“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 2020 OCLC Research Report, Social Interoperability in Research Support: Cross-Campus Partnerships and the University Research Enterprise.

This concise 90-minute virtual workshop will feature a combination of presentations and small group breakout discussions to:

• Explore the challenges of building relationships in a complex multi-stakeholder environment (and why cross-campus collaboration is so hard)
• Identify strategies and tactics that participants could use to build stronger cross-campus relationships
• Learn from peers facing similar challenges

Facilitators

• Rebecca Bryant, PhD, Senior Program Officer, OCLC Research
• Brian Lavoie, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, 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.
• While the associated report focuses on research support services, this event is intended for professionals working in any role in the library or institution.
• Feel free to forward to others from outside the library!

Date and times

• Tuesday, 8 October 2024, 10 am–11:30 am (EDT) / 4 pm–5:30 pm (CEST) Registration link
• Tuesday, 8 October 2024, 6 pm–7:30 pm (EDT) / 3 pm–4:30 pm (PDT) / Wednesday, 9 October, 9 am–10:30 am (AEDT) Registration link

Expected learning outcomes

Participants should leave this workshop understanding:

• The complex adaptive system of research universities and how this makes cross-institutional collaboration challenging.
• 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.
• Bryant, Rebecca, “Social interoperability at Montana State University,” 6 September 2023, Hanging Together (blog). 
• Bryant, Rebecca, “‘The Big Ask’: Securing Recurring Campus Funding for a Research Data Service at the University of Illinois,” 17 February 2021, Hanging Together (blog).
• Bryant, Rebecca, “Emerging Roles for Libraries in Bibliometric and Research Impact Analysis: Lessons Learned from the University of Waterloo,” 3 February 2021, Hanging Together (blog).