Campus Libraries Priorities Planning Meeting ~ Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Meeting Notes
Purpose of Meeting: To recommend a specific set of strategies that will help set a coordinated
course for all libraries at UW-Madison for the next 3-5 years.
Participants: Mo Bischoff, Karen Britland, David Britton, Mattie Burkert, Jeanette Casey, Michael
Cohen, Kristina Glodoski, Nancy Graff Schultz, Deb Helman, Florence Hsia, Dan Jacobsohn, Lee
Konrad, Carrie Kruse, Dave Luke, Kathryn Maloney, Sarah McDaniel, Susan Mitchell, David Null,
Chris Olsen, Lis Owens, Laura Rudquist, Laura Schmidli, Julie Schneider, Ben Strand, Ed Van
Gemert, Nola Walker, Heather Weltin, Patrick Wilkinson, Josh Roszak.
Facilitators: Darin Harris, Nancy Thayer-Hart, Ben Clark, Steve Davis, Gwen Drury, Bruce Harville.
Identify Priority Areas for Campus Libraries
Small groups discussed and synthesized the themes that emerged from the stakeholder input
data and from information about trends in higher education and research libraries, and identified
ways to translate them into Library practice. The group’s discussions are summarized below
Each small group contained representatives from the following categories of participants:
Strategic Planning Project Team
Stakeholder Input Data Analysis Team
UW-Madison Administration/UW System representatives
UW-Madison faculty
Students (graduate and undergraduate)
Library staff (GLS and non-GLS Libraries; academic staff and classified staff)
Small Group 1 Brainstorming
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Elevate discourse on librarians’ educational role – vision vs. operation role; more
visible about what librarians are.
Website and discovery interfaces
˗ Improve students’ ability to not only discover, but save/curate what they’ve
found, like Pinterest or Zotero
Merge Print collections AND electronic access to them – like Amazon’s display page
“grown up” study/collaborative spaces for research/writing – multidisciplinary . . .
What is special about librarians’ role?
Preservation of digital resources into the future?
More new content/expand collections/$
Review mishmash of libraries on campus
Explain that libraries actually cost money
Proactive role in data management on campus
Add value/active role in knowledge production
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Small Group 2 Brainstorming
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Lead campus in promoting and provoking the teaching and research enterprise.
Develop cohesive plan for acquiring, preserving and managing print and digital
resources.
Develop library as “invention engine.”
Reorganize and develop staff to more effectively support teaching and research.
Maximize visibility of the libraries’ value – e.g., website, collaboration with faculty
and students, outreach to campus and University community and beyond.
Enhance physical spaces to integrate with uses and anticipate user needs.
Enhance professional development of staff in areas such as leadership and
communication.
Standardize and optimize services across libraries.
Small Group 3 Brainstorming
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Become the hub for the research idea life-cycle
Data preservation and long term access to digital materials
Identify needed metrics that better describe library value to stakeholders
Consolidation and efficiencies by taking leadership role
Create a cohesive library brand and market it. Ensure librarians understand value of
library branding
Website redesign – invest in best user experience for digital access
Become the resource discovery center for campus non-bibliographic material expand
Create new operational structures – Reflects priorities
Increase campus reserve support for text books
Become the source for crowdsourcing on campus
Increase number of integrated interdisciplinary spaces that leverage resources
More library reps on campus organizations and committees – integral part of
meetings
Market service directly to faculty and students
Build external relationship strategy to highlight rare or special collections
Focus on barrier reduction between library and partners
Become national leader in open publishing
Create a space for researchers and faculty to sue based on their needs
Commit to supplying resource in three clicks or two days
Hire to support new operational structure
Campus wide effort to analyze collections
More coffee shops
Increase IT resources
One campus library system
Build on relationships with CIO office and RSP
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Small Group 4 Brainstorming
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Proactive strategic outreach to tap knowledge
Unified service model and face
Full access of service resources in UW system
Propose Faculty development seminars
Improved catalog – Target search specific media, accessible simplified search
interface. Free access to info to support researchers and students
Info literacy/use
Shift expert to concierge
Train staff comprehensively
Large Group Synthesis of Ideas into Prioritized Recommendations
1. Invest in best digital library user experience
Invest in the best user experience for digital access
Improve website to promote discoverability and provide ability to collect and
utilize what one discovers (embedded function)
2. Develop information resource plan
Develop cohesive plan for acquiring, preserving and managing print and digital
resources
Expand the ability to electronically view and browse “snapshots” of all physical
materials. Change tenor of discussion from physical vs. digital to both andData preservation and long term access to digital materials
3. Lead collaboratively across campus to integrate UW mission toward education and
research
Lead campus in promoting and provoking teaching and research enterprise
Articulate vision of libraries as integral to the mission of UW. Libraries seen as
educators and collaborators
4. Invention engine
Develop library as invention engine
5. Unified service model
Unified service model and face
6. HUB
Become the HUB for the research idea lifecycle
7. Full access for UW System
Full access of library services and resources in UW System collaboratively
8. Proactive strategic outreach
Tap into knowledge across campus- proactive strategic outreach
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