October 3, 2008
The Scholarly Commons: Bringing People Together in Support of Scholarship
I. Introduction and a Note on Terminology
In this report, the term scholar services is used to refer to a range of services aimed at supporting the teaching, research, and service needs of students, faculty and other scholars at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Scholar Services are understood to encompass traditional Library services for faculty, including research consultation, instructional design, and identification of information resources, as well as emergent service needs, including scholarly communications education, data services, digitization and metadata services, scholarly publishing services, and personal research data management.
Historically, scholar services have been provided at the University Library through the work of individual subject specialists <http://www.library.uiuc.edu/administration/collections/subjectdirectory.html>, as part of Library-wide programs such as Information Literacy and Instruction, or as a component of defined projects such as the digitization of texts completed as part of our work with the Open Content Alliance (and related projects) <http://illinoisharvest.grainger.uiuc.edu/>. In this report, we suggest an approach that will allow the Library to coordinate and foster the ongoing development of its own scholar service programs, as well as to provide for collaboration with other campus units in pursuit of shared goals related to support for teaching, research, and engagement at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The Scholarly Commons is a term used to refer to a specific set of scholar services offered through the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library in collaboration with campus partners, including CITES, the Graduate College, the Illinois Informatics Institute, ATLAS, and others. The scholar service programs delivered as part of the Scholarly Commons are referred to in this report as core service programs.
The Scholarly Commons will provide space - physical and virtual - that brings people together in support of scholarship, and where scholars can access and use the resources, tools, and expertise they need to carry out their work.
II. Vision
The Scholarly Commons will foster the development of a collaborative culture of scholarly inquiry at Illinois by providing an environment in which students and scholars can access, and contribute to, the resources made available by academic, research, and support units across campus.
The Scholarly Commons will provide library, information, and technology services that support traditional and emergent forms of scholarly inquiry, and thereby contribute to the Illinois tradition of innovation and excellence in teaching, research, and public engagement.
III. Mission
The Scholarly Commons will support the traditional and emergent needs of students, faculty, and other scholars at Illinois by providing information resources, expert assistance, and technology resources that support teaching, research, and public engagement.
IV. Values
The Scholarly Commons will be guided by the values of:
Through its development of the Scholarly Commons, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library will provide leadership for the resolution of campus-wide faculty and student service needs, promote the development of scholarly community among faculty and students, and take advantage of the full range of resources available across the Urbana campus (and beyond).
V. Goals
The goals of the Scholarly Commons will be to:
VI. Background
Over the past decade, our vision of Library services to undergraduate students has been transformed by the rise of the "Information Commons" - a library service model that provides an integrated approach to research support, information literacy instruction, and information technology training.
At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the lessons of the "Information Commons" became part of the "Learning Commons "<http://www.library.uiuc.edu/ugl/lc/>, a new approach to undergraduate library service launched at the Undergraduate Library in 2006 that focuses on services designed jointly by the Library and campus partners in support of undergraduate teaching and learning. Over the past two years, the vision of the Learning Commons has been realized in the successful development of service programs in collaboration with partners including CITES, ATLAS, The Writer's Workshop, the Career Center, the Division of Housing, McKinley Health Center, the Division of General Studies, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, and others.
At the same time that Library services to undergraduate students were being re-defined by our commitment to the Learning Commons and its connections to broader trends and initiatives in undergraduate education, we identified the need to pursue similar initiatives in order to better support the teaching, learning, and research needs of our graduate students and faculty. The establishment of a "Scholarly Commons" was identified in the Library Strategic Plan (2006) <http://www.library.uiuc.edu/administration/services/planning/strategic_planning/strategic_plan_2006.pdf> as a component of the overarching goal of "[strengthening] our services to meet the changing library needs of today's and tomorrow's faculty and students."
Following the identification of the Scholarly Commons as a strategic initiative of the University Library, an "Integrative Research Services Task Force" was charged in 2006-07 to undertake a review of current Library service programs, as well as complementary programs available on campus, "to think broadly and creatively about the future of scholarly activities on this campus, and to articulate how the Library can serve as a host and service provider for scholarly endeavors."
The report of this task force informed the recommendation found in the "Final Report" (2008) <http://www.library.uiuc.edu/nsm/background/nsmfinal/> of the Library's Budget Group Plus that the Library should actively pursue the establishment of a Scholarly Commons, and that an appropriate service point should be established in the Main Library. This recommendation was accepted by the Library Executive Committee and the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team was established to identify a core set of "scholar service" programs and to recommend how such programs could be sustained in the future.
