LOCH Project from Update from Heriot-Watt University

As part of the work to embed good Open Access Policy within the institution, three awareness sessions were held within Schools with research staff.  Two of those sessions were led by Research Administration staff and one by the Library, reflecting the spread of open access support within the institution.  At Heriot-Watt University, RCUK OA administration is within the Schools, with over-all  OA coordination by the Library in close cooperation with the research office (Research and Knowledge Exchange Services).  So good coordination of effort and information is essential, and we are working to consistently achieve this objective.

The message at the sessions led by research administrative staff for academic staff was kept very simple, using the opportunity to update staff on RCUK Open Access, research data requirements, ResearchFish  and the HEFCE Open Access Policy.   Representatives from the Library and Research Office were present to provide extra information if needed.

As an outcome of those sessions, it is clear that academic staff see open access is one stage in the administration of their research – from the grant application though to final reporting and publication, with research somewhere in the middle.   Although attendance at the sessions was about 10% of the total academic staff, the slides were circulated afterwards, and as a result of those sessions we saw a direct increase in the number of full-text uploads to Pure.

In addition, an initial good practice session was held with School research administration staff, research policy managers and library staff, with the aim of refining current internal open access policies and planning for future processes. We used as a guide the lean process followed by St Andrews.

This led to two refinements in processes – one to the spreadsheet and process used to record to details of APCs and green open access papers and secondly in the creation of a process document to cover “cradle to grave” OA processes.  Being able to see other institutions spreadsheet and compare and contract was extremely useful.

The OA process document was initiated in consultation with senior academic staff.  It is a concise high-level document (necessarily a work in progress) but provides a reference point for all parties involved in OA administration in the university.  It is intended to create a graphical representation of the process.

It is available from :  http://tinyurl.com/ntew6ff

As a result of those meetings, we have a number of steps to take forward into 2015, including :-

1. Developing processes to better identify green open access articles, using Pure, by adding licensing information to the metadata template
2. Reaching those Schools less involved in the OA process, due to lack of RCUK funding, and planning the questionnaire developed by Edinburgh as an initial “in”.
3. Development of publicity materials – posters were identified as the most useful method.

As part of the dissemination process for the project, we gave a presentation at the University Science and Technology Librarians Group, on 18^th November, at Aston University.

Linda Kerr, Heriot-Watt University