14 · Survey Results: Executive Summary
While preparing this report, a number of addi-
tional resources (e.g., Web sites, newsletter articles,
handouts) were discovered, both from respondents
that did not list these resources in their surveys and
from ARL libraries that did not respond to the survey.
Selected resources from respondents are noted in the
Representative Documents section, and ARL librar-
ies (respondents and non-respondents) that provide
PAP compliance support are noted in the Selected
Resources section.
Effectiveness of Resources and Services for PAP
Compliance Support
Personalized, one-on-one consultations were judged
the single most effective resource or service provided
for PAP compliance support. Whether the activity
was described as “consultation with author,” “indi-
vidual consultation,” “e-mail address for questions,”
“personal interaction with individuals,” “personal
contact,” “personal discussions,” or “individualized
counseling,” this type of service that addressed the
immediate and specific questions of an individual
was rated effective most often. One respondent rated
the most effective service for helping authors and/or
support staff to comply with PAPs as “an expert who
can answer questions and guide them through the
process.” Another reported that one-on-one consul-
tations were the most effective means of “providing
reassurance about the NIH PAP.” The relative newness
of the PAP mandates (especially the NIH policy), the
immediate compliance requirement, and the com-
plexity of challenges to compliance faced by authors
may explain the need for such personalized service.
Many authors feel their situation is unique and, thus,
requires something more than a “stock” answer from
a Web site or FAQ page.
Other types of face-to-face contact with authors
(and/or their staff) such as presentations, classes, and
workshops were also rated as highly effective. These
have been standard training tools for librarians for
decades, and they remain useful in reaching a larger
audience at one time. As one respondent commented,
“Certainly in-person presentations either one-on-
one or to a group seem to be the most effective. This
is when researchers engage with the topic. It is hard to
catch their eye with an e-mail or a link to a Web site.”
Web sites and Web-delivered tools were also rated
effective by a majority of respondents. Web sites with
PAP information, sites or pages that link to external
resources, FAQs, links to addenda or flowcharts for
compliance were all judged effective by respondents.
One respondent noted that their Web site was effec-
tive as “it is nice to have more detailed information
available to which we can point people.” Another
effective service mentioned by several responding
libraries was that of mediated deposits (third-party
submissions).
Resources Used by Libraries to Monitor PAPs
It was clear from the survey responses that library
staff members involved in supporting PAP compli-
ance in their institutions rely on a number of differ-
ent resources to stay current on PAP developments.
The top resources used by librarians listed by over
three-quarters of the respondents were Web sites
of national/international organizations, electronic dis-
cussion lists, and attendance at conferences. Over 50%
utilize blogs and in-house presentations, workshops,
and/or discussions to stay current. Academic news-
letters and RSS feeds were used by over 40% of re-
spondents. SPARC (Scholarly Publishing &Academic
Resources Coalition) was also cited as a source for
current information about PAP compliance. One note-
worthy response was, “Health sciences librarians have
excellent access to policy enforcers at the National
Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of
Health. We can use these contacts to clarify compli-
ance points, and to report problems the investigator
community is having complying with the NIH Public
Access mandate.”
While two-thirds of the respondents expressed
contentment with the available resources for keeping
current about PAP compliance, there were a number
of interesting suggestions for additional resources
such as blogs, webinars, and newsletters. Another
suggestion was the creation of a listserv solely for
librarians and administrators, to be moderated by
a member of the NIH staff. It was also suggested
that short, to-the-point, and direct training materi-
als (whether online or print) be developed so that
these could be more easily assimilated by busy staff
members. The provision of case studies that include
Previous Page Next Page