The Scholarly Commons Leadership Team undertook its work within an environment defined by:
These, and other, developments in the campus environment, the library environment, and broader discussions of the future of scholarship in higher education contributed to our review of "scholar services" programs in academic libraries, and our recommendations for how to proceed in the establishment of a Scholarly Commons service program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
VII. Charge
The Scholarly Commons Leadership Team was charged to "articulate the service program for the Scholarly Commons" as part of the University Library's "New Service Models" initiative <http://www.library.uiuc.edu/nsm/>.
To meet this charge, the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team was to:
1. review existing models for "scholarly service programs" in academic and research libraries;
2. collaborate with Library subject specialists and other professionals to identify a range of services that might be delivered through the Scholarly Commons;
3. collaborate with Library IT to identify information technology needs for the Scholarly Commons and to establish a model for ongoing acquisition, maintenance, support, and renewal of hardware and software to be provided as part of Scholarly Commons service programs;
4. identify an initial set of services to be coordinated and/or delivered through the Scholarly Commons;
5. articulate the connections between Scholarly Commons service programs and existing Library service programs aimed at graduate students and faculty;
6. identify Scholarly Commons partner programs across campus that may coordinate and/or deliver services through the Scholarly Commons;
7. articulate the contributions that Scholarly Commons service programs may make to relevant strategic initiatives;
8. recommend a model for ongoing collaboration among Library and campus stakeholders to support the ongoing design, development, and assessment of Scholarly Commons service programs; and
9. recommend a model for the ongoing study of the service needs and preferences of graduate students and faculty and the alignment of those needs and preferences with Library service programs.
Owing to the broad nature of this charge and the desire to take advantage of existing service strengths and opportunities, the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team focused on those facets of its charge noted above in italics. We recommend that the full scope of the charge above remain a part of ongoing discussion and management of the Scholarly Commons initiative.
VIII. Scholar Service Programs in Academic Libraries
As an initial phase of its work, the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team explored current models for "scholar services" in academic libraries. For the purpose of this review, "scholar services" were defined as library services aimed at supporting the teaching, learning, and research needs of advanced graduate students, faculty, and other scholars on campus. As "undergraduate research" becomes an increasingly significant component of the academic experience at Illinois, we understand that undergraduate researchers may become an important constituency for scholar services.
Our review demonstrated that Illinois is not alone in addressing the question of the future of library support for students and scholars. In addition to ongoing discussions of the future of the "subject specialist" positions that have traditionally formed the foundation of scholar services, our review of existing programs identified institutions embracing initiatives such as "data services" programs (Yale University), "scholar services" programs (University of Kansas), "digital scholarly publishing" programs (Pennsylvania State University), as well as the establishment of "Research Commons" (Indiana University), "Scholars' Lab" (University of Virginia), and "Faculty Commons" (Ohio University) service models that share several characteristics that we have associated with the Scholarly Commons idea.
Moreover, the release of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) "Agenda for Developing E-Science in Libraries" (2007) <http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/ARL_EScience_final.pdf>, and successful conclusion of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) conference program on "Librarians and e-science" (2008) <http://www-s.cic.net/programs/centerforlibraryinitiatives/Archive/ConferencePresentation/Conference2008/home.shtml>, demonstrate that fundamental shifts in the nature of scholarly inquiry must be met with bold, new approaches to scholar services in libraries - approaches that must be founded on collaboration at the campus level, and must embrace what leaders in our field, including James Neal (Columbia University) and Susan Gibbons (University of Rochester), have referred to as the "R&D" component of the library mission. Through its work with The Mellon Foundation <http://www.lib.umn.edu/about/mellon/docs.phtml>, the University of Minnesota has demonstrated how strategic initiatives in scholar services can be identified and promoted as part of a broader research agenda pursued within the academic library.
Among the scholar service models reviewed were those found at institutions such as Ohio University, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Kansas, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Virginia. While we found no predominant model for "scholar services" playing a role similar to that played by the "Information Commons" model for the discussions of services to undergraduate students, we were able to identify emergent principles and practices that should guide the development of the Scholarly Commons at Illinois.
