Libraries at the hub as the federally funded research wheel turns to open

Academic libraries are strong partners in supporting researcher compliance with both funder public access policies and institutional open access policies, and are increasingly involved in research data management activities. The 2008 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy, requiring researchers to deposit copies of all NIH-funded publications in PubMed Central, provided an opportunity for academic librarians to use their expertise in education and training, copyright, and author rights issues to assist with policy compliance. At the same time, many institutions began conversations about management of research data and adoption of institutional open access (OA) policies, requiring faculty to place copies of their scholarship in institutional repositories (IRs). Academic libraries play an important role in these policies, promoting the benefits of OA, managing IRs, and facilitating article deposit. Naturally, many of those already engaged with services and resources related to public access, OA policies, and research data welcomed the 2013 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memo, calling for increased public access to the results of federally-funded publications and research data. This presentation shares the results of a study conducted to better understand how academic libraries are leveraging existing services and resources when addressing the new public access policies. The researchers will survey libraries and research offices at the Carnegie very high and high research activity universities regarding OA policies, and services and collaborations that have been developed to assist faculty in meeting the new federal mandates. Using the results of the survey, and case studies from Rice University and Utah State University, we will offer a detailed snapshot of the role of academic libraries and research offices in addressing these funder policies as well as identify opportunities for more collaborative efforts