) at gedenkseiten.de/irene-barbers/. If you would like to share a message about Irene (in English), please contact sian@countermetrics.org and we’ll add it here.
“We are terribly sad to learn of Irene’s death. Irene was well-known and highly respected by colleagues at the RSC, both for her work with COUNTER and as Head of Acquisitions at FZ Jülich. A treasured member of the scholarly communications community, Irene was a peer, an advocate, and a friend. We mourn her loss and will cherish her memory.”
Nicola Haden“I am so sad by the loss of Irene. Working with her was a joy. She was always kind and gracious and full of integrity. My condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.”
Lorraine Estelle