Aligning the Library as Strategic...

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Aligning the Library as Strategic Asset

Wendy Pradt Lougee9th International Bielefeld Conference

February 2009

Twin Cities Deans CouncilFebruary 2008

Aligning the Library as Strategic Asset:Positioning a Research Library in a Digital Age

• A New Paradigm• Organizational positioning• A Case Study: 3 scenarios

– Assessment: understanding processes– Engagement: new organizational models– Catalyst: a virtual community model

Aligning the Library as Strategic Asset:From Copernicus to Friedman

A New Paradigm: Diffuse Libraries

With the incorporation of distributed technologies and more open models, the library has the potential to become more involved at all stages, and in all contexts, of knowledge creation, dissemination, and use. Rather than being defined by its collections or the services that support them, the library can become a diffuse agent within the scholarly community.

Lougee, Diffuse Libraries, 2002

•A conceptual or methodological model underlying the theories and practices of a science or discipline at a particular time; (hence) a generally accepted world view.

PARADIGM

Oxford English Dictionary

“when…the profession can no longer evade anomalies that subvert the existing tradition of… practice -– then begin the extraordinary investigations that lead the profession at last to a new set of commitments, a new basis for the practice of science.

Thomas Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 1962

Shifts

Collection-centrico Expertise

Shifts

Publication-focusedo Process

Shifts

Access = controlo Sense-making

Shifts

Access = controlo Sense-makingService = mediationo Enabling

ShiftsCollection-centrico Expertise

Access = controlo Sense-makingService = mediationo EnablingLocalo Global

• Comprehensive university, established 1851• 5 Campuses• Main campus(Twin Cities: Minneapolis/St. Paul)

– 16 colleges, 6 in health sciences– 51,000 students (32,000 undergraduates).

University Libraries14 libraries6.2 million volumes360 staff

University Strategic Positioning

• Global Position/Stature • Campus Engagement • Academic Priorities

• New institutional structures• Learning outcomes• Interdisciplinary, collaborative scholarship

• Infrastructure

Changing the Paradigm

“Copernicus’ innovation was not simply to move the earth. Rather, it was a whole new way of regarding the problems of physics and astronomy, one that necessarily changed the meaning of both earthand motion.”

Thomas Kuhn

VisionThe University Libraries are a strategic asset of the University, providing intellectual leadership and extraordinary information experiences toward the advancement of knowledge.

MissionThe University Libraries inspire learning and discovery through information resources, collaboration, and expertise.

University of Minnesota Libraries

• A New Paradigm• Organizational Positioning• A Case Study: 3 scenarios

Assessment: Understanding Scholar Behavior & Processes

Ingredients:Behavioral assessment, methodologies, analytic framework, iterative design

A Multi-Dimensional Framework for Academic Support (2005-2007)Faculty & Graduate Students• Behaviors• Methodologies• Perceptions• Challenges

Two phases: humanities & social sciences; sciences (physical, natural, life, health sciences communities)

http://www.lib.umn.edu/about/mellon/http://www.lib.umn.edu/about/scieval

The Cycle of Assessment Assess…Develop…Engage

AnalyticFramework

Engage/Evaluate

Assessment

ServiceDevelopment

Strategy• Humanities/Social Sciences: Interviews, Survey

• Sciences: Interviews

Questions:• Research practices• Interdisciplinary & collaborative research• Resource management (organization, storage)• Library research

• Strong interest in digital resources• Diversity of locations, mobile• Diversity of resources/media used, interdisciplinary• Methods learned in “traditional” contexts are not easily

transferred to digital context • Significant problems in managing “gathered” resources• Increasing interest in collaboration• Researchers have unique collections, data to be shared

Summary of Humanities/Social Science Results

• Interdisciplinarity/collaborative• Keeping up within a discipline,

understanding another discipline, key figures, vocabulary

• Organizing/managing products of research• Idiosyncratic data management• People as information sources

Sciences: Unique Issues

Analytical Framework

• Categorize behaviors & identify “primitives”(Capture the processes, workflow)

