Stronger library futures through collaboration

Practical information

Tuesday 6 June 2023 • 12:30 - 17:30 (CET) • OCLC Conference Center (Schipholweg 99, Leiden)

Questions? Contact communications-emea@oclc.org

Theme

The aim of libraries is to share knowledge and reach as many people as possible both inside and outside their institution. With the help of partnerships and collaboration this can be achieved. OCLC provides a wide range of services and products, membership, and research, and at the center of all of this is the OCLC network—libraries, library workers, data, and connections that make it all possible. This offers libraries around the world, the opportunity to meet their needs more sustainably and achieve shared goals efficiently and with impact.

This OCLC Research Mini Symposium allows us to collaborate and learn from each other on topics such as social interoperability, open access, and next generation metadata, in order to advance libraries and librarianship together. The Symposium provides the opportunity to hear directly from members of the OCLC Research team about the highlights, reports, and activities that have taken place over the last 12-18 months.

Who should attend

This event has been created especially for current and emerging library leaders across all library types—academic, research, public, special, and others. We welcome all library staff members who would like to join this strategic discussion in how stronger library futures through collaboration.

Agenda

12:00 - 12:30 

Light Lunch

12:30 - 12:40

Welcome and introduction to OCLC Research

Rachel Frick, Executive Director, Research Partnerships and Engagement, OCLC Research

12:40 - 13:25

Successfully engaging non-library stakeholders through greater “social interoperability”

Rebecca Bryant, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research

To develop robust services across the entire research life cycle, individuals and units from across the university enterprise--including the library--must work together. But because universities are characterized by decentralization, silos, and a diffusion of decision-making authority, cross campus collaboration can feel more like “herding cats.” In a previous OCLC-LIBER Open Science Discussion on Skills, we heard from many librarians who reported feeling inadequately equipped to connect with non-library stakeholders. 

Why is this so hard? Why does this take so long? And what can we do to be more successful? 

In this presentation, we will share findings from a recent OCLC Research report, Social Interoperability in Research Support, which examines the challenges inherent in facilitating cross-campus social interoperability. The report emphasizes the need to cultivate a deep understanding of potential stakeholders in order to identify areas where collaborations can take root and flourish.  This presentation will particularly focus on the strategies and tactics that librarians can apply locally. 

13:25 - 13:40

Open Access Discovery Project

Titia van der Werf, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research

Dutch academic libraries have been instrumental in the progress toward full open access to publications for all educational institutions and research domains in the Netherlands. Many are investing heavily in making scholarly, peer-reviewed literature freely accessible. Making those Open Access publications discoverable within users' workflows is equally important.

Libraries need better evidence to improve the discoverability of Open Access publications. OCLC Research is partnering with UKB and SHB on the Open Access Discovery Project to investigate how libraries are integrating scholarly, peer-reviewed Open Access publications into their users’ discovery workflows. 

Project co-lead Titia van der Werf will provide an update on the project.

13:40 - 13:50

Break

13:50 - 14:35

Transforming Metadata

Annette Dortmund, Senior Product Manager, OCLC Research and Rachel Frick, Executive Director, Research Partnerships and Engagement, OCLC Research

Metadata work is undoubtedly now in an era of transformation and transition, facilitating changes in resource-description workflows and, more broadly, metadata creation and knowledge work, including the opportunity for more inclusive descriptions. However, the infrastructure and the tools, applications or platforms required and used for collecting and sharing entity-based data are far from being mature yet. Developments are still ongoing and the target still moving. 

Annette Dortmund will give an overview of the general landscape, including OCLC’s research in this space. Rachel Frick will share how OCLC has collaboratively led efforts to develop a community-informed Agenda for Reparative and Inclusive Descriptive Practice. 

14:35 - 14:40 

Break

14:40 - 16:30

Interactive Discussion: Pro-action café

OCLC Research staff will facilitate interactive, small group discussions using the “pro-action café” format, where we will provide a structured format for exploring participant-sourced projects/challenges/ideas. The pro-action café provides an opportunity to actively tap into the wealth of library knowledge, experience, and leadership among the participants. We encourage participants to consider a topic for discussion, particularly on topics related to collaboration; we will solicit a small number of topics for group conversation. 

16:30 - 17:30

Borrel