Scholar Service programs in academic libraries should evolve in response to broader changes to teaching, learning, and research in higher education, and in response to changes in the scholarly publishing and scholarly communications environment. As a result, scholar service programs may incorporate one or more of the following discrete initiatives (among others):
As important, the design of scholar services programs must be fluid, and its principal players agile, in order to allow for new initiatives to grow as these broader changes continue to unfold.
Scholar Service programs should be designed and delivered by libraries in collaboration with partner programs, including graduate education programs, information technology units, university presses, and instructional development programs. Scholar service programs should be designed to coordinate or contribute to campus-wide approaches to scholar support, e.g., in areas such as:
Among the lessons learned from our review of existing programs were the following:
IX. Scholar Service Programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Following its review of scholar service models at other academic libraries, the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team turned to a review of programs currently found on the Illinois campus. Some of these programs are currently housed in the Library, some are housed elsewhere on campus (and may or may not already include the Library as a program partner), and some exist as isolated service activities that the team believed might benefit from greater coordination at the campus level.
Current and potential campus partners for the University Library in developing Scholarly Commons programs include:
There may also be opportunities for collaboration between the Library and other, College-level programs similar to that proposed for ATLAS.
The list of potential partners presented above is an initial one, and additional opportunities should be sought as the Scholarly Commons program develops. For examples of specific partnerships proposed (or already in place), see Section X of this report ("Scholar Services and the Scholarly Commons").
Scholar Service Programs in the University Library
These are independent service programs that should be considered part of the scholar service programs to be coordinated through, or that should contribute to, the Scholarly Commons, and for which there are currently human or capital resources available through the University Library:
Scholar Service Programs Among Campus Partners
These are independent service programs currently supported by campus partners (sometimes including the Library) that might benefit from coordination through the Scholarly Commons:
Scholar Service Needs
These are service program needs identified by team members based on personal experience. Further study will be required to more clearly identify the gaps in current scholar support services at Illinois.
In each of the services noted above, there was a focus on the need for enhanced support for discovery and coordination of services. Team members feel confident that a wide array of scholar services are already available on campus, but believe that the experience is fragmented with many faculty unaware of the full range of services available on campus, and many service providers operating without clear lines of communication with potential partners.
As a complement to the collaborative approach to fostering teaching and research being led by the Illinois Informatics Institute, the Scholarly Commons can play a crucial role on campus simply through a focus on facilitating collaboration and coordination across complementary campus programs, and through dissemination of information about available services to students and scholars across campus.
In addition, the Scholarly Commons will provide a site for the development of collaborative scholar service programs.
X. Scholar Services and the Scholarly Commons
Following its review of existing scholar service programs and needs at Illinois, the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team recommends the following service program areas be adopted as the initial, core service programs to be coordinated through the Scholarly Commons:
Partner Programs: University Library, CITES, Graduate College, OVCR, UI Press, Division of Biomedical Science
Partner Programs: University Library, CITES, ATLAS, Extension, GSLIS
Partner Programs: University Library, CITES, I 3, FAA, GSLIS
The Scholarly Commons Leadership Team identified this initial set of core service programs based both on campus need and on current investments being made by the Library and campus partners.
By "core service program," the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team refers to programs to be coordinated through the Scholarly Commons for which there are shared contributions among campus partners for program support, and for which a commitment to the following basic service activities is made:
In addition, the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team has identified the following service program areas for which the short-term focus may be on the coordination of decentralized campus resources, but which (with additional investment in human and capital resources) may grow into core service programs for the future:
Partner Programs: University Library, CITES, I 3, ATLAS, EDMEDIA
Partner Programs: University Library, CITES, I 3, Center for Teaching Excellence, Teaching Academies
Partner Programs: University Library, CITES, ATLAS, I 3
Partner Programs: University Library, I 3, Center for Teaching Excellence, IPRH, Office of the Provost, Graduate College
The Scholarly Commons Leadership Team recognizes that the services to be provided through the Scholarly Commons must be reviewed on a regular basis as part of the discussion of a "service lifecycle." By "service lifecycle," the team refers to the identification of emergent scholar service needs that may be incorporated into the core service program of the Scholarly Commons, as well as the identification of those that may need to be supported in others ways, or for which support should cease.
