76 · Representative Documents: Strategies to Support Innovation and Research
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Columbia University Libraries/Information Services Strategic Plan 2010–2013 (excerpts)
http://library.columbia.edu/content/dam/libraryweb/general/documents/strategic_plan_2010-13.pdf
3 2010-2013 CUL/IS Strategic Plan
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Columbia University Libraries/Information Services (CUL/IS) Strategic Plan for 2010-2013
continues themes addressed in the 2006-2009 Strategic Plan while embracing an expanding role
within the larger academic community. Faced with fundamental changes occurring in higher
education, information technology, and scholarly communication, CUL/IS has developed a wide-
ranging and ambitious agenda to fulfill its mission of delivering high-quality content and
responsive services in support of research, teaching, and learning at Columbia University and to
the wider scholarly community.
This plan is the result of a series of focus groups and studies that took place in the fall of 2008
and the spring of 2009. A Strategic Planning Group, appointed by James Neal, Vice President for
Information Services and University Librarian, guided the development of the plan. The plan
will serve as guidance for CUL/IS staff and other internal and external stakeholders as they
collaborate on the development and implementation of projects and programs.
The plan has been developed in a context of rapid and far-reaching economic, technological,
legal, and social change. Economic conditions will have strong impacts on scholarly publishing,
the availability of grant funding, the library technology marketplace, and University capital
investments. Advances in technology bring new service expectations, changing the ways
students learn, faculty teach, and researchers collaborate. Pending legislation may profoundly
affect access to digital content and scholarly research.
In response to these changes CUL/IS, together with other research libraries, will place renewed
emphasis on seeking systemic change through deep collaborations, eliminating redundant
operations and achieving efficiencies of scale, and emphasizing collections and expertise of
unique value to the larger scholarly community. CUL/IS will also work to influence change by
exercising strong leadership in areas such as information policy, open access to scholarly
research, intellectual property rights, innovation in using technology in teaching and learning,
collecting and managing web content, and sustaining access to global resources.
The strategic plan focuses efforts and resources in five critical areas:
Global and Special Collections: The plan strongly reaffirms Columbia’s commitment
to continue to develop and support global and special collections. This assumes the
collection and preservation of print and other analog materials, as well as digital
materials, together with a specialized staff of subject librarians, catalogers, and curators
working with faculty and students to develop and interpret collections and services.
Digital Collections: As faculty and students work increasingly in virtual environments,
deep and effective digital collections and services are essential. CUL/IS will
aggressively develop licensed, purchased, locally-created, and born-digital collections
and related services to meet the research and teaching needs of the University.
Effective Interfaces and Improved Access: This plan places a new emphasis on
simplifying and improving access to digital and print resources and services. CUL/IS
will substantially improve search, discovery and delivery, both in terms of improving
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