“When things work well, it’s about people and relationships. When things don’t work well, it’s often also about people and relationships.”

Academic Dean, United States

Description

To develop robust research support services throughout the entire research life cycle, individuals and units from across the university, including the library, must collaborate beyond internal silos. They must cultivate a specific type of soft skill: the ability to create and maintain working relationships between individuals and organizational units that promote collaboration, communication, and mutual understanding. We call this skill “social interoperability,” and it was the focus of a recent OCLC Research Report, Social Interoperability in Research Support: Cross-Campus Partnerships and the University Research Enterprise.

This concise two-hour virtual workshop will combine presentations and small group breakout discussions to:

• Explore the challenges of complex adaptive systems (and why cross-campus collaboration is so hard)
• Conceptualize the stakeholder landscape
• Identify strategies and tactics that can be applied to build stronger cross-campus relationships

Facilitator

Rebecca Bryant, PhD, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research

Who should attend?

• We invite participation from library professionals and others interested in research support at RLP partner institutions only.
• This workshop will be especially useful to early- and mid-career managers and practitioners.
• We strongly encourage multiple attendees from each institution. A cohort approach offers significant synergies for learning and implementing the social interoperability tactics after the workshop.

Dates

• Tuesday, 14 June 2022, 10 am – 12 pm EDT (UTC -4) (Europe/North American East Coast friendly time)
• Tuesday, 21 June 2022, 7 pm - 9 pm EDT (UTC -4) (North American West Coast/Asia Pacific friendly time) 

Expected Learning Outcomes

Participants should leave this workshop understanding:

• The complex adaptive system of research universities and how this makes cross-institutional collaboration challenging.
• The array of campus stakeholders, along with the opportunity to identify possible gaps/opportunities for future engagement.
• Strategies and tactics they can apply to increase their local social interoperability.

Relevant publications

Bryant, Rebecca, Annette Dortmund, and Brian Lavoie. 2020. Social Interoperability in Research Support: Cross-Campus Partnerships and the University Research Enterprise. Dublin, OH: OCLC Research. https://doi.org/10.25333/wyrd-n586.

Case studies from different national environments:

• Bryant, Rebecca, “‘The Big Ask’: Securing Recurring Campus Funding for a Research Data Service at the University of Illinois,” 17 Feb 2021, Hanging Together blog.
• Bryant, Rebecca, “Emerging Roles for Libraries in Bibliometric and Research Impact Analysis: Lessons Learned from the University of Waterloo,”3 Feb 2021, Hanging Together blog.
• van Zeeland, Hilde, and Jacquelijn Ringersma. 2017. “The Development of a Research Data Policy at Wageningen University & Research: Best Practices as a Framework.” LIBER Quarterly 27 (1): 153–70. https://doi.org/10.18352/lq.10215.