Research Data Management Service Delivery Model for the ULS

This document presents a service delivery model for research data management at the University Library System (ULS). It presents three levels of participation and expertise around Research Data Management (RDM) services at the ULS. It outlines membership at each service level, level competencies and activities, and organizational support for service providers

Reinvigorating strategic planning: An inclusive, collaborative process.

This article describes a redesigned inclusive planning process put into place at the University Library System (ULS) of the University of Pittsburgh, a state-related university in Pennsylvania. While we write from the perspective of a large, research library with a staff of 200, we believe that our experience with the principles and practices of participatory planning can apply in many library sizes and contexts

Audit of ULS Support for Digital Scholarship: Report of Findings and Recommendations

In December of 2013, Rush Miller, the Director of the University Library System called for a project to conduct a “strategic audit” of ULS support for digital scholarship. This report, and the findings and recommendations it contains, represent the final deliverable of this project. The report details findings from interviews with Pitt faculty and key support staff, ULS colleagues, and peer libraries

Building a Digital Portfolio with WordPress

Digital portfolios are a great way to demonstrate your work and expertise, to proactively shape your online presence, and to reflect on aspects of your professional self that you’d like to further develop. In this workshop, using the freely-available WordPress platform, we’ll explore what makes a successful portfolio as well as some of the choices you’ll face when creating an online representation of yourself. You’ll leave with a personal site that you can continue to develop after the workshop

Re-Placing Research in the Literature Classroom

Putting research at the conceptual center of the literature classroom renews literature students’ place in the university. Students develop independent projects that make original contributions to scholarship, reinvigorate literary study, and make them competitive candidates for research fellowships. The leaders of this workshop will share their experience working on an experimental course that both redrew the relationship between the classroom and the library and offered students a new approach to research and literary study. They will discuss how the collaboration led to innovations in literary pedagogy and facilitated undergraduates’ use of contemporary digital research methods. Drawing on this experience, they will invite participants to imagine other models and offer approaches that are adaptable to various institutional and pedagogical circumstances

A Catalyst for Connections: A Collaborative Strategic Planning Process

A revamped inclusive strategic planning process in the University Library System (ULS) has created two kinds of connections. It has created new connections in the library system and new partnerships with the university. In a yearly cycle, the Planning and Budget Committee (PBC) thinks about and creates strategic direction for the library system by gathering input from all library staff in a variety of ways. In the words of one PBC member: “What I love most about PBC is that everyone in the ULS has a voice. And there's a process that moves from highlighting lots of individual thoughts to discovering collective concerns.” These collective concerns strive to create strategic vision for partnerships outside of the library. A main benefit of the reinvigorated planning process has been the creation of connections between staff in a very large, distributed library environment. In the words of another PBC member, these connections are “fostering relationships across the organization that otherwise would have been a real challenge. PBC alumni take away friendships with people from across the ULS, and those friendships help us all build bridges for collaboration moving forward.” Two chairs of the PBC will present their findings of connectivity in this planning process and how you can apply it in your own settings

Learning by Teaching about RDM: An Active Learning Model for Internal Library Education

This conference presentation reported on the design, delivery, and assessment of a model for internal library education around research data management (RDM). Conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS), the exercise and resultant instructional session employed an active learning approach, in which a group of librarians and archivists explored data issues and conventions in a discipline of their own selection and presented their findings to an audience of library colleagues. In this presentation, we put forth an adaptable active learning model for internal RDM education and offer guidance for its implementation by peer libraries that are similarly building internal capacity for the design and delivery of RDM services that are responsive to disciplinary needs