Forward plan 2028

We will make knowledge, research and educational resources easier to access, use and share. We will strengthen open scholarship and provide inclusive, coordinated support for students, researchers and teaching staff.

Objective 5: Deliver systems, platforms, structures and governance that support open research and education practices across the University

KR 1. Implement platforms and services that support the creation, use, adaptation and dissemination of open content.

KR 2. Deliver targeted service and system improvements of repository and research information management infrastructures to increase usability and interoperability of systems, and discoverability of research outputs.

KR 3. Provide the data, evidence and reporting required for the University's REF 2029 submission, supporting Contributions to Knowledge and Understanding (CKU), Strategy, People and Research Environment (SPRE), and wider REF preparedness.

KR 4. Embed the Open Education Resources team within Content and Discovery Services to increase uptake of open resources for student education.

Objective 6: Promote and sustain a culture of open scholarship

KR 1. Improve our ability to provide insight into research outputs, collaboration, funding and impact to support institutional decision-making.

KR 2. Assess the portfolio of bibliographic products used to inform our research intelligence services and to generate metadata in relation to research outputs, to ensure effective use of resources.

KR 3. Create a coherent offer combining previously separate open activities into open scholarship, to increase awareness of and engagement with open practices.

KR 4. Create a plan so that we can maintain access to content and publishing services when UKRI withdraw funding for hybrid publishing in 2029.

KR 5. Work with the Leeds Institute for Societal Futures and the Library's Knowledge Institute to establish research and teaching programmes that advance understanding of open scholarship across the University.

Objective 7: Implement a cross-service approach to our student and researcher education offer

KR 1. Coordinate student education activity across the library to present and deliver a holistic offer covering the breadth of our provision for students and tutors.

KR 2. Coordinate research support activity across the library to present and deliver a holistic offer covering the breadth of our provision for researchers.

KR 3. Deliver training and support for tutors to adopt open pedagogical practices, to enrich the student experience.

KR 4. Provide opportunities for students to engage with open scholarly practices through the Library's programmes of academic support so students better understand and can engage with open scholarship.

KR 5. Establish the Skills Space as a University hub for student skills development, coordinated across professional services, in support of the Surfacing Skills initiative.

Objective 8: Prioritise inclusivity and accessibility in our approach to the management of content

KR 1. Understand our rights over the metadata we hold and be able to clarify and assert rights with suppliers, which will support open metadata practices that improve discoverability and future-proof our discovery services.

KR 2. Improve the discoverability of open education resources (OERs) through enhanced metadata and increase OER production to give tutors good options to include in reading lists to support inclusive student education.

KR 3. Increase the visibility of our information resources and collections by creating new subject guides to make it easier for users to find relevant materials.

KR 4. Review requirements for our transnational education provision to ensure appropriate access to content to support these courses.

KR 5. Devise and pilot a sustainable way to ensure the language within our metadata is inclusive.