Guest Edited by Leah Hinds, Executive Director, Charleston Conference, and Christine Wolff-Eisenberg, Manager, Surveys and Research, Ithaka S+R

Table of Contents

Introduction by Leah Hinds

After attending the presentation premier of the Ithaka S+R 2019 Faculty Survey results at the ACRL meeting in April, I was intrigued by the six key findings that were presented in the executive summary of the report (https://sr.ithaka.org/publications/2018-us-faculty-survey/). After discussing with the ATG team, our idea was to ask different stakeholders in the library and information industry to address each of the six findings and compare them with their experience with faculty on their particular campus or in their professional experiences. Sometimes we may find the survey results of interest, but we don’t always know how to apply or use the findings in our everyday work. This application and interpretation of the results, we think, will be of value to the community.

Executive Summary/Key Findings:

1. Discovery starting points are shifting towards Google Scholar and other general search engines. Responses on the topic of discovery and access are from Lettie Conrad (Publishing & Product Consultant & Information Science PhD Candidate), Evan Simpson (Northeastern University), and Emily Campbell and Ken Varnum (University of Michigan Library).

2. Faculty members increasingly prefer to manage and preserve their data using cloud-based storage services. Responses on the topic of data management are from Ali Krzton (Auburn University) and Kate Barron (San Jose State University).

3. While faculty are increasingly interested in an open access publication model, traditional scholarly incentives continue to motivate their decision-making. The response on OA Publishing is from Dave Ghamandi (University of Virginia).

4. There is substantial interest in use of open educational resources for instructional practices, particularly from younger faculty members. The responses on OERs are from Abby Elder (Iowa State), Lily Todorinova and Zara Wilkinson (Rutgers University), and Lauren Slingluff (University of Connecticut).

5. Faculty are skeptical about the value of using learning analytics tools. The response on learning analytics is from Kyle Jones, Indiana University-Indianapolis (IUPUI).

6. The role of the library in archiving materials is increasingly important. Our final response on the topic of the archival role of the library is from Oya Rieger (Ithaka S+R/Cornell).

We hope you find these essays on the key findings relevant and useful, and we welcome any other feedback, comments, and responses based on your own personal experience!