Description

Multiple recent shifts in practice have impacted special collections public services programs, including off-site storage use, Aeon and other online request systems, and digitization-on-demand programs. Additionally, pandemic-era changes in serving researchers have altered user expectations. This discussion will focus holistically on how changes in the public services landscape impact resourcing and strategy.

The following questions which will guide our discussion:  

1. How have user expectations shifted, and how has your public services program responded?  
2. How are public services changes impacting your needs and plans? Please consider implications like staffing, services, spaces, infrastructure, security, and technology.
3. What statistics are you keeping on public services, collection use, etc.? What key performance indicators are you using to evaluate success? Are you (or do you wish you were) collecting any new data to account for changes?

Following a traditional roundtable format, representative(s) from each institution will have 3-5 minutes to offer brief comments about their relevant institutional practices. These are not formal presentations; the focus is on information sharing.

RLP leadership roundtable discussions generally follow Chatham House Rules, to support open, trusted conversations.

Facilitator

Chela Scott Weber, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research

Who should attend

• This opportunity is offered exclusively to RLP member institutions.
• Participants must be nominated by their RLP institutional partner representative, and most participants are in leadership/strategy roles, such as directors, associate deans, associate university librarians, heads of specialized units or libraries, or similar. 

Dates and times

Each leadership roundtable will be offered at four separate times, to accommodate affiliates across many time zones. We request that participants from each institution select one session to attend as a group.

Registration will be made available separately to nominated individuals.

• Session 1: Tuesday, Oct 15, 1-2:30 pm EDT / 6-7:30 pm BST
• Session 2: Wednesday, Oct 16, 10 – 11:30 am ETD / 3–4:30 pm BST
• Session 3: Thursday, Oct 17, 11 am – 12:30 pm EDT / 4–5:30 pm BST 
• Session 4: Thursday, Oct 17 (Friday, Oct 18 AEDT), 6-7:30 pm EDT / 9–10:30 am AEDT (Friday)

Outputs

A post-event summary will be published on Hanging Together, the OCLC Research blog.