OSU wants to become a university focused on big discoveries that drive big solutions.  For OSULP, this means we help students and faculty do the work they need to do to make these discoveries. Knowing that our communities find resources in many places, we develop collections and build systems and services to ensure that they get seamless access to the things they want. We strategically acquire materials that spark curiosity and drive discovery. We work to remove the barriers that prevent researchers from publishing where and when they want to, and to raise the visibility and impact of the important work OSU researchers do. 

How will we focus our work in the next two years?

  • Focus cataloging, description, and discovery work on projects that make OSU research more visible and discoverable.
  • Identify and remove barriers that prevent OSU researchers from publishing when, how, and where they want to maximize the impact of their work. 
  • Identify and remove barriers that prevent OSU researchers from sharing their research data to comply with funding mandates and support the creation of new knowledge.
  • Improve systems that help users access resources seamlessly by connecting them to open content or acquiring resources for them on demand.
  • Continue de-emphasizing acquisition of licensed packages and journal subscriptions.

Actions and Strategies

In the next two years, we will focus on these actions and strategies:

Action 1.1: Remove barriers preventing OSU researchers from sharing their work broadly, making it openly accessible where appropriate, and increasing their impact.

1.1a:    Increase the visibility of the OSU Press as a resource for faculty seeking book publishing advice. Develop online resources. 

1.1b:    Add library expertise working with publishers/ data brokers to discussions with the colleges and the Division of Research and Innovation to identify tools to analyze and measure research impact. Advocate for openness, transparency and flexibility in these systems to ensure that research impact is not defined narrowly.

1.1c:    Gather data from PIs (focus groups or surveys) to develop pilot projects testing OSULP-provided Article Processing Charge relief for OSU researchers.

1.1d:    Participate in projects like the Open Climate Campaign that cross disciplinary and national boundaries in order to provide access to the research needed to solve complicated global problems.

1.1e:    Form a cross-departmental group, including individuals working with datasets, scholarly publishing, and metadata/systems to 1) define the role of ScholarsArchive in promoting faculty excellence at OSU, and 2) assess ScholarsArchive’s capacity, at current resource levels, to fulfill that role.

Action 1.2: Devote resources and FTE to find points of connection across OSU for expanding data science support and building a community (or communities) of practice.

1.2a:    Create a part-time faculty position to conduct dataset reviews and review data management plans to provide capacity for librarians engaged in this exploration.

1.2b:    Assess the need for repository and preservation services offered by OSULP to support OSU’s data science and computational research priorities and determine if these needs are best met by ScholarsArchive@OSU. Identify alternatives to current practices that could increase capacity, such as connecting to OSU’s subscription to Globus.

1.2c:    Create a cross-departmental community of practice at OSULP to explore data science and computational research support needs and educate the OSU community about data science directions.

1.2d:    Identify data science instruction and support currently offered across OSU and identify gaps that could be effectively filled by library instruction.

Action 1.3: Increase and improve services that connect OSU students and faculty to the resources they need.

1.3a:    Conduct user research and testing to learn about discovery workflows to inform decisions including: what content to highlight/ make more discoverable; what content to prioritize in delivery services, etc.

1.3b:    Continue investing in services and improving workflows to streamline the discovery of open access content and the on-demand delivery of paywalled articles.

1.3c:    Examine OSULP’s organizational structure, including staffing and resource allocation, to ensure that we have the flexibility needed to navigate a scholarly communication landscape that is becoming increasingly more open.

1.3d:    Engage college faculty in vendor negotiations as needed as data or research methods experts.

 

Mission, Vision, Values | Goal 2 | Goal 3 | Download OSULP's Strategic Action Plan