In Q2, the Heard Libraries continued to establish ourselves as hubs of innovation and intellectual growth by amplifying access to research through transformative agreements and digitization projects, expanding opportunities to connect faculty and students with vital digital skills and resources, and collaborating with campus partners to host thought-provoking events that engaged the wider community. As we near completion of year three of our five-year strategic plan, we will continue to align our efforts with university goals as we work together to empower student success and advance global knowledge in the pursuit of academic excellence.
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Objectives and Key Results
1
To date, the Heard Libraries have facilitated 38 transformative, open access publishing agreements, affecting approximately 2,200 articles, with a financial impact of more than $2 million in annual cost savings for Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In Q2, we signed agreements with the American Medical Association and Portland Press, which exponentially expanded the reach of faculty research.
Roof shot: Secure agreements with all major publishers, resulting in the highest possible impact.
Moon shot: Partner with faculty and students to facilitate open access publications to ensure the output of our collective scholarship reaches the broadest audience globally; establish a dedicated fund to fully support open access initiatives from faculty, e-books, and articles that fall outside existing agreements.
2
In Q2, we provided impactful co-curricular opportunities to 30 undergraduates through the Buchanan Library Fellowship Program. These immersive fellowships contribute to lifelong learning and career readiness; according to one Vanderbilt alum, the fellowship “gave me experiences to talk about in job interviews ... and led me to the job I have now!”
Roof shot: Scale the fellowship program and use lessons learned to develop the Next Level Launchpad transferable skills program for all library student workers.
Moon shot: Rapidly expand the libraries’ experiential learning opportunities to Vanderbilt graduate students via the McCord Graduate Library Fellowship.
3
In Q2, the libraries partnered with Dialogue Vanderbilt to sponsor campus talks by Nate Silver and Walter Isaacson and hosted Fulbright Canada’s executive director for the signing of a new, five-year collaborative agreement that will focus research at library centers.
Roof shot: In collaboration with Professor Jane Landers and the Slave Societies Digital Archive, the libraries will host a visiting scholar specializing in Africans in the Americas during the spring 2025 semester. We also will explore the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Trial and celebrate the completion of the Lamar Alexander Archives digitization project.
Moon shot: Become the place where Vanderbilt research and scholarship are recognized and celebrated.
4
In Q2, Special Collections and University Archives acquired, processed and made accessible important historical materials, including two rare 17th-century maps, a long-missing 1870s-era plesiosaur fossil cast, and the political papers of the first woman to win nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee.
Roof shot: The libraries will streamline their use of digital platforms to make the processing and discovery of new collections more timely and efficient. We will explore addressing our backlog through a collaboration with library schools around the country.
Moon shot: Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives will become a vibrant hub of local, national and international collaboration for applied digital preservation.
Q2 stories (October–December 2024)
