And They Were There — Reports of Meetings 2021 Charleston Conference Column Editor: Ramune K. Kubilius (Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine) <r-kubilius@northwestern.edu> Column Editor’s Note: Thanks to the Charleston Conference attendees, both those who attended on-site and virtually, who agreed to write brief reports highlighting and spotlighting their 2021 Charleston Conference experience. The conference moved to a hybrid format in 2021 and that presented both opportunities as well as challenges for registered attendees. All registrants had the opportunity to view recordings, to re-visit sessions they saw “live,” or to visit sessions they missed. Without a doubt, there are more Charleston Conference sessions than there were volunteer reporters for Against the Grain, so the coverage is just a snapshot. In 2021, reporters were invited to either provide general impressions on what caught their attention, or to select sessions on which they would report. There are many ways to learn more about the 2021 conference. Some presenters posted their slides and handouts in the online conference schedule. Please visit the conference site, https:// www.charleston-hub.com/the-charleston-conference/, and link to selected videos, interviews, as well as to blog reports written by Charleston Conference blogger, Donald Hawkins, https:// www.charleston-hub.com/category/blogs/chsconfnotes/. The 2021 Charleston Conference Proceedings will be published in 2022, in partnership with University of Michigan Press. — RKK
CONCURRENT SESSION REPORTS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2021 STOPWATCH Session 1 — Beth Bernhardt (Oxford University Press, Moderator) Reported by Ramune K. Kubilius (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine) <r-kubilius@northwestern.edu> Presentations Included the following: The Open Road: Mapping Your Library’s Path Through the OA Publishing Landscape — Presented by Karen Kohn (Temple University) and Annie Johnson (Temple University) Collaborative Clusters: Rethinking User Needs and Breaking Down Barriers — Presented by Jill Dawson (University of North Texas) and Laurel Crawford (University of North Texas) Leveraging Curriculum Mapping to Support Campus OER Efforts — Presented by Jennifer Pate (University of North Alabama) Top 10 Benefits of Using Course List Software to Scale Affordable Learning Initiatives — Presented by Teri Gallaway (SCELC) and Carolyn Morris (SirsiDynix) 2021 Charleston Library Conference: Virtual Meeting Details (pathable.co) This first 2021 conference “stopwatch” session featuring brief presentations was unique among later stopwatch sessions, in that all presenters were on-site (except one co-author who joined remotely). Organized and moderated by the intrepid Bernhardt, the session featured an interesting mix of topics,
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ranging from Temple’s “Open Road” discussions of options for supporting OA publishing, to the University of North Texas collaborative clusters of resources spotlighted in a “pop up” nature, and a curriculum mapping project at University of North Alabama. The institution has an aspirational goal of being 50% OER by 2024, and the mapping project revealed not only traditional materials used for courses, but also the current use of OER. However, some courses using OER were only discovered when faculty were surveyed, but not included in faculty course reading lists. The last presentation featured a “top 10” list of advantages to using course reading list software, a win-win-win proposition for faculty, students, and the library (one product in this marketplace that this reporter noted that was not included in their product list was featured in the 2021 vendor showcase, a new entry to the North American market).
[I love it When We’re] Cruisin’ Together: A Member-Driven Model for Consortial Collaboration Reported by Laura Sill (University of Notre Dame) <ljenny@nd.edu> Presented by Lindsay Cronk (University of Rochester) and Maridath Wilson (Boston University) — https://2021charlestonconference.pathable.co/meetings/ virtual/CABYiKFfBWBMvpqju This session focused on a new project-based approach to negotiation by members of NERL (NorthEast Research Libraries Consortium) in support of its “NERL Demands a Better Deal” and “Preferred Deal Elements” statements, which promote collaboration and shared values. “The Better Deal” moves beyond price and individual preference and highlights agreements that reflect collective values of transparency, sustainability, equity, reproducibility, and flexibility. The “Preferred Deal Elements” include categories of Fees, Term, Opt-in, Open Access, Authorized Users, Author’s Rights, and Content. As a way to provide further context for this member-driven model, presenters Wilson and Cronk introduced the NERL consortium and the journey they took as members to introduce this new model. It started with a “Malibu Dream” or desire to see change resulting in the use of a project-based approach to build a stronger statement for negotiation over the previous method of gathering feedback independently from each member. Audience members asked how coordination between institutional partners takes place and session attendee, Cris Ferguson (Murray State University), joined Wilson and Cronk on stage to share a specific scenario illustrating the budgetary challenges and the tough decisions that are required by libraries due to current resource pricing. Wilson and Cronk believe collaboration and project-based negotiations are required to make a real difference at this time.
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