TU Delft Library manages scholarly collections of a value of around 8m Euros a year. This goes from large-scale read and publish deals that are managed nationally in collaboration with Surf (62 deals); deals that organised via intermediaries such as EBSCO (170 publishers comprising 383 titles); and customised bilateral deals (between 35 and 40) that TU Delft organises with smaller publishers around the world.
Behind each of these deals sits a wealth of data – financial information; usage information; content information. However, within the library itself the data is fragmented, incomplete sitting in many different tools, and accessed by staff in many different ways.
Therefore, when it comes budget reviews, licence negotiations or strategic planning, TU Delft does not have easy access to the data needed to reflect upon, analyse, evaluate and strengthen its positions
TU Delft therefore seeks a consultant to help address these challenges.
The consultancy will help create a trusted ecosystem of data that TU Delft Library staff can consult to meet various use cases related to the underlying data. A resulting ecosystem will allow TU Delft Library staff to have quick, trusted access to information and data related to collections, their cost and their use, both university wide and within specific faculties. This in turn will allow the Library to better manage its collections budget, inform strategic choices about the acquisition and cancellation of collections, and strengthen our negotiating position.
The consultant will work with staff in the Library, particularly members of the Scholarly Communications and Publishing team, and the Metadata and Collections Services team. The Collections Manager, Louise Otting, will be the main point of contact during the project. A small steering group will also be established, including one or two members of the Library Management Team.
The consultancy work will be a single report that addresses the specific requests below:
- Identifying the locations of the different sources of data both inside and outside the library, and their usability and relevance
- Identifying the core use cases needed by the TU Delft Library
- Proposing and documenting tools, processes and workflows (with roles and responsibilities) are needed in the future to ensure the data remains trusted, up to date and easily accessible.
- This data does not need to be collected in one specific tool. Rather, library staff need to be able to quickly access the necessary data and to be able to trust that data. Determining the precise nature of the that ecosystem is part of the consultancy
- Neither does the consultancy need to produce a dashboard or visualisation of the data. Rather the goal is to ensure that the underlying data remains accessible and trusted.
- Identifying what specific skills and roles might be needed by TU Delft Library staff to execute these processes and analyse the resulting data
- Identifying new forms of data (and related data aggregation) that may play a role in future collections management
It is expected that the work should take two to three months to complete. Up to 12,000 Euros (excluding BTW / VAT) is available for the work.
If you are interested, please get in touch with Alastair Dunning (a.c.dunning AT tudelft . nl) for an initial discussion. Proposals should be submitted by October 27 at the latest. The proposal should clarify the methodology, corresponding timeframe and a break-down of hours and costs. Single proposals drawing on the combined skills of two consultancies are welcomed.