Strategic Planning Gets Underway
We are excited to announce the launch of the OCUL strategic planning process! This initiative is critical in shaping the direction of OCUL and Scholars Portal, ensuring that we continue to meet the evolving needs of our members and academic communities.
To guide us through this process, we are pleased to partner with Sayid Consulting, a leading firm in facilitation. In addition, a Strategic Planning Committee has been formed that will work closely with Sayid Consulting to ensure the process incorporates voices across the consortium and that the 2025-2029 plan reflects the aspirations of OCUL members and beyond.
Over the next few months, we will invite OCUL members and partners to share insights and ideas as part of the consultation and engagement phase of planning. Milestone planning updates will also be posted on SPOTDocs and sent via email.
Checking in with an OCUL Visiting Researcher
When OCUL launched Collaborative Futures in 2019, the initiative envisioned a large, diverse, province-wide collection accessed through a shared library services platform and network. As an OCUL Visiting Researcher, Geoff Sinclair examined collective cataloging practices across the Collaborative Futures partnership, with an eye to how partner institutions’ local records compare to and interact with records in the shared network.
While exploring barriers to fuller institutional participation with cataloging collectives, I tried to imagine the sorts of issues that would complicate reporting of Collaborative Futures partner holdings to OCLC, as well as issues that make it difficult to enrich our records with WorldCat metadata.
I first analyzed the proportion of physical title records with OCLC numbers in the Network Zone (NZ) versus individual partners’ local Institution Zones (IZ), and found that participation in the NZ varied dramatically:
- The number of records that partners added to the NZ ranged from an institutional high of 99% to some partners inputting few or zero records into the shared network.
- Overall, 88% of the records partners migrated from older systems are loaded in the NZ, and 62% of the subsequently loaded records are in the NZ.
I also expected to find issues with legacy catalog records and cataloging practices across Collaborative Futures partners, given constrained resources for library teams to devote to records maintenance. While some libraries had once been joined in efforts, such as UTLAS and TUG, the history of technical services and library systems in Ontario has largely been one of separate library systems and localized approaches to the creation and modification of catalog records.
I developed and tested the feasibility of a process that used small batches of OCLC records, an Analytics report, some scripting, MARCedit and an Alma Import Profile to upgrade legacy records. The process uses several checks to detect mismatches. However, we diverge from standard practice and from each other in a few ways, which is a challenge to this sort of automation.
- Many institutions removed or modified the cataloging source field for downloaded records in a way that makes it difficult to determine the original provenance of a record. In 5.6% of the records, the language of cataloging is not recorded.
- At least one institution was updating records with WorldCat metadata prior to Collaborative Futures’ shared network implementation. Others had not updated records to reflect changes made to the MARC encoding standard over the past 40 years.
For my sabbatical, I planned to interview cataloging practitioners in Ontario university libraries. However, this coincided with the Collaborative Futures Metadata Management and Standards Subcommittee (CFMMS) development of a survey on how certain aspects of catalog management are done at partner institutions. I decided to delay interviews, and instead submitted suggestions for CFMMS survey questions.
In the future, I will be sharing a list of quality control issues and suggestions for clean-up projects with the Collaborative Futures community.
Geoff Sinclair was an OCUL Visiting Researcher from February to June 2024. He has returned to his role as Trent University’s Discovery & Systems Librarian and continues his research and practical work on collective cataloging.
A Q&A with OCUL's AI and Machine Learning Program Director
Catherine Steeves, OCUL's new AI and Machine Learning Program Director, has spent decades working with library technology. She believes AI and machine learning have exponential potential. But she also understands we need to learn how to use these technologies effectively and sustainably.
Steeves spoke with the OCUL team about how the consortium’s collaborative approach will help shape AI use at academic libraries.
AI is a hot topic in academia. What is your sense of how the university library workforce is reacting to these tools?
There are legitimate concerns about academic integrity, but I think, overall, people are very interested in the technology. Many of us are quite excited about it! Much of my librarianship has been in IT and over the last three decades, I've seen the significant impact new technologies have had on information access and dissemination, publication, research, and teaching and learning. I saw the birth of the World Wide Web and the vast changes brought on by social media, and I think AI is going to significantly transform things again.
OCUL has its new AI and machine learning program getting underway. How do you see the program shaping libraries’ approach to AI?
I believe there is huge potential, most immediately for Ontario university libraries but even beyond that, to our national and international partners. Something that became apparent to the [OCUL] AI and Machine Learning Task Force, in conversations with partners and the Ontario university library directors and workforce, was that we really need to focus on capacity building. And that's not unique to librarianship, and it's not unique to any particular region. We’re going to use the OCUL program as a learning ground to directly develop skills across the province and more broadly.
Where does collaboration fit in OCUL’s AI and machine learning program?
