The First 6 Months of Open Science

Open Science is increasingly important to libraries and universities in the digital age, but standards and essential competencies are constantly evolving, and educational offerings on the topic are not always current. The library of a newly designated R2 university set up a department, comprised of a new data librarian and a new scholarly communications librarian, as a direct answer to faculty desires and growing research support needs. When surveyed in 2019, faculty expressed interest and lack of awareness in nearly all areas of the data lifecycle, especially open data and data sharing, and crosscampus infrastructure projects such as DMPTool and Dataverse were stalled. Similarly, increased open access and repository services related to self-archiving, APC funding, and open journal selection were in high demand but had no single point person able to take on all of these responsibilities in addition to their own. This poster will map out what was expected of these new librarian roles, what roadblocks were faced, how outreach has been conducted, what faculty are asking about the most, and new strategies to set up a sustainable Open Science campus. It has lessons on tailoring your Open Science program to your institutional context and the continuing areas of expertise required of librarians working in Open Science. By breaking down projects and initiatives these librarians worked on during their first months, it also provides an example of how much new librarians can accomplish!