NASIG 2025

This workshop is for library workers who want to get started on collection assessment, but who may not have the resources to launch large projects or programs. The workshop will guide participants through designing and acting on micro-assessment projects for library collections. A micro-assessment is a small collection assessment project aligned with your resources and your organizational priorities. It is tightly scoped and time-bound, designed to inform a specific collections decision or strategy. A thoughtfully designed micro-assessment can offer both actionable insights into your collections and valuable learning opportunities for library staff interested in collections work.

Through instructor-provided case studies and other exercises, workshop participants will practice (1) identifying narrowly focused, action-oriented collection micro-assessment projects; (2) scoping those micro-projects to align with available staff time and expertise; and (3) using small, manageable amounts of data to speak directly to a decision or action. Along the way, participants will learn practical tips for ensuring micro-assessments can also become the building blocks for a larger collection assessment program. As a final activity, participants will draft a micro-assessment proposal for their own institutions.

This session will explore what steps stakeholders from libraries, publishers, and infrastructure providers might take together to operationalize open access business processes. Maureen Walsh, Scholarly Strategist, The Ohio State University Libraries, will reflect on her almost two decades of involvement in Ohio State’s open access programs and initiatives and share her perspective on the current pain points of supporting open access publishing agreements. New open access business models have outpaced the development of efficient and effective open access workflows in libraries. Beyond the financial commitment of open access agreements, libraries are absorbing significant staff costs to manage open access workflows. Attendees will bring different perspectives and ideas toward business process solutions for libraries supporting open access publishing agreements.

Learning Outcomes

1. Gain a wider perspective on the challenges of library support for open access
2. Learn about the interdependencies with all of the stakeholders in the open access landscape—libraries and their institutions, researchers, publishers, infrastructure providers, and funders
3. Possible solutions and best practices for managing open access agreements