How we doubled our deposits in two years: Developing campus connections and outreach to engage scholars in repository and open access services

Abstract

The pandemic brought significant attention to the open access movement and an increased interest and engagement from scholars towards open access and repositories. Libraries can capitalize on this watershed moment to promote their services and connect more deeply with campus researchers and units on open access. This presentation will describe initiatives at McGill University to promote the library’s open access services including its open repository, eScholarship. These efforts have included greater collaboration with the campus’ Office of Sponsored Research, increased presence in university-wide communication channels, as well as the development of a successful 30-minute workshop “How to make your work open access: Psst it doesn’t have to cost money”. This work has borne immediate fruit for the repository, with deposits doubling over the past two years. This presentation will discuss these outreach and collaboration strategies, as well as improved workflows to handle the increase in deposits. It will also briefly discuss the recent survey results from eScholarship users, highlighting areas for future improvement. The slides for Jessica's workshop “How to make your work open access: Psst it doesn’t have to cost money” are available for download.