UCLAS 1.0 Accomplishments and Thank You!

By Rosalie Lack, Chair, Coordinating Committee

As UCLAS 1.0 winds down and 2.0 is launching, I would like to share an overview of our many successes and thank all of the members for their contributions.

In July 2013, we launched a radically different UCLAS advisory structure. Getting started required hard work, resilience, and patience(!). But there was a big pay off! We accomplished a significant amount of work, including, but not limited to, the projects and initiatives mentioned below.

I would like to thank the UCLAS Strategic Action Groups (SAG) and Collection Licensing Subgroup (CLS) Chairs — David Minor, Patti Martin, Diane Bisom, and Kerry Scott — for leading and guiding their groups from the early days of resolving operational details to managing productive teams and groups.

I would also like to thank each and every member for bringing their best ideas and thoughts to the table when reviewing reports, making recommendations, and contributing to and/or leading project teams. Thank you also to the Council of University Librarians (CoUL) for their oversight and direction and to all of the supervisors who supported their staff working on projects.

I would personally like to thank my fellow Coordinating Committee members Robin Chandler, Ann Frenkel, Martha Hrushka, Ginny Steel, and Marlo Young for their dedication and contributions, as well as for supporting me in my role as Chair. Thanks also to past LAUC presidents Nick Robinson and Matt Conner for working with the Coordinating Committee to share ideas and improve communications.

Projects Completed. The Strategic Action Groups (SAG) and Content Licensing Subgroup (CLS) launched more than 40 projects/task forces during UCLAS 1.0’s two-year period. Of those, more than 30 were completed . Below are some highlights from the project portfolio.

• Shared ILS/RMS Investigation Task Force. Engaged an external consultant, Marshall Breeding, to help assess the interest in and technical feasibility of implementing a shared ILS/RMS system for the UC Libraries; report of these findings shared with CoUL for further action.  Learn more.
• Ask-a-Librarian. Recruited and staffed a Digital Reference Ask-a-Librarian Service Manager position and conducted an evaluation one year later.
• ORCID Project team. Investigated the feasibility of a systemwide ORCID license and conducted a comprehensive environmental scan of the current status of ORCID.
• Open Access Publishing Fund Pilot Assessment. Conducted a comprehensive assessment of the UC OA Publishing Fund.
• UC Library Digital Collection (UCLDC). Launched the shared digital asset management system (DAMS) and new Calisphere. Learn more.
• UC Shared Metadata Policy. A metadata policy was drafted and approved by CoUL.
• NGTS projects. Completed the remaining three NGTS projects. Learn more.
• Federal Documents Archive Project Team (FedArc). Made significant progress on the ongoing work of designing and implementing a virtual archive of federal government documents, which includes both print and digital copies of each document owned by the UCs. See UCLAS Blog Post
• Article Delivery Service Exploration Task Force. Conducted an environmental scan of content, services, and business models to explore the feasibility of contracting for an article delivery service to supplement existing content delivery options.
• Ebook Framework Lightning Team. Developed a workflow for evaluating systemwide ebook offers.
• Collaborative Collection Development via Digitization Task Group. Work continues to explore models and opportunities for collaborative digitization. Learn more.

Common Knowledge Groups (CKGs). The CKGs are self-organizing groups of experts in specific interest areas. Fourteen CKGs launched, representing a wide variety of functions and content areas, as shown below. Members explored new opportunities, shared work practices, and provided feedback to SAG/CLS groups.

• Archival Management Systems User Group CKG
• Born Digital Content CKG
• Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group CKG
• Data Curation CKG
• Digital Humanities CKG
• Digitization CKG
• Interlibrary Lending Services CKG
• Library IT CKG
• Reference CKG
• Scholarly Publishing Group CKG
• Preservation CKG
• Project Management CKG
• Statistics CKG
• UC Shared Visual Resource CKG

UCLAS Webinar series. In order to keep UC Library Staff informed about UCLAS activities, we launched  the UCLAS Webinar Series. We held four webinars, attended by more than 300 UC staff. Topics included: CoUL Systemwide Priorities and Plans, UC Libraries Digital Collection (UCLDC), HathiTrust, and the UC Open Access Policy.