• Analyze behavioral data, trends, relationships

• Identify potential tools/new services• Prototype tools/services; solicit scholar

feedback

Discover

Share Gather

Create

Primitives

Discover

Share Gather

Create

Serendipitous Finding

Collaborative Finding

Structured Finding

Keeping Current

Primitives => Behaviors

Discover

Share Gather

Create

Structured Finding

Keeping Current

Collecting

Organizing

Acquiring

Collecting

Organizing

Discover

Share Gather

Create

Structured Finding

Keeping Current

Acquiring

Annotating

AnalyzingReviewing

& Rating

Writing

Describing

Collecting

Organizing

Discover

Share Gather

Create

Structured Finding

Keeping Current

Acquiring

Annotating

AnalyzingReviewing

& Rating

Writing

Describing

Publishing

Teaching

Data Sharing

Rights

Primitives => Behaviors => DaTa

Collecting

Organizing

Discover

Share Gather

Create

Structured Finding

Keeping Current

Acquiring

Annotating

AnalyzingReviewing

& Rating

Writing

Describing

Publishing

Teaching

Data Sharing

Rights

Collecting

Organizing

Discover

Share Gather

Create

Structured Finding

Keeping Current

Acquiring

Annotating

AnalyzingReviewing

& Rating

Writing

Describing

Publishing

Teaching

Data Sharing

Rights

Primitives => Behaviors => DaTa

Collecting

Organizing

Discover

Share Gather

Create

Structured Finding

Keeping Current

Acquiring

Annotating

AnalyzingReviewing

& Rating

Writing

Describing

Publishing

Teaching

Data Sharing

Rights

Primitives => Behaviors =>development

Annotation Tools

Social Networking

Blogs, Wikis, Lists, Chat

Text, Stats, Geospatial, Design Analysis Tools

Collecting

Organizing

Discover

Share Gather

Create

Structured Finding

Keeping Current

Acquiring

Annotating

AnalyzingReviewing

& Rating

Writing

Describing

Publishing

Teaching

Data Sharing

Rights

Primitives => Behaviors => Development

Annotation Tools

Social Networking

Blogs, Wikis, Lists, Chat

Text, Stats, Geospatial, Design Analysis Tools

myU Portal

myLibrary within myU Portal

•Relevant component tools/content/services•Services on basis of user demographics &

“push” into user workflow•Users customize•Incorporate library services into other

services: iGoogle, etc.•Evolving community-based services

tc.grad.gs.anth.phd

campus

program

degree

… a beginning point for personalized services

Affinity Strings…

See: Affinity Strings: Enterprise Data for Resource Recommendations http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/501

Affinities (9500)tc.grad.law.non-degree.na.dctc.grad.law.law.j_d.dctc.grad.law.law.j_d.nctc.grad.law.law.l_l_m.nctc.grad.law.non-degree.nctc.grad.law.non-degree.na.nctc.grad.law.law.j_dtc.grad.law.law.l_l_mtc.grad.law.law.l_l_m.dctc.grad.law.non-degree.na.dctc.grad.law.law.j_d.dctc.grad.law.law.j_d.nctc.grad.law.law.l_l_m.nctc.grad.law.non-degree.nctc.grad.law.non-degree.na.nctc.grad.law.law.j_dtc.grad.law.law.l_l_mtc.grad.law.law.l_l_m.dctc.grad.law.non-degree.na.dctc.grad.law.law.j_d.dctc.grad.law.law.j_d.nctc.grad.law.law.l_l_m.nctc.grad.law.non-degree.nctc.grad.law.non-degree.na.nctc.grad.law.law.j_dtc.grad.law.law.l_l_mtc.grad.law.law.l_l_m.dctc.grad.law.non-degree.na.dctc.grad.law.law.j_d.dctc.grad.law.law.j_d.nc

MyLibrary --Status/RoleTemplates (∞):

•Graduate Students•Undergraduates•Incoming Freshman•Faculty•Research Staff•….