XI. Organization of the Scholarly Commons
The Virtual Environment
As a hub for scholar support on campus, the Scholarly Commons will require a robust virtual environment - one that serves to disseminate information about available resources, to foster connections and community among students and scholars with like research interests, and to facilitate discovery of relevant information resources and tools.
The Physical Environment
The final report of the Integrative Research Services Task Force noted that the Scholarly Commons would represent both a model for scholar services, as well as a space in which those services could be provided. While the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team has dedicated the lion's share of its attention to the service programs and campus initiatives that could be supported through the service model, we recognize, too, the need for appropriate physical space. For example:
An identified physical space is required to facilitate the collaboration and consultation services at the heart of the Scholarly Commons. Graduate students, faculty, and other scholars require an appropriate space in which they can consult with colleagues, librarians, and other campus specialists, to facilitate their use of the services and resources identified above. The initial proposal to the team was to explore the suitability of 200 Library as the location for this service point, but team members determined the space to be unsuitable based on the nature of the current service program in the space, as well as limitations on our ability to make significant renovation to this historic, Library space. Physical space designed to meet this need must allow for private consultation, as well as meetings of project teams, as needed.
An identified physical space is required to support the instructional mission of the Scholarly Commons, including the provision of workshops related to Scholarly Commons service programs (e.g., data services), as well as the opportunity for faculty members making use of digital content in their teaching to have an appropriate instructional space available for their use. 314 Library has been suggested as the Library instructional space to be associated with Scholarly Commons service programs.
Finally, an identified physical space is required to provide access to the information technologies to be used by patrons of the Scholarly Commons services. To meet the full range of needs suggested by the service programs outlined above, the Library and its partners would need to support a public computing profile significantly more advanced than that which is currently found in our public service spaces. This space should be co-located with the space described above as required to support consultation and collaboration among users of the Scholarly Commons.
Relationships with Existing Units and Programs
Earlier discussions of the Scholarly Commons highlighted the connections between the Scholarly Commons program and the Library units currently housed in 200 Library, i.e., Central Reference Services and the Government Documents Library. As noted above, the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team has determined that 200 Library is not a suitable space for the core service programs to be associated with the Scholarly Commons and, therefore, does not consider space to be a driving factor in any discussion of the relationship between those units and the Scholarly Commons program.
The Scholarly Commons Leadership Team does recognize that current services provided or coordinated through Central Reference Services (e.g., liaison and instructional programs designed in collaboration with the Graduate College) and the Government Documents Library may become part of the Scholarly Commons core service programs. As of Fall 2008, the data services program that the SCLT has identified as one of the core Scholarly Commons service programs is jointly led by faculty from those two units. Moreover, the SCLT recognizes government information as a subject specialty with significant potential for integration into Scholarly Commons service programs.
The Scholarly Commons Leadership Team also recognizes the connection between existing units (e.g., Digital Content Creation), committees (e.g., Scholarly Communications Committee), and services (e.g., IDEALS), and the core service programs proposed for coordination and future development through the Scholarly Commons.
As the Scholarly Commons service program develops, services currently associated with Central Reference Services, the Government Documents Library, Digital Content Creation, and other Library units, should be reviewed for potential contribution to Scholarly Commons core service programs.
Leadership
Scholar service programs blur traditional lines between functional areas of the Library, and between the Library and campus partners. As a result, service programs that may become associated with the Scholarly Commons are currently coordinated in a number of ways within the University Library. The Learning Commons Council provides one example of how campus partners might be brought together to provide leadership for Scholarly Commons programs, but the Library will also need to address the question of how services currently led by a number of different administrative units may come together within the existing Library structure.
Building on the experience of other "interdisciplinary" initiatives on campus, the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team recommends that the Scholarly Commons be established as a "virtual organization" within the Library designed to facilitate ongoing involvement by core stakeholders from across the Library, and around the campus. This virtual organization would also maintain clear ties to appropriate units, committees, and organs of Library Administration. Following the example of the Illinois Informatics Institute, the team recommends that a "Scholarly Commons Coordinator" be identified to provide ongoing leadership for this virtual organization, and to serve as advocate for this new approach to scholar services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
XII. Recommendations
The Scholarly Commons Leadership Team makes the following recommendations:
XIII. Timeline
Fall 2008
Spring 2009
Summer 2009
Respectfully submitted by the Scholarly Commons Leadership Team:
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Last modified by: Jie Zhao on 12/3/08