Thank You!

Thank you to SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, CLS, and Coordinating Committee members past and current:

Ivy Anderson Myra Appel Sherri Barnes Marcia Barrett Diane Bisom Susan Boone Susan Borda Christy Caldwell Beth Callahan Lynne Cameron Robin Chandler Kuei Chiu Heather Christenson Judy Consales Trisha Cruse Sara Davidson Jim Dooley Beth Dupuis Sharon Farb Kristine Ferry

Ann Frenkel Catherine Friedman Vicki Grahame Todd Grappone Lynne Grigsby Diane Gurman Martha Hruska Carol Hughes Polina Ilieva Marti Jean Kallal Gary Johnson Julia Kochi Rosalie Lack Xiaoli Li Emily Lin Patricia Martin Janet Martorana Jean McKenzie Susan Mikkelsen Eric Milenkiewicz Robin Milford

David Minor Catherine Mitchell Erik Mitchell Michele Mizejewski Catherine Nelson Susan Parker Sue Perry Adrian Petrisor John Renaud Colby Riggs Angela Riggio Peter Rolla Lisa Rowlison de Ortiz Eunice Schroeder Alison Scott Kerry Scott Virginia Steel Anneliese Taylor Leslie Wolf Gail Yokote Marlo Young

 

Highlights from the UCLAS First Quarter 2015 Report

Here are a few highlights of the UC systemwide activities and projects that are underway.

Full detailed report is available here [PDF].

Council of University Librarians (CoUL)

UCLAS 2.0. CoUL reviewed the UCLAS Assessment Survey and after much discussion began to draft a modification of the current UCLAS structure. In order to get early input, UL’s Steering Committee (ULSC) met with Coordinating Committee, and then with Coordinating Committee and Strategic Action Groups/Collection Licensing Sub-group Chairs via conference calls. In order to reach out further, the ULs Steering Committee held a joint webinar with all the CC, SAGs1-3, CLS, and LAUC Executive Board Officers. The proposal has continued to be revised and there is a communication plan to share the draft proposal and timeline more widely beyond UCLAS members in order to engage UC Libraries to implement the transition to UCLAS 2.0.

Regional Library Facilities (RLF). CoUL met with RLF Directors Erik Mitchell (UCB, NRLF) and Colleen Carlton (UCLA, SRLF) to discuss the space constraints situation. After various discussions, the RLF Collection Management Group (RLF-CM) was charged to examine the potential cost benefits (workflow; cost models) if UC were to hypothetically de-duplicate collections across the RLFs.

Coordinating Committee

UCLAS 2.0. The Coordinating Committee is working closely with the UL’s Steering Committee (ULSC) on advising and supporting the transition to UCLAS 2.0.

UCLAS Webinar Series. In collaboration with the LAUC Executive Board, the UCLAS webinar series is back on track. A session with Sherri Berger, Product Manager for the UC Libraries Digital Collection (UCLDC) project was held on April 10. Upcoming sessions planned on the HathiTrust and the UC Open Access Policy. Schedule and recordings available here: http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/cc/projects-groups/uclas-webinar-series

Strategic Action Group 1: Scholarly Research & Communication (SAG1)

UC OA Policy. Received in-depth updates on the process of rolling out the OA harvester at UCLA and UC Irvine. We had discussions on implications for the other campuses, and started to plan on the schedule for the remainder of 2015.

ORCID. Charged and created an ORCID project team. This team has multi-campus representation, including CDL. It is looking at possible recommendations for systemwide ORCID implementations, based on work that’s being done on UC campuses, and nationally. The group plans to make its recommendations later in the spring.

Strategic Action Group 2: Access, Discovery & Infrastructure (SAG2)

UC Shared Metadata Policy.  A policy for sharing Metadata across UC is now finalized and was shared with the CoUL for final approval.