Discipline/Content Area (n=250, ∞):

•Accounting•Advertising•African American Studies•African Studies•Agriculture•Agronomy•Alternative Medicine•American Indian Studies•American Studies•….

Library’s content management system

Affinity strings…mapped to content

Affinity StringUser Group Behavior

myLibraryEnvironments

• Components• Discipline-focused• Content & Tools• Customizable

myLibraryEnvironments

Undergrad features:

•Subject guides•Course resources• AssignmentPlanner/Calculator

Engagement: Intentional, informed community exchange

Ingredients:Collaborative organizational model, tools for librarian support, leverage community advocates, campus infrastructure

Scholarly Communication Collaborative

• Libraries-wide group: “collaborative”• Educate staff, tools• Policy focus:

– Authors’ rights – Copyright– Publishing policies– Legislation

• Campus profile• Services

– Education/Consulting– Digital Conservancy

Staff Development & Support

• Experts• Environmental scan• Resources & tools• Templates • Action plan

– Engage advocates

Campus Education/Consultation

• News, featured topics• Copyright/Publishing

Center• Online tools &

templates• Repository services

"It's important forauthors to be able to

self-archive our works... As a land-grant university, it is part of our mission to provide broad access to higher education, and its fruits, to all of society. We can also work with our professional associations to ensure that scholars retain the rights they need.“

Prof. Gary Balas,Chair Aerospace Engineering

UNIVERSITY DIGITAL CONSERVANCY:University Archives

Faculty works

Model Program Resourceshttp://www.arl.org/sc/institute/fair/scprog/index.shtml

Catalyst: Shaping a sustainable virtual community

Ingredients:Expert collaboration, multi-institutional, social tools, sustainability model

“The time is right for taking a more cross-cutting, multidisciplinary approach to understanding the basic organizational abstractions, communication models, trust mechanisms, and technology infrastructure required to form and operate effective VO’s[virtual organizations] across a broad range of target domains.”

• Mellon Foundation-funded Scholarly Communication Institute (practical ethics)

• A place for bioethics community: discovering, gathering, creating, sharing

• Develop sustainable, multi-institutional, interdisciplinary community

EthicShareCommunity Based Research

Bioethics Community

Engaged in “…consideration of issues in human values as they relate to health services, the education of healthcare professionals and research.”

-- American Society for Bioethics and Humanities

• High quality (selective) content• Comprehensive access to all material types (full text)• Access to materials in all related academic fields• Space for (global) community discussion, exchange,

commentary• Ability to have individual work space

Community Requirements(Defined through focus groups, surveys)

CONTENT

COMMUNITY

ACCESS

GOVERNANCE

Engagement & CollaborationSocial tools to add valueEditorial Participation

Collection developmentContent aggregationHarvestingIngest mechanisms

Discovery ToolsAutomated ontology

Community vettingFaceted searching

Virtual Community Components

Policy & SustainabilityEditorial policies

Community participationUser privacy

Intellectual Property

EthicShare Community

• Open framework (drupal)• Repository & content harvesting functions• Multi-institution resolution services• Faceted search• Recommendations, ratings, tagging• Events, blogs• Sustainability within community?

EthicShareA Collaborative Research Community

Library Role in Virtual Communities?• Content selection, conversion; adding value• Preservation, curation• Tool development• Integration of content, content & tools • Catalyst for collaboration?

• Who hosts the virtual community?• Who contributes to the virtual community?• Who sustains the virtual community?

Exclusive roles? Collaborative roles?

Emergent Roles

• Collaborators: able to operate in, mobilize, inspire, and manage complexity

• Synthesizers: create unexpected mash-ups with breakthrough results

• Explainers: bring disparate things together & turn complexity to simplicity

• Localizers: adapt global infrastructure to local needs

• Leveragers: bring together the right people, resources, ideas to maximize and move beyond the current state

CHANGING THE PARADIGM:Breaking tradition

...the extraordinary episodes in which that shift of professional commitments occurs are …revolutions. They are the tradition-shatteringcomplements to the tradition-bound activity of normal science.”

Thomas Kuhn

wlougee@umn.edu

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