OA Communication & Advocacy at Newcastle

Pathways to OA Workshop, 20 March, 2015

Jill Taylor-Roe, Deputy University Librarian

Newcastle University

• Civic University• Research Intensive • 23864 students• 5257 staff• 3 Faculty structure:

Medical Sciences• Science, Agriculture and Engineering

(SAgE)• Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS)

Initial Experience re OA

• Wellcome OA grant since 2006 • Pilot Central OA fund 2009- 2012• Light touch advocacy –• publicity via Faculty Research Strategy Committees• Application forms on web pages• Minimal staffing:• Deputy led advocacy, Library assistant to process

gold OA, Repository managed by Tech Services Staff

Game Changers

• Finch Report, 2012• RCUK OA policy, 2013

Issues and Challenges!

• Senior academics unhappy with Finch recommendations• Perception that Librarians pushed for gold OA - “It’s all your

fault!” • Fears that gold OA takes funding away from core research• Anxiety in HASS subjects about “pay to say” culture• Uncertainty about what gold and green OA really mean• Sceptical about Creative Commons licences• Faculty-specific approach to allocating RCUK funds

A new Advocacy campaign was needed

Target audiences: Faculty Research Committees, School Research Groups, PGR and Post Doc Training Programmes

Key Messages:• Explain RCUK OA policy• Define green and gold OA• Explain different types of CC licences• Outline Library Support and how to access it

PLUS: LISTEN to academic concerns

Further Actions/Activities

• Set up Open Access Steering Group, jointly led by Library and Research Office

• Reports to University Research Committee• Set up library research support team, bringing

together gold and green OA support • Recruited OA Advocacy Officer plus Library

Assistant support for gold and green OA• Revamped OA web pages and developed FAQ

Phase 1 Achievements

• Established library as non-judgemental, trusted agent to “sort it all out”

• Persuaded faculties to move to a single University RCUK Fund with same conditions for access

• Effective partnership between Library and Research Office

The way we were: tri-faculty workflow for RCUK OA!

Next challenge!

Current Round of OA Advocacy: Post 2014 REF requirements

Strategic Advocacy• PVC Research OA briefing• OA video• OA key facts postcard

• Library-led briefings at school/institute • summary reports to Faculty Research Committees

and OA Steering Group re issues raised, solutions offered etc.

• “temperature check” before and after briefings

Successes so far

• Pushing at an open door – schools now much more welcoming of advocacy sessions

• Evidence of post-briefing follow up – increase in green deposits

Issues and Challenges

• Building robust staffing capacity• Addressing Compliance-monitoring agenda

Summary Points

• Advocacy programme has been a slow burn• Tri-faculty approach re RCUK grant was challenging to

manage – not readily scaleable• Subtle advocacy/persuasion finally led to unified approach,

first come first served• Important to listen to academic concerns – build bridges• Library now assumed to own the OA agenda

Any Questions?

• Jill Taylor-Roe@ncl.ac.uk• Library OA webpages:• http://www.ncl.ac.uk/openaccess/

Additional Info: post 2014- Ref Guide and deposit instructions

Job done!