Melvyl. The Melvyl Configuration and Electronic Resources policy review Project Team was launched to review the configuration of Melvyl in particular with regards to Tier 2 and Tier 3 licensed resources.

Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management (SAG3)

Collaborative Collection Development via Digitization (CCDD) Task Force. The charge has been completed and the Collaborative Digitization Vendor Partnership Project Team was launched in March. They will be exploring a partnership with a commercial vendor to digitize a topical collection, demonstrating a collaborative UC-vendor relationship for digitization.

Shared ILS/RMS Task Force. SAG 3 thanked and concluded the SAG 3 Shared ILS/RMS Task Force, with special thanks and recognition to TF Chair Vicki Grahame (SAG 3/UCI) for her leadership and determination in this effort, and MacKenzie Smith (CoUL/UCD) for her guidance and serving as the TF’s liaison to CoUL. Learn more about next steps in the January 27 UCLAS blog post.

UC Federal Documents Archive Task Force. The UC Federal Documents Archive Implementation Oversight Team has begun their work. SAG 3 members confirmed policy/procedure and technical contacts for each campus, and confirmed acceptance of the disposition approach. Learn more about next steps in the May 18 UCLAS blog post.

Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Licensing Subgroup (CLS)

Cost Models. CLS has formed a cost shares review joint project with Joint Steering Committee (JSC) to review campus cost share models

Co-investment models. Joint Steering Committee (JSC) and CLS discussed the co-investment models draft document to be presented at the CoUL’s April 17 meeting

UC Federal Documents Archive May 2015 Update

UC Federal Documents Archive (UC FedDocArc) project team have just released an impressive update of activities since December 2014. Lead by Beth Dupuis (UCB), UCFedDocArc has made significant progress on a number of fronts, including:

• Filed a final version of the Selective Housing Agreement, signed by all members of Council of University Librarians, to the Government Publishing Office and the California State Library.
• Exploring print archive disclosure according to OCLC metadata standards
• Approved disposition of dis-­‐bound and scanned items
• Google sheet-fed digitization pilot continues
• Working on enabling full-text access in HathiTrust
• Discovered 99.996% accuracy of RLF shelf check for reliability of metadata records in the ILS of government documents shelved at RLFs
• Conducted RLF monograph record comparisons
• Berkeley’s complete set of ERIC microfiche documents to move to NRLF to become part of the UC Federal Documents Archive.
• Possible ingest of other federal document digital collections, starting with US Geological Survey (USGS)

The complete update is now available and archived on the UC Libraries Advisory Structure’s Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management website: http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/sag3/projects-and-groups

Many Hands

Beth Dupuis sends special thanks during this period to: Jesse Silva, Elizabeth Cowell, Dave Rez, Lynne Grigsby, Emily Stambaugh, Erik Mitchell, Colleen Carlton, Tin Tran, Andy Kohler, Charlotte Rubens, Jeff Loo, Paul Fogel, Renata Ewing, James Mabe, Glenn Gillespie, Tamara Takeshita, and the staffs at SRLF and NRLF.

Background

In December 2013 the Council of University Librarians (CoUL), with endorsement of the UC Libraries Advisory Structure Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management, charged a UC Federal Documents Archive Project Team to design and implement a virtual archive of federal government documents which includes both print and digital copies of each document owned by the UCs.

UCLAS Webinar Series: Recent recordings now available!

​The UC Libraries Advisory Structure’s UCLAS Webinar Series provides an opportunity to learn more about systemwide initiatives and projects. UCLAS Coordinating Committee works in collaboration with the LAUC Executive Board to identify topics and speakers. Learn more.

1. UC Libraries Digital Collection (UCLDC): April 10, 2015

Each of the UC Libraries is creating and maintaining an impressive array of significant digital collections. The UC Libraries Digital Collection project (UCLDC) is a systemwide initiative to build a technical platform that will provide the libraries with more options for managing, aggregating, and sharing those collections.

Sherri Berger from the CDL provided an overview of the platform and what you can expect to see when it launches this summer.

