The following post is part of a series related to the provision of bibliometrics and research impact services at OCLC Research Library Partnership institutions.
In a recent OCLC Research Library Partnership webinar, librarians from the University of Pennsylvania gave a compelling presentation about how the library is working with business development in Penn Medicine to support institutional goals. The webinar recording and slides are now available:
In the webinar, Manuel de la Cruz Gutierrez, Director of Data & Innovation Services at Penn Libraries, and Marcella Barnhart, Zilberman Family Director of the Lippincott Library of the Wharton School, presented on the many ways that the University of Pennsylvania Libraries are supporting business development needs.
Leveraging a team of graduate interns to support data aggregation and reporting, de la Cruz Gutierrez described how he has worked with a broad array of stakeholders at Penn, including marketing, development, the committee on appointments and promotions, mergers and acquisitions, the Abramson Cancer Center, and PennGlobal.
Here are some of the examples of the ways the Penn Libraries have supported campus needs, as detailed in the webinar presentation:
- Using research analytics to explore regional relationships, interests, and policy impacts, particularly in Australia and Canada. This knowledge can be used to make a case for future collaborations and even formal alliances.
- Examining the publication and citation record to understand Penn’s leadership and influence in a specific type of cell therapy for cancer, called CAR-T therapies. This knowledge can be further leveraged to identify future collaborators.
- Identifying potential conference sponsors by examining the academic literature in conjunction with data about venture capital investments in cell therapies.
- Collaborating with the Vice Chair for Diversity and Inclusion at at Penn Medicine’s Department of Medicine to use bibliometrics data to expand the pool of candidates for senior positions, particularly to increase gender equity.
Penn Library News recently published a marvelous news article about these efforts, and I urge you to read it. As de la Cruz Gutierrez says in the article, he now realizes that research impact data can be used for more than “just supporting the research enterprise itself,” and can also be used for “advancing the business side.”
It also demonstrates the strong value proposition of libraries in serving the goals of the parent institution.
Rebecca Bryant, PhD (she/her), previously worked as a university administrator and as community director at ORCID. Today she applies that experience in her role as Senior Program Officer with the OCLC Research Library Partnership, conducting research and developing programming to support 21st century libraries and their parent institutions.
