The Authority File

Big academic publishers are trying to turn big data on researchers and the research life-cycle into big money. Karen Phillips talks through SAGE’s priorities regarding data (hint: it’s not about collecting reams and reams of it) and how user behavior is making discovery services feel a bit old fashioned. Johan touches on how researchers are interacting with materials on mobile devices, and Richard outlines how those changing user behaviors are impacting Penn’s interactions with the library’s users.

Been hearing buzz about ACRL’s new research agenda, “Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications: Creating a More Inclusive Future?” In this episode, Bill talks with the current chair of ACRL’s Research and Scholarly Environment Committee (ReSEC), Yasmeen Shorish, and incoming chair, Nathan Hall—two ReSEC members involved in creating and promoting the report—about how this research agenda is different from any other agenda ACRL has published. They address the report’s structure, how that structure was achieved, and how they anticipate the agenda will help inform other research projects. While the agenda sets a high bar for systemic change, it also provides ample opportunities for ongoing research projects and actionable takeaways to create momentum toward that change.

They also address ways that ACRL is supporting the agenda in an ongoing way through grants to support research aligned with the priority areas detailed in the report.

To download a free copy of the report, click here.

Privacy has long been a core value for librarians. In this episode, Johan Tilstra talks about how privacy can be maintained as library services, access, and discovery become increasingly interconnected via an ever-growing array of technology providers and platforms. In doing so, he describes an early learning experience for Lean Library when it discovered that it was collecting more browser data than it wanted or needed from its users. The company’s response to the issue is instructive for service providers and librarians alike. Richard Griscom follows up that discussion with perspective on the University of Pennsylvania Library’s strong stance on privacy and the values it looks for in service providers.

For students and researchers finding the right article, book, or video, isn’t enough. Gaining access is key. Librarians may come at the question of discover like, well, librarians, instead of thinking through the problem from a student or researcher’s perspective.

This week Bill continues his conversation Karen Phillips, Johan Tilstra, and Richard Griscom about taking on the user’s point of view, how discovery needs to morph into delivery, and how traditional services just aren’t matching up with contemporary user behavior.

Researchers’ habits have changed. They expect seamless access to every relevant article or book chapter whether they’re on campus or off. And the way they work is changing libraries. Libraries can offer more content than ever before, but when a researcher reads a relevant article, do they even know the library made that access possible?

Karen Phillips of SAGE Publishing, Johan Tilstra of Lean Library, and Richard Griscom of the University of Pennsylvania libraries, talk through content delivery, library technology, and the skillsets librarians need to deliver. They also discuss how library purchasing can be an expression of the library’s values and what that might look like in a largely digital sphere.

How can a library motivate faculty to adopt free or low-cost textbooks and course materials? What role can DRM-free titles and journals play in lowering students’ textbook costs?

Beth Bernhard of UNC Greensboro and Kelley Squazzo of Project MUSE explore how the libraries at UNCG have answered those questions through an innovative mini-grant program. Beth explains how the idea came about, how the library implemented it, and what the result has been. Kelley talks through the market trends that are playing out in microcosm at UNCG, and how they line up with Project MUSE’s content strategy and mission. The two of them also discuss a partnership that the UNCG libraries have developed with the bookstore and how it’s helping to lower costs for students, as well as some of the benefits that working with a non-profit aggregator like MUSE can bring to libraries, faculty, and students.

The economy is changing. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 14% of all jobs in OECD countries will will be lost to automation and an additional 32% will likely see “significant changes” due to technology. But technology isn’t the only factor affecting the future of work. In this episode, Iain Williamson from the OECD and Ryan Johnson of Georgetown University lay out the factors shaping the economy of tomorrow and the skills workers will need to adapt to it. They also dig into some of the ways higher education is already changing to meet the challenge through enhanced credentialing programs and a variety of other tactics. Join us for a discussion about the future of work and what it will take for the world’s economies to transition workers to tomorrow’s economies.

In this first of four episodes focusing on nonprofit publisher Annual Reviews and the ongoing evolution of the organization, Bill talks with Richard Gallagher, the President and Editor-in-Chief, about the organization’s history and how those first reviews came together. They also discuss what goes into a review, how the process has changed over the years, and they begin to look ahead to how opening up content at Annual Reviews—by making it freely available to read and reuse on the web—allows this vital synthesis of research in areas like Public Health to reach a wider audience and achieve greater societal impact.

In the world of scholarly publishing, keep buying up pieces of the publishing infrastructure to streamline workflows and contain costs. Mergers and acquisitions abound. At the same time, Big Deals squeeze library budgets a bit more every year with locked-in price increases. The tension between publishers and librarians has been mounting for years, but only recently have Wiley, Elsevier, and Springer Nature begun to strike transformative agreements to move from paying for subscriptions to paying for publication.

How do university presses fit into this environment? What have the changes meant for them? Emily Farrell and Nick Lindsay talk with Bill Mickey live on the ACRL show floor about the variety of tactics, products, and approaches that the MIT Press is developing and pursuing to transform scholarly publishing from within. Mission-driven publishing turns out to be a vibrant, scrappy enterprise full of surprises exciting new approaches.

Brian Gray, and his colleagues, spearheaded innovations in the Kelvin Smith Library’s approach to First Year Experience programming at Case Western Reserve University. Originally, librarians visited classrooms in a traditional outreach campaign, but with only ten librarians and between eighty and ninety 17-student “First” seminar sections, the library staff was quickly overwhelmed. That’s what led Brian, as Team Leader for Research Services, to experiment with techniques for reaching more first-year students outside of their “First” seminars. Moving outside the seminars highlighted the soft- and non-traditional skills librarians needed to engage students and led to the development of what Brian calls the Personal Librarian. What is a Personal Librarian? How did Brian up-skill his research and outreach team? That’s what he and Ian Singer, General Manager at Credo Reference, discuss with Authority File host Bill Mickey live on the show floor at the 2019 ACRL conference.

Brian and Ian also tackle trends in the FYE space, how the First Year Experience and Personal Librarian Conference came about (and where it’s going), and why Case and Credo have been able to form such a fruitful partnership around FYE.