Learn more about UCLDC
Available here: Recording

2. HathiTrust presentation: May 12, 2015

The UC Libraries have digitized over 3.6 million volumes that constitute over 27% of the HathiTrust Digital Library. UC Libraries and CDL contribute at all levels in HathiTrust governance and operations. Given our collective investment in HathiTrust, how can we get the most out of this collaborative resource and its many services?

Heather Christenson from the CDL provided overview of HathiTrust services, how libraries and our scholars can use HathiTrust, and some of the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Learn more about HathiTrust and UC Mass Digitization Activities.
Available here: Recording and PPT slides

UC Libraries Advisory Structure: September–December 2014 Highlights

Much work has occurred within the advisory structure fall quarter and this blog entry serves to highlight noteworthy activities and their systemwide impact.  Additional detail is available in the UC Libraries Advisory Structure Reports that are produced bimonthly.

Council of University Librarians (CoUL)

UCLAS Assessment: Report Due in January. CoUL has hired an outside organization development consultant to conduct an assessment of the new advisory structure. The assessment is designed to help determine the effectiveness of UCLAS governance processes, communication, collaborative work tools and work groups, as well as the overall organizational structure. CoUL, UCLAS members, Common Knowledge Group members, and LAUC Executive Board members are providing input. The report of findings will be shared widely in January 2015.

Coordinating Committee

New UCLAS Blog Launched. The Coordinating Committee launched a blog to serve as a portal into advisory structure activities and projects. Content in the blog includes advisory structure communications and news items, Strategic Action Group portfolio and member profiles, project-specific updates and profiles, summaries of and links to reports, and more.  The blog’s comments feature is enabled for those interested in asking questions or adding additional commentary. The goal of the blog is to encourage enhanced transparency, communication, information sharing and engagement, while also preserving a historical record of UCLAS activity. Beginning Spring 2015, each Strategic Action Group’s LAUC representative will delve deeper into its SAG’s activities in monthly blog entries.

New UCLAS Webinar Series Launched. A new UCLAS Webinar Series was also launched fall quarter in order to highlight advisory structure activities and projects, and provide a forum for library employees systemwide to engage with the speakers. LAUC Executive Board will identify webinar topics with input from the membership. All webinars are archived online in their entirety (audio, slide deck and audience Q&A), including its first one on CoUL’s updated Systemwide Plan & Priorities FY 2014-2018 that was led by two ULs.

Strategic Action Group 1: Scholarly Research & Communication (SAG1)

ORCID: Identifiers for Researchers. SAG1 is exploring the feasibility of licensing and implementing ORCID systemwide across UC campus libraries. ORCID provides researchers with a persistent and unique digital identifier that distinguishes researchers, their publications and grants from one another. It also interoperates with other personal identifiers such as Scopus, ResearcherID, and LinkedIn.

Strategic Action Group 2: Access, Discovery & Infrastructure (SAG2)

Coming Soon: UC Metadata Sharing Policy. SAG2 formed a Project Team that is close to finalizing a UC Libraries Metadata Sharing Policy. The policy includes feedback from systemwide groups within and outside of the advisory structure, as well key individuals

New ILL Courier Service: Preliminary Review. SAG2 has also been working on an assessment of the new ILL Courier service by gathering input from campus libraries. The first round of reviews found that service has improved.

Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management (SAG3)

Shared ILS/Resource Management System for UC Libraries Investigation. SAG3 coordinated a Task Force and feasibility study by an outside consultant on a systemwide Integrated Library System. Two reports have been submitted to CoUL in October for review and advisement upon next steps, including how best to share the results systemwide.

Collection Librarian/Bibliographer Groups: Next Steps. SAG 3 also gathered and reviewed feedback on the “DRAFT: Concept Proposal for a New Structure for UC Collection Librarian Groups” and, rather than undertake a restructuring as proposed in the draft, will focus on updating guidelines, working with current groups on alignment, and developing a toolkit and common suite of resources to support communication and group functions based on systemwide input.

