It gets worse before it gets better: The promises and pitfalls of automating IR workflows

Abstract

What are the pros and cons of automating IR workflows? In the past few years, we have increasingly used batch processes and automation to manage IR content. On the positive side, these changes have saved time and increased accuracy. There have been opportunities to gain new skills and forge new partnerships. On the other hand, we learned that when you’re doing batch processes, the stakes are higher for getting it right! I will discuss three examples of where this transition involved growing pains and sometimes visible missteps, but paid off in the long run: transferring ETD's from ProQuest to the IR; registering new DOI's in Crossref and adding them to the IR; and, harvesting faculty article metadata from Scopus to the IR for our Open Access Policy. I will also briefly share the workflows themselves, touching on using OpenRefine and collaborating with IT.