Collaboration is essential to this work because no one institution has the time, expertise and access to technology to anticipate – not simply respond to – AI developments. We’re building on OCUL’s nearly 60-year tradition of collaboration, so it’s a work style we’re very familiar with and value deeply. With each of the AI and machine learning projects, there is opportunity for librarians and other library staff to participate, provide input, and learn together. And by the end of the summer or early fall, we will establish the project teams and engagement strategy.
Collaboration is also critical because right now AI is developing so rapidly, and it’s being led primarily by commercial providers. Open science, open access, and open data initiatives have become foundations to academia. We need to continue working together to promote open-source development in AI for the good of the public, so the world's knowledge isn't hidden behind a different form of paywall.
In the OCUL AI and machine learning strategy, there is mention of ‘human-in-the-loop.’ What does that mean to you?
‘Human-in-the-loop’ can be used in different ways, but in the strategy report what we mean is we want to develop ethical and responsible AI services or language models to enhance the work of libraries and researchers. It’s important that people are involved in a model’s development in an iterative and interactive way including context building and design processes, and that we keep our professionals overseeing and validating the results of these tools.
How do you use AI in your day-to-day work right now?
For me, it’s mostly a productivity tool and for my own learning and writing at this point. I find it useful to help me organize my thoughts, especially when exploring a new subject area. But I’m careful to not use it frivolously, because of possible environmental impacts.
Can you expand on what you mean by ‘environmental impacts’?
In this work, I’m slowly learning about how AI can affect our environment and impact climate change. When we talk about sustainability in the context of OCUL’s AI and machine learning program, it’s not only about how we can sustain projects operationally, but also how to responsibly engage with and manage AI and other machine learning technologies and information networks and resources to minimize the impact on our ecosystems. As we build out technological frameworks for our projects, sustainability will be a factor in our decision-making. I feel privileged to work with OCUL, Scholars Portal and our partners across libraries and academia to help bring this program to fruition – and to realize the immense potential of AI technologies and ensure they benefit the public good.
* Interview edited for length and clarity.
Governance Updates
We are delighted to welcome three new OCUL Directors to the Council: Danielle Dennie (University Librarian, Laurentian University), Joseph Hafner (Dean of Libraries, York University) and Geoffrey Little (Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian, Western University).
The OCUL Strategic Planning Committee has also been confirmed, with the following membership:
- Kieren Bailey (OCAD University)
- Julie Hannaford (University of Toronto)
- Liz Hayden (University of Ottawa)
- Nicole Nolan (Brock University)
- Sarah Simpkin (Carleton University)
- Samantha Vettraino (Western University)
Leadership from OCUL and Scholars Portal staff teams are also committee members. The committee will guide the consortium's strategic planning process by meeting regularly to provide insights and feedback to the strategic planning consultants and ensure the forthcoming 2025-2029 plan aligns with OCUL’s organizational goals.
A new Accessibility Subcommittee has been affirmed by the Collaborative Futures Steering Committee. This subcommittee champions proactively identifying and removing barriers that disadvantage individuals with disabilities when using products in the Collaborative Futures initiative, including Primo VE and Alma. Collaborative Futures has also launched its Onboarding and Training Working Group. This short-term group will develop an orientation plan and toolkit to support those working within the Omni academic search tool at their home institutions. Visit the Working Group page on SPOTDocs for more information (member login required).
Watch the Collaborative Futures Mini Conference
On June 5, more than 260 attendees joined this year’s Collaborative Futures Mini Conference to learn about Omni and other collaborative library technologies.
Missed the live presentations? You can watch the Mini Conference on YouTube.
New Initiatives Fund Proposals due Sept. 15
Annually, OCUL provides financial support through its New Initiatives Fund for major initiatives/projects that align with the consortium's strategic priorities and will have an impact for all OCUL member libraries.
Proposals can be submitted by Scholars Portal, OCUL Communities, and OCUL Committees, Subcommittees and Working Groups.
Visit the New Initiatives Fund webpage for eligibility details and proposal requirements.
It's Nomination Season for the OCUL Award
Looking to celebrate an OCUL library colleague’s innovative achievement? Now is your chance to nominate them for the 2024 OCUL Outstanding Contribution Award!
The OCUL Award recognizes individuals and teams whose contributions embody values of networking, collaboration and community and help advance the OCUL Way. Nominations due October 7.
SPOTDocs – Your hub for Member-Only OCUL Information
Don’t forget to check out SPOTDocs for member-only information like digests from OCUL Council meetings, updates on strategic planning milestones, and documentation from committees, subcommittees and working groups. Any library workforce member at an OCUL member institution can access SPOTDocs. Don’t have an account? Request an account.
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- Next newsletter issue: March 2025