UC Federal Documents Archive: Moving Forward. Lastly, CoUL, with endorsement from SAG3, charged a UC Federal Documents Archive Team in December 2013 to design and implement a virtual archive of federal government documents which includes both print and digital copies of each document owned by the UCs. Learn more: UC Federal Documents Archive: Report and Recommendations.

Strategic Action Group3: Collection Licensing Subgroup (CLS)

UC Demand Driven Acquisitions (DDA) Next Steps. The UC DDA pilot ended its first year and the DDA Task Force has submitted an “early progress report” and a final  UC Demand Driven AcquisitionsTask Force Report to CLS for consideration with the recommendation that the pilot be extended a second year in 2015. To date, 3,200 titles are available and discoverable in Melvyl (and local UC campus catalogs where applicable). Titles are from university presses in the areas of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts.

Open Access Pilot: Evaluation Begins. The CLS also charged an Open Access Pilot Survey Group to draft questions for campuses to use as part of local campus survey efforts to gauge the use of the OA pilot funds. Survey questions will be directed toward recipients of the OA funds during the pilot.

UC Libraries Advisory Structure Report Now Available

A detailed report of the UC Libraries Advisory Structure (UCLAS) activities is now available for the period of September and October 2014.The bimonthly report includes an overview of activities from the Council of University Librarians, and the advisory structure’s Coordinating Committee, Strategic Action Groups and Collection Licensing Subgroup.

Highlights include the launching of a new UCLAS Webinar series which featured two University Librarians who presented an overview of the updated UC Libraries Systemwide Plan & Priorities FY 2014-2018, a general assessment of the advisory structure’s effectiveness, Strategic Action Group 2: Access, Discovery and Infrastructure’s near completion on a systemwide Metadata Sharing Policy, and Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management’s coordination of work on the “Shared ILS/RMS Feasibility Task Force Report October 3, 2014,” and “University of California Shared Infrastructure Feasibility Study By Marshall Breeding August 2014”, which has been submitted to CoUL.

Additional information on advisory structure activities is available in minutes regularly posted online: http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/advisory-structure

Questions about advisory structure activities can be left below, directed to campus and LAUC representatives on the Strategic Action Groups, or emailed directly to the Coordinating Committee at CCC-L@ucop.edu

UC Bibliographer/Collection Librarian Groups Next Steps

In August the UC Libraries Advisory Structure’s Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management (SAG 3) shared a “concept proposal” for a new vision of the UC bibliographer groups, requesting comments during September 2014.  SAG3 received 19 responses from individuals as well as groups including Bibliographer Groups, divisional LAUC groups, and CDL.

Many responses acknowledged that the description of the current campus environments and evolution of responsibilities of UC librarians is accurate.  There was support for improving elements of the current system, though equal concern that the proposed changes might dismantle relationships and processes that are perceived to be working well at least for some groups.  Questions were raised about roles and reporting lines, scope of activities and authority, organizational alignments, size and nature of the groups, leadership responsibilities and prospects, and communication effectiveness.  The points raised by respondents resonated with SAG 3, leading us to a major revision of the proposed next steps.

In place of the organizational plans suggested in the ‘concept proposal,’ over the next several months SAG 3 will:

1. Update the Guidelines for UC Bibliographer Groups, outlining expectations for roles, responsibilities, activities, and participation to ensure they remain vital and effective.
2. Work with current UC Bibliographer Groups to self-identify appropriate groupings such as mergers, separation, dissolutions or creations aligned with the academic needs and staffing across the UC Libraries.
3. Recommend support from CoUL to provide a common suite of resources and tools for use by all UC Bibliographer Group members as a building block to encouraging deeper collaboration between campuses (e.g. central hosting of wikis, web sites, rosters, listservs; collaboration tools for calls, collaborative documents and project sites).
4. Develop a toolkit to aid UC Bibliographer Groups’ function and communication with other UC collection-related groups.
5. Encourage continued clarification and communication about the roles, responsibilities, and activities of UC collection-related groups to determine where modifications and new approaches are beneficial.

