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Develop reserve fund policies - The purpose of the arXiv reserve fund is to support unexpected expenses to ensure a sound business model. Currently, arXiv has a reserve fund of approximately $125,000 accumulated during the last two years due to unexpected staff vacancies and other savings, such as transition to virtual servers. The includes a contingency line ($50,000-$100,000 per year); however, the Cumulative Operating Contingency balance does not factor in the potential expenditures that will be charged against this account in support of unforeseen expenses. We will discuss the desirability of establishing a minimum and maximum contingency fund levels. The financial projections assume that the membership fees will increase at an average rate of 2 % per year. Ideally, membership fees should decrease as the number of participating institutions increases. This is one of the reasons we would like to identify an ideal contingency amount so that we will know when to stop accumulating and start reducing membership fees. We need to develop policies about how contingency funds will be used and how the account will be structured (e.g., funds needed for closing the business versus development funds - also a part of the reserve funds to create an endowment & the interest can be use the interest for reducing membership fees).
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New Partnerships &
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Communication
Define a R&D agenda and seek external funds to advance arXiv - So far, CUL's sustainability planning efforts focused on arXiv's operational budget to support the core services and arXiv's strengths in order to stay mission-centric. One of the key goals ahead of us is to define a research agenda for arXiv. We'll seek input from the advisory boards, users/scientists at large, and information scientists. We will develop a methodology for making decisions about arXiv's R&D projects and partners. One of the challenges will be maintaining/developing arXiv as a distinct system vs. envisioning it as a part of a joint scholarly communication infrastructure (interoperability, research data, tracking funding sources, etc.). This is likely to be a potential tension area between the library community and scientists.
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Define and communicate measures of success for arXiv- Scientific repositories' ecology continues to evolve in response to the changes in scholarly communication patterns, information policies, repository technologies, and global financial trends. During the last three years, arXiv has been going through a streamlining process and some goals continue to be works in progress (for instance, developing of an Invenio-based discovery and access interface, streamlining the moderation process, strengthening staffing through back - up arrangements, etc.). To address this dynamic process, one goal over the next several months is to create an assessment model to help CUL continue to fine-tune the sustainability model. An assessment plan will also help identify unforeseen developments and making course adjustments to the service and collaboration model. Working with the SAB, one of the goals of the transitional MAB will be to develop an assessment framework with three key components:
- Desired outcomes and success measures to measure progress (for instance, dynamics of the governance model, level of financial support, enhancements to arXiv, improvements to moderation system, etc.).
- Assessment model to gauge and report success based on the identified outcome measures.
- Plan a five-year review process to enable CUL to conduct a comprehensive self-evaluation with input from the Simons Foundation, MAB, SAB, and other key partners
CollaborationWorking with the arXiv Boards, develop policies that guide consideration of potential working collaborations with outside groups. arXiv Develop guidelines for engagaing in new partnership - arXiv is approached on a regular basis by outside groups asking for advice or special services. Sometimes the assistance requested is minor, but often it would require devoting some amount of staff effort. We need guidelines for determining under what circumstances we will allocate resources in order to collaborate with an outside organization.Working with the arXiv Boards, develop policies that guide consideration of potential working collaborations with outside groups.
Put in place a systematic and regular communication strategy for MAB and SAB - Communication and follow-through are essential - don't promise anything to SAB or MAB members if you'll not be able to fulfill. Make sure to follow up - whether it is relaying progress or delays (or rejecting a recommendation). When you hear ideas and get suggestions from SAB and MAB and don't follow their advice, you need to at least explain why. List priorities and communicate them prior to meetings. Implicitly seek help in setting priorities. Be clear with your expectations (seeking input vs. help CUL make a decision by selecting one of the alternative strategies). Explain that CUL has limited resources and set expectations accordingly. If there are requests that Cornell cannot meet, someone (member) may be able of pay. Seek partnerships and other revenue streams.
Communication Enhance communication with users (scientists) - Share opinions received from scientists and users with SAB and MAB.How about seeking input from other scientists, arXiv users? What is working well for them that needs to be maintained? What are their unmet needs? What kinds of changes they want to see implemented? CUL needs to have a systematic way of gathering user feedback and this info ought to be shared with MAB and SAB (both groups are also important channels of input as they represent other groups). Will it be useful to encourage users to send feedback directly to SAB and MAB and make them aware of these advisory groups (through a mailing list)?
Economics of open access awareness building Build awareness about sustainability aspects of open access - Scientists know very little about how arXiv is run and how much it costs. Improve communication, it is important for scientists to know that open access is not free and even open access systems need to be carefully managed. Some scientists may think that they don't need libraries any longer. Be vocal about libraries' new roles. Use members to spread info to their scientists - there needs to be outreach to scientific community. Also make it known that arXiv has a QC strategy - many librarians don't know about it.