The UOC and Catalan university libraries exchange experiences
Subject: Multidisciplinary
A two-week-long series of visits between Catalan University Service Consortium (CSUC) members was a collaborative initiative to improve the efficiency of services for users.
“Share to advance” was the principle behind the visits, programmed by the CSUC for the first fortnight in July. Various members of the UOC Library team joined in on this exchange of librarians’ experiences and got the chance to visit a number of Catalan centres specializing in a range of areas.
Sebastiano Giorgi-Scalari, Library for Research
4 July
UAB General Communication and News Library
UAB Science and Technology Library
Guests from the URV, UPC and the UOC met UAB librarians Marta Jordán (Science and Technology Library), Núria Álvarez (Social Sciences Library) and Carme Besson (General Communication and News Library). The visit included a tour of the facilities and repositories and a presentation on the history and constant evolution of the University’s digital document repository, the DDD.
Especially notable was the reflection on the publication of scientific output in the repository. The ability of its Learning and Research Resources Centre (CRAI) to coordinate different publication needs by research area has been key to achieving the present level of the open-access deposit at the University.
Seguim participant en la quinzena de visites del @CSUC_info! Avui hem parlat de producció científica amb companys i companyes del @CSUC_info, @UOCbiblioteca, @craiURV i @bibliotecnica. Moltes gràcies per la vostra visita! #bibliotequesUAB @bctUAB @bchgUAB pic.twitter.com/yaWIvlTPqp
— Biblioteques UAB (@bibliotequesUAB) July 4, 2019
The head of the UB's Research Unit, Ignasi Labastida, welcomed visitors with an overview of the centre's services. The centre provides on-site support to a total of sixteen libraries and hundreds of professors and researchers. The CRAI team is currently working on a strategic plan to ensure greater visibility and to position itself as a benchmark in information and resources for the whole of the university community.
Labastida also showed how the digital repository (through the GREC program, the Current Research Information System [CRIS] developed the UB) and services like helping authors with their CVs are managed. In addition, the CRAI mentors the editorial teams of the UB's 84 scientific journals that use OJS (Open Journal Systems) open-source software. In short, it was a highly fruitful visit that gave an overview of the centre.
Gustavo Fernández and Àgueda Mercadal, Library for Learning
10 July
UB Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences CRAI
The exchange was with university librarians from the URV, UdL, UVic-UCC and URL. As the CRAI covers three floors, an explanation was given of how it had been adapted to users’ new needs by creating different zones: silence, work and teamwork.
Visitors also got to learn about the EspaiCrea project and the 3D printing service. One particularly fascinating aspect of this project was that the idea behind it came from a focus group with student representatives organized by the CRAI. There was also an opportunity to talk to the two students and professor who had worked together on rolling out the service.
The visit also included a tour of the centre's oldest collection, primarily donations from doctors who had worked at Hospital Clínic. A true gem!
Avui bibliotecaris de @UOCbiblioteca hem pogut gaudir de la visita al @crai_ub @CRAIBibMed participant a l’intercanvi del @CSUC_info amb co•legues de @craiURV, @bibliotequesudl, @uvic_biblioteca i @uramonllull. Destaco el servei d'impressió #3D i la col•lecció antiga. Merci! pic.twitter.com/iMilQSqPta
— A. Mercadal (@aguemercadal) July 10, 2019
Joana Roig, Silvia Berenguel, Laura Ginebra, Irene González and Núria Sánchez from the CSUC spoke to visitors about a range of issues related to the quality of the Catalan University Union Catalogue (CCUC) They specifically spoke of bibliographic record maintenance at the CCUC, gathering analysis data and how key issues are resolved.
Part of the programme included a presentation on the past and present status of the Digital Library of Catalonia (BDC) and the management of group e-resources (cataloguing, reports, updates and downloads of individual and group purchases).
Intercanvi d'informació entre les #biblioteques del @CSUC_info! Una iniciativa per conèixer la feina feta al #CCUC i la #BDC. A la fotografia, companyes del @CSUC_info amb @bibliotequesUAB i @UOCbiblioteca. Moltes gràcies per fer possible aquesta 15a de visites! pic.twitter.com/rvMLMRRNxE
— CSUC (@CSUC_info) July 10, 2019
A presentation was given during the session on the Scientific Production Portal (PPC), the repository and open-access publishing (recommended, not compulsory) and the Researcher’s Guide. All three tools for researchers are well connected and highly visual and intuitive. Everyone took part in the meeting, sharing experiences among attendees from the UPC, UAB, URL, URV and the UOC.
At the end of the visit, there was a tour of the La Ciutadella Library/CRAI, which is in the old Dipòsit de les Aigües building. Visitors got to know the history of this Catalan Art Nouveau building, originally designed to feed the waterfall in the Parc de la Ciutadella and which was a municipal shelter and a fire service tank before becoming the Library/CRAI. A small-scale renovation, so as not to affect the original layout, was carried out to add a structure with prefabricated modules (shelves, stairs, etc). This allowed more space for tables and study and quiet areas, making the most of the historical atmosphere that imbues the building.
Ana Recasens and Cristina López, Library for Learning and Learning Resources Production
12 July
Àrea de Biblioteca i recursos d'aprenentatge de la UOC
At the UOC, Ana Recasens and Cristina López from Library and Learning Resources welcomed Lorien Baeza from the URV Library. They explained the various types of learning resources at the UOC, how in-house materials are produced and the role of each Faculty's reference librarian, who works closely with professors on course design.