Thank you for your dedication to the UC Libraries and the feedback that helped determine what we believe are positive next steps.  Further information will be provided by SAG 3 as progress is made.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Diane Bisom

Chair, SAG 3

Recruitment: Portfolio Manager for SAG3

The Coordinating Committee seeks applications from interested candidates for the position of Portfolio Manager on Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management (SAG3).

This position provides a unique opportunity to become involved with the advisory structure and to work with colleagues to develop strategies and implement projects and services for UC-wide shared collection building and management.

A detailed description of the position’s responsibilities has been shared systemwide via email. Interested candidates should obtain supervisor approval and submit a short statement of interest to the Coordinating Committee by November 14, 2014.

Please submit applications, or questions about the position, via email to ccc-l@listserv.ucop.edu

More information about the UC Libraries Advisory Structure’s SAG3: Collection Building & Management can be found online: http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/sag3

UC Shared Print RoadMap for 2014-2018

Announcement’s original date: September 19, 2014

The UC Libraries Shared Print RoadMap for 2014-2018 Recommended Activities to Pursue is now available online: http://www.cdlib.org/services/collections/sharedprint/

The Shared Print RoadMap was developed by the Shared Print Strategy Team in consultation with SAG3 to advance the goals and strategies described in the UC Shared Print 2013-2018 Strategic Plan. The RoadMap is a high level planning document to guide future shared print activities and scope of work. It includes a short list of recommended activities to pursue (and not pursue) to advance UC’s goals around print collaboration. It also includes a general timeline for exploration, planning and development of proposed activities.

Recommended activities for the UC Libraries shared print collections include:

• Coordinated print serials archiving to the RLFs and a de-duplication service.
• Retrospective shared print monographs program.
• Coordinated digitization and print retention of State Documents.
• Disclose UC Shared Print collections in union catalogs (OCLC WorldCat, CRL PAPR).
• Revise the “persistence policy”.
• Assess existing shared print projects and policies and make adjustments.

The UC Libraries Shared Print RoadMap is endorsed by the Council of University of Librarians and the UC Libraries Advisory Structure’s SAG3. Both extend their thanks to the Shared Print Strategy Team led by Emily Stambaugh, and the various groups who have reviewed and provided input on the RoadMap, for the thoughtful time and energy that went into identifying a plan for future shared print activities for the UC Libraries.

Questions pertaining to the Shared Print RoadMap 2014-2018 can be directed to campus members on the Shared Print Strategy Team. To follow shared print activities, please look for announcements on CDL Info or the “latest news” section of the Shared Print website.

UC Federal Documents Archive Report

Announcement’s original date: September 17, 2014

A new report, UC Federal Documents Archive: Report and Recommendations, is now available and archived on the UC Libraries Advisory Structure’s Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management website:  http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/sag3/projects-and-groups

In December 2013 the Council of University Librarians (CoUL), with endorsement of the UC Libraries Advisory Structure Strategic Action Group 3: Collection Building & Management, charged a UC Federal Documents Archive Project Team to design and implement a virtual archive of federal government documents which includes both print and digital copies of each document owned by the UCs.

The UC Federal Documents Archive: Report and Recommendations has been endorsed by CoUL, the UC Libraries Advisory Structure’s Coordinating Committee and SAG3. Next steps for this project outlined in the report include the following, with additional information contained in the report in greater detail:

• Creating an archive in four phases that allows the UC Libraries to leverage the wealth of federal document materials already housed at the RLFs and to work methodically and efficiently with the collections owned by each of the UC Libraries.
• The formation of a new group that will coordinate the implementation of the archive.
• Ensuring that the UC Federal Documents Archive offers a complimentary digital copy of all items designated as part of the archive.
• Pursuing an agreement with the U.S. Government Printing Office and California State Library on a modified process for withdrawal of unneeded duplicates of depository titles from UC Libraries that suits the characteristics of a collaborative, large-scale, collection review project.

CoUL and the UC Libraries Advisory Structure thank members of the UC Federal Documents Archive Project Team for their stellar work in this important area of UC collections. Questions pertaining to the report may be directed to the Project Lead, Elizabeth Dupuis (UCB), or members